"Poison" is a song by The Prodigy

The Prodigy

The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...

, released as the group's ninth single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 on 6 March 1995. It was the fourth single from the album Music for the Jilted Generation

Music for the Jilted Generation

Music for the Jilted Generation is the second album by English electronic dance music band The Prodigy. The album was released through XL Recordings in July 1994...

. Maxim Reality

Maxim Reality

Keith Andrew Palmer , known by his stage name Maxim Reality or simply Maxim, is an English singer-songwriter and MC, famous for his work with electronica band The Prodigy....

 provides the vocals for this track.

The drums in the song are samples from "It's a New Day" by Skull Snaps

Skull Snaps

Skull Snaps was a funk group that released one eponymous album on the small GSF label in 1973 before disappearing. It was, in fact, the group originally known as the Diplomats, which released numerous singles between 1963 and 1970 with some success....

, "Amen Brother" by The Winstons

The Winstons

The Winstons were a 1960s funk and soul music group, based in Washington, D.C.. They are known for their 1969 recording of an EP featuring a song entitled "Color Him Father" on the A-side, and a song entitled "Amen, Brother" on the B-side. Half-way into "Amen, Brother", there is a drum solo The...

, "Heavy Soul Slinger" by Bernard Purdie

Bernard Purdie

Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie is an American session drummer, and is considered an influential and innovative exponent of funk...

, and "Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley, Your Tie's Caught" by Incredible Bongo Band

Incredible Bongo Band

The Incredible Bongo Band, also known as Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band, was a project started in 1972 by Michael Viner, a record artist manager and executive at MGM Records. Viner was called on to supplement the soundtrack to the virtually anonymous B film The Thing With Two Heads. The...

.

The music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 was directed by Walter Stern

Walter Stern (director)

-Music videos:Stern began his career directing music videos at Control, a small production company based in London.In 1993, he moved to Stigma where he first directed a promo for the band The Prodigy...

. The band performs the track in a basement

Basement

__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...

-like location. By the end of the video, the floor has turned into a mud-bath where Keith Flint

Keith Flint

Keith Charles Flint is a dancer and vocalist of the British Electronica band The Prodigy.- Early life :Flint was born in Redbridge, London, England, to Clive & Yvonne Flint and initially raised in East London; in the mid-1970s his parents moved out to Springfield, Essex, but due to his parents'...

 is mud wrestling

Mud wrestling

Mud wrestling is defined as physical confrontation that occurs in mud or a mud pit. The popular modern interpretation specifies that participants wrestle while wearing minimal clothing and usually going barefoot, with the emphasis on presenting an entertaining spectacle as opposed to physically...

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

Beavis and Butt-Head

Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...

.

The CD singles art follows a theme similar to the song: rat poison

Rat poison

Rodenticides are a category of pest control chemicals intended to kill rodents.Single feed baits are chemicals sufficiently dangerous that the first dose is sufficient to kill....

. 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.

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
  Liam Howlett
  Liam Paris Howlett known as Liam Howlett , is a member of the English band The Prodigy, occasional DJ, and a music producer.-Life and career:...
  
   and Keith Palmer
  Maxim Reality
  Keith Andrew Palmer , known by his stage name Maxim Reality or simply Maxim, is an English singer-songwriter and MC, famous for his work with electronica band The Prodigy....
  
  . Track 2 remix
  Remix
  A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
  
  ed by Liam Howlett. Track 4 remix and additional production by Environmental Science
• Track 3 written by Liam Howlett

Chart performances

"Poison" was a top five hit in Norway. The song also reached #24 in Sweden, and #23 in Switzerland.