When introducing this song in concert, Seal has said that he wrote it after having a few run-ins with death, which ended up being a good thing because it made him confront his worst fears. It's a prayer for the dying in the sense that he's addressing those who weren't so lucky; Seal played with fire and didn't get burned, but many others didn't. The opening line, "Fearless people, careless needle," implies he's talking about drug use.
"Prayer For The Dying" was the first single from Seal's second album, which like his first, is titled Seal. It was a modest hit in the summer of 1994, but in America, the next two singles - "Newborn Friend" and "Don't Cry" - didn't chart and it looked like the album would peter out. Then the song "Kiss From A Rose" was extracted from the album and used in the 1995 movie Batman Forever. It went to #1 that August, over a year after "Prayer For The Dying" was issued.
The video was directed by Paul Boyd, who also did Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and Sting's "Desert Rose." It shows Seal performing the song in a white circular room filled with doors he never opens.
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