"Burning Down the House" is a song by new wave band Talking Heads, released in July 1983 as the first single from their fifth studio album Speaking in Tongues.
In an interview on NPR's All Things Considered aired on December 2, 1984, David Byrne played excerpts of early worktapes showing how the song had evolved from an instrumental jam by Weymouth and Frantz.
Once the whole band had reworked the groove into something resembling the final recording, Byrne began chanting and singing nonsense syllables over the music until he arrived at phrasing that fit with the rhythms—a technique influenced by former Talking Heads producer Brian Eno: "and then I [would] just write words to fit that phrasing...
"[6] According to Byrne in the NPR interview, phrases that he tried but ultimately did not use in the song included "I have another body," "Pick it up by the handle," "You travel with a double," and "I'm still under construction."
'"[6] The video, produced and directed by Byrne, alternates primarily between footage of the band performing the song in an empty ballroom, Byrne playing while facing a projection screen that displays a concert crowd or a wall of flames at different times, and images projected on the outside wall of a house.
A year later, an extended live version of the song is a highlight of the band's landmark concert film Stop Making Sense.
Welsh singer Tom Jones recorded a version of "Burning Down the House" with Swedish pop band the Cardigans for his 1999 collaborations album, Reload.
The single was backed with Jones' live recordings of the EMF song "Unbelievable" and the Beatles' "Come Together", as well as remixes of "Burning Down the House" by Delakota, Pepe Deluxé and DJ Scissorkicks.
[61] Later that year, the band would debut the song live on Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, regularly performing it at a number of shows in Europe for which they served as the opener.
[57] Additional personnel A number of musical acts have covered the song in their live performances, including Bonnie Raitt[64] and John Legend.