Fire on Babylon

"Fire on Babylon" is a 1994 song by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. It is written by O'Connor and John Reynolds, and was released on O'Connor's fourth album, Universal Mother. The song is produced by O'Connor, Reynolds and English musician, composer and record producer Tim Simenon. It peaked at number 29 in New Zealand, number 36 in the Netherlands and number 57 in Australia. The song features a sample from "Dr. Jekyll" by Miles Davis. Co-songwriter and producer John Reynolds told that the energy possessed by O'Connor's vocals on "Fire On Babylon" was almost impossible to contain, but they managed to trap it on tape somehow.[1] He was nominated to the Qs Producer of the Year award for the album Universal Mother.

"Fire On Babylon"
Single by Sinéad O'Connor
from the album Universal Mother
Released1994
Length5:12
Label
  • Chrysalis
  • Ensign
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Sinéad O'Connor singles chronology
"Thank You for Hearing Me"
(1994)		 "Fire On Babylon"
(1994)		 "No Man's Woman"
(2000)
Music video
"Fire on Babylon" on YouTube

O'Connor performed the song in several TV-shows, like Late Show with David Letterman and Later... with Jools Holland.

Critical reception

Peter Galvin from The Advocate commented that on the song, O'Connor "launches into a hip-hop-inflected antimother diatribe".[2] Kelly Collins from Columbia Daily Spectator wrote that the song "displays O'Connor's fiery side, and the slick programming adds a powerful element to the number."[3] Evelyn McDonnell from Entertainment Weekly noted that O'Connor "cleverly probes the contradiction between mother-worshiping and mother-blaming". She added that "Fire on Babylon" has "flashes of passion".[4] Michael R. Smith from The Daily Vault described it as an "angry statement song".[5] Diffuser put the track at number 5 on their list of 10 Best Sinead O'Connor songs in 2013, noting it a "reggae-inspired groove". They added that "the vocal is haunting, and coupled with the subject matter, it's chill inducing."[6] Lennox Herald said the song is "very excellent".[7] Orla Swift from Record-Journal called it a "fierce rocker".[8] Joy Press from Spin wrote that "Fire on Babylon" "is a harrowing, almost apocalyptic opener, O'Connor's voice stretched shrilly over a menacing bass as she bears witness to her own nightmares. Yet in the midst of this scorched war zone, the song momentarily ebbs into a dizzy, melodic oasis."[9] Larry Nager from The Telegraph noted that it is the "loudest" song on Universal Mother. He wrote that it "roars and O'Connor sings ambiguously about the biblical whore of Babylon, seemingly meaning the British Empire."[10] LaTasha Natasha Diggs for Vibe said that O'Connor's "trademark wails and whines flow."[11]

Chart performance

The song charted in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In the Netherlands, its first entry on the Single Top 100 was at number 45 in September 1994. It peaked at number 36 and spent 4 weeks at the chart with number 46 as the last position in October. The song didn't reach the Dutch Top 40, but peaked at number 2 on the Tipparade. In Belgium, "Fire on Babylon" only charted in Flanders, peaking at number 43 in its first week on the chart. The following week, it dropped down to number 49 before leaving the chart, with a total of two weeks on it. In New Zealand, the song reached the Top 30, peaking at number 29 in October 1994. It first time entered that chart at number 45. And the last entry was at number 36. In Australia, the song was Top 60 hit, peaking at number 57 in November 1994.

Music video

The music video of the song was directed by French director Michel Gondry, who also directed the music videos "Human Behaviour" for Björk and "Protection" for Massive Attack. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.[12]

Track listing
Europe, CD single (1994)
No.TitleLength
1."Fire on Babylon"5:12
2."I Believe in You"5:41
3."House of the Rising Sun"5:09
4."Streets of London"4:10

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1994) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[13] 57
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[14] 43
Netherlands (Tipparade) 2
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 36
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[16] 29
Poland (LP3)[17] 4

References
  1. "Sinead O'Connor – Universal Mother". John Reynolds Website. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  2. Galvin, Peter (20 September 1994). "Reviews: Music". The Advocate. p. 66. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  3. Collins, Kelly (13 October 1994). "O'CONNOR LAID BARE". Columbia Daily Spectator. p. 9. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  4. "Universal Mother". Entertainment Weekly. 16 September 1994. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  5. "Universal Mother - Sinead O'Connor". The Daily Vault. 24 February 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  6. "10 Best Sinead O'Connor Songs". Diffuser. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  7. "WIN a Sinead O'Connor CD". Lennox Herald. 23 December 1994. page 34. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  8. "Tracking the year's best record release". Record-Journal. 18 December 1994. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  9. "SPINS". Spin. Vol. 10 no. 7. 1 October 1994. p. 107. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  10. "Sinead's back, and she's not singing opera". The Telegraph. 20 October 1994. p. 32. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  11. "Sinéad O'Connor - Universal Mother". Vibe. 1 November 1994. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  12. "The 37th Grammy Nominations". Los Angeles Times. 6 January 1995. p. 16. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  13. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 27 Nov 1994". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 19 April 2018. N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.
  14. "Ultratop.be – Sinéad O'Connor – Fire on Babylon" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  15. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sinéad O'Connor – Fire on Babylon" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  16. "Charts.nz – Sinéad O'Connor – Fire on Babylon". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  17. "Notowanie nr661" (in Polish). LP3. 14 October 1994. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
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