"Poison"
Single by the Prodigy
from the album Music for the Jilted Generation
Released6 March 1995 (1995-03-06)[1]
Genre
Length
  • 6:42 (album version)
  • 4:05 (95 EQ)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Liam Howlett
The Prodigy singles chronology
"Voodoo People"
(1994)		 "Poison"
(1995)		 "Firestarter"
(1996)
Music video
"Poison" on YouTube

"Poison" is a song by English electronic music group the Prodigy, released on 6 March 1995 by XL and Mute as the fourth and final single from their second studio album, Music for the Jilted Generation (1994). Maxim Reality performs the vocals on the track. It was a number one hit in Finland, while peaking inside the top five in Ireland and Norway. Additionally, it peaked within the top-30 in Sweden and Switzerland. The music video for the song was directed by Walter Stern.

Composition

The drums in the song are samples from "It's a New Day" by Skull Snaps, "Amen, Brother" by the Winstons, and "Heavy Soul Slinger" by Bernard Purdie.

Critical reception

John Bush from AllMusic viewed the song as "excellent".[2] Larry Flick from Billboard noted that it "marks the rave outfit's first foray into hip-hop", adding that "it's an inspired move. The act's penchant for quirky loops and industrial sound effects melds perfectly with the track's approachable downtempo groove." He also described the track as a "juicy jam", voiced by new band member Maxim Reality.[3] Neil Kulkarni from Melody Maker wrote, "You musta been dancing to this for weeks already so you know the plot: lunging bass, razing wah-wah over a surprisingly slow and punishingly phat beat. This is surely Howlett paying dues to all those Ultramagnetic MCs and Schooly D LPs that got some of us through the Eighties."[4] Brad Beatnik from Music Week's RM Dance Update stated that "with its hard hip hop beats yet funky feel, [it] is the stunning stand-out track" of the album.[5] Another editor, James Hamilton, declared it as a "ponderously rumbling reggae-ish dub joller".[6] John Harris from NME said, "Distilled excitement, strangely enough. "Poison" is an atonal, incendiary slab of technofied trip-hop".[7] James Hunter from Vibe described it as "an excellent post-techno techno thing that ought to become an enormous, obnoxious hit."[8]

In 2022, Time Out ranked "Poison" number 26 in their list of "50 Best '90s Songs". The magazine added, "There are a ton of tracks from the Prodge that could be included in this list, but none sum up Keith Flint and Liam Howlett’s rowdy rave punks better than ‘Poison’. The mix of chunky breakbeats, sludgy electronics and wide-eyed carnage was the perfect rhythmical remedy to those who fancied a dab of dance music (and those who wanted to find out what the hell rave culture might have been about), but just couldn’t get to grips with the eight-minute Chicago house workouts of the time."[9]

Chart performance

"Poison" reached number one in Finland and was a top-five hit in Norway. The song also reached number 24 in Sweden, and number 23 in Switzerland.[10]

Artwork

The packaging for the CD single follows a theme similar to the song: rat poison. The front cover features a box of said poison, the back shows a picture of a dead and decomposing rodent, and the CD itself has a rat superimposed onto it. The theme of rat poison ties into the music, as the official remix of the song is dubbed "Rat Poison".

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Poison" was directed by Walter Stern. The band performs the track in a basement-like location. By the end of the video, the floor has turned into a mud-bath where Keith Flint is mud wrestling with other band members.

The music video was also shown on an episode of Beavis and Butt-head.

Soundtracks

The song is featured on the soundtracks for the 1997 film The Jackal and the 1999 film End of Days. It's also featured briefly in the 1999 Robbie the Reindeer film Hooves of Fire.

it also appeared on the FIFA 21 Volta football soundtrack.

Legacy

The spoken words on the introductory of the album version :

"Liam, someone on the phone for you / Aw fuck's sake, tryin' to write this fuckin' tune, man"

They were parodied by Clark on his remix of Milanese's “Mr Bad News”, where a voices with an affected received pronunciation English accent say “Christopher, somebody's on the telephone for you / Oh for fuck’s sake, I’m trying to write this fucking tune, man”.[11]

Electronic rock band Does It Offend You, Yeah? also make reference to the track's opening conversation on their song "We Are the Dead" from their album Don't Say We Didn't Warn You.

Track listing

  1. "Poison" (95 EQ) – 6:12 [edited 4:05 version on CD edition]
  2. "Rat Poison" – 5:34
  3. "Scienide" – 5:54
  4. "Poison" (Environmental Science Dub Mix) – 6:18
  • Tracks 1-2 and 4 written by Liam Howlett and Keith Palmer. Track 2 remixed by Liam Howlett. Track 4 remix and additional production by Environmental Science
  • Track 3 written by Liam Howlett

Charts

Chart (1995) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[12] 64
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[13] 1
Ireland (IRMA) 3
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[14] 5
Netherlands (Dutch Single Tip)[15] 8
Norway (VG-lista)[16] 5
Scotland (OCC)[17] 25
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 24
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 23
UK Singles (OCC)[20] 15
UK Club Chart (Music Week)[21] 47

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[22] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 4 March 1995. p. 31. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  2. ↑ Bush, John. "The Prodigy – Music for the Jilted Generation". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  3. ↑ Flick, Larry (15 April 1995). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. 49. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  4. ↑ Kulkarni, Neil (4 March 1995). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 34. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  5. ↑ Beatnik, Brad (9 July 1994). "Hot Vinyl: Albums" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental insert). p. 6. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  6. ↑ Hamilton, James (4 March 1995). "Dj directory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental insert). p. 11. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  7. ↑ Harris, John (4 March 1995). "Singles". NME. p. 56. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  8. ↑ Hunter, James (1 June 1995). "Single Files". Vibe. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  9. ↑ "50 Best '90s Songs". Time Out. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  10. ↑ "australian-charts.com - The Prodigy - Poison". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  11. ↑ Saxelby, Ruth. "Clark: Feast / Beast". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  12. ↑ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 23 July 1995". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 1 June 2017. N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.
  13. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  14. ↑ "The Prodigy – Poison" (in Dutch). top40.nl. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  15. ↑ "THE PRODIGY - POISON" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  16. ↑ "The Prodigy – Poison". VG-lista.
  17. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100 12 March 1995 - 18 March 1995". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  18. ↑ "The Prodigy – Poison". Singles Top 100.
  19. ↑ "The Prodigy – Poison". Swiss Singles Chart.
  20. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  21. ↑ "The RM Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental insert). 25 February 1995. p. 8. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  22. ↑ "British single certifications – Prodigy – Poison". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
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