Ibiza

Album: The Day Is My Enemy (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Jason Williamson of the Nottingham post-punk/hip-hop duo Sleaford Mods contributes vocals to this track, which lays into superstar DJ culture. The song was inspired by what keyboardist/producer Liam Howlett observed when The Prodigy did a gig in Ibiza. "I'm not a great fan of the place, but it isn't an attack on the island, it's an attack on these mindless f--king jokers that arrive in their Learjets, pull a USB stick out of their pockets, plug it in and wave their hands in the air to a pre-programmed mix," he explained to The Guardian.

    "I can't name names, but our lighting guy pulled out a CD, and said this is blah blah blah's set, and I'm like, 'What do you mean?' Turns out that our lighting guy plays it from the front of house while this DJ is onstage pretending to push buttons," Howlett continued. "Maybe I'm an angry person, but I was infuriated by this laziness. What's all that s--t about? You can't build a scene around that, it's never going to last or be credible."
  • The collaboration with Williamson came about in late 2014, when Howlett was roughly three-quarters of the way through making The Day Is My Enemy. "I just needed to do something else," he told NME. "Put my head out. I'd been checking the Sleaford Mods for ages, and I felt like we had an energy in common, that it could work out. So I sent him the beat – I knew he would like the beat – then we were off."
  • The song's music video is set inside a travel agent's office and stars The Prodigy's Keith Flint and Williamson. "It's a bit of an attack in the travel agents," Howlett told NME. "It revolves around this guy who is an OCD character behind the desk. It's basically him trying to sell us the dream of Ibiza. He keeps getting upset, because things keep getting moved on his desk. Things get smashed up."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Top American Idol Moments: Songs And Scandals

Top American Idol Moments: Songs And ScandalsSong Writing

Surprise exits, a catfight and some very memorable performances make our list of the most memorable Idol moments.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys

Mike Scott of The WaterboysSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Whole Of The Moon" and "Red Army Blues," and why rock music has "outlived its era of innovation."

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Lip-Synch Rebels

Lip-Synch RebelsSong Writing

What happens when Kurt Cobain, Iron Maiden and Johnny Lydon are told to lip-synch? Some hilarious "performances."

Michael Bolton

Michael BoltonSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete BlondeSongwriter Interviews

The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."