1983Released
4:01

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Burning Down the House. By Songfacts®.

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz and bass player Tina Weymouth, married since 1977, are big fans of funk. When they went to a P-Funk show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the crowd started chanting, "Burn down the house, burn down the house" (this is before "The Roof Is on Fire"), which gave Frantz the idea for the title. As he explained in a 1984 interview with National Public Radio (NPR), he and Weymouth created the original track in a jam, then took it to the band where they refined the groove. To form the lyrics, they picked words that fit the rhythms, which is why the words don't make a lot of sense. This is common practice in the world of funk, where you don't want the lyric to get in the way of the groove on a feel-good song.

With a lot of help from MTV, who gave the video a lot of play, this song became Talking Heads' biggest hit. It didn't get a great deal of radio play at the time, but has endured as an '80s classic and is often used in movies and TV shows, including Gilmore Girls, 13 Going on 30, Six Feet Under, Revenge of the Nerds and Someone Like You.

The French keyboard player Wally Badarou, known for his work with Grace Jones and Level 42, overdubbed the synthesizer parts on this track, a key addition. Percussionist Steve Scales contributed concert toms to the song.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Burning Down the House.
FKey
MinorMode
4/4Time Signature
103BPM

Album

The album Burning Down the House is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Burning Down the House.
Rhino/Warner Records
© 1983 Sire Records, a label of Warner Records Inc.
℗ 1983 Sire Records. Marketed by Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company.

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