Released 1973 | Length 5:19 | |
Genre Art rock, glam rock, noise rock | ||
"Baby's on Fire" is the third track on English musician Brian Eno's 1973 debut album, Here Come the Warm Jets. It is praised for its guitar solo by King Crimson founder Robert Fripp.
Contents
Writing and recording
Eno recorded "Baby's on Fire" during the Here Come the Warm Jets sessions in September 1973 at Majestic Studios, London, where he had previously recorded the majority of his earlier material. The track was produced by Eno, who handled production and mixing duties on the bulk of the album's recording, and was created with musicians Simon King, Marty Simon, Robert Fripp, Paul Rudolph, and John Wetton. The song is a bizarre fantasy about a photography session involving a burning infant and unthinking, laughing onlookers.
Live recordings of the song have appeared on various Eno recordings, the first being June 1, 1974, performed with Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Ollie Halsall and Eddie Sparrow. Eno spoke positively about this performance, saying, "The instruments were incredibly out of tune, so out of tune you wouldn’t believe it. But it sounds fantastic. There’s one little bit in it where there’s a riff between the guitar and one of the bassists, and they’re so out of tune it sounds like cellos. Amazing! I mean if you tried to make that sound in the studio it would have taken you ages. You wouldn’t have thought of making it, in fact, it’s such a bizarre sound. And the piano and guitar are quite well out of tune as well. Ha!"
Musical composition
The album version of "Baby's on Fire" is 5 minutes 19 seconds long. The song begins with a tense high-hat and bass line, along several different kinds of electronic sounds. Eno's vocals enter after this, being described as "nasal" and "slightly snotty." Following this first section of lyrics there is a 2 minute, 59 second guitar solo by Robert Fripp with shifting drum beats as backing; Eno's vocal returns as the song ends. The last line sung by Eno is, "The temperature's rising, and any idiot would know that." In the 801 Live version performed by 801, the last line says, "But any idiot could see that!"
Release and reception
"Baby's on Fire" has received positive reviews from critics, mainly noting the guitar solo. Douglas Wolk of Blender described the song as "a two-note wonder built around an all-hell-breaks-loose guitar meltdown by King Crimson’s Robert Fripp", while Chris Ott of Pitchfork Media called the track "earth-shattering". "Baby's on Fire" was featured prominently in the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine., with vocals provided by the film's star, Jonathan Rhys Meyers. There has been discussion in the last decade as to whether the solo is actually Paul Rudolph, or some combination of Fripp and Rudolph.