Breathe
The second single from The Fat of the Land, with Flint and Maxim sharing the vocal.
The Prodigy, from The Fat of the Land (1996)
- Written by
- Liam Howlett, Keith Flint, Maxim Reality
- Released
- 11 November 1996
- Length
- 5:35
- Album
- The Fat of the Land
Released in November 1996 as the second single from The Fat of the Land, it was written by Howlett, Flint and Maxim. The drum break comes from Thin Lizzy's Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed, and the whiplashing sword sound is a sample of Wu-Tang Clan's Da Mystery of Chessboxin'. Jim Davies played the guitar, as on Firestarter. It gave the band a second UK number one and topped the charts in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Norway and Sweden. In the US it reached 18 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The band first played it at the Pionir Hall in Belgrade on 8 December 1995, eleven months before its release, at the first concert there by a major international act since the breakup of Yugoslavia. Walter Stern directed the video, set in a decrepit apartment building, which won the Viewer's Choice award at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards and was the last to feature Thornhill. Melody Maker described the single as nervous tension made music, and Q put it in its 1001 Best Songs Ever in 2003. Camo & Krooked and Mefjus won Best Remix at the Drum & Bass Arena Awards 2022 for their remix, and XL is releasing a vinyl edition for the song's thirtieth anniversary, on 11 November 2026.
On stage
- 1995-12-08, Pionir Hall, Belgrade The first performance of the song, eleven months before release.
- 1997-12-20, Brixton Academy, London Filmed for the Their Law DVD; the Breathe performance runs 5:56.
More songs by The Prodigy
Firestarter, Smack My Bitch Up, Voodoo People, No Good (Start the Dance), Out of Space
Sources
- Breathe (The Prodigy song), Wikipedia
- The Prodigy, The Fat of the Land, Pitchfork
- The Prodigy's The Fat of the Land at 25, Louder (2022-06-30)
- The Prodigy, The Prodigy