The Prodigy first emerged in the underground rave scene in the early 1990s and achieved popularity and worldwide recognition with UK number one singles such as "Firestarter" and "Breathe", both singles coming from their UK and US chart topping album The Fat of the Land (1997). A third single from the album, “Smack My Bitch Up”, was also successful. They earned titles like "the premiere dance act for the alternative masses" and "the Godfathers of Rave", and remain one of the most successful electronic acts of all time. They have sold an estimated 25 million records worldwide, and won numerous music awards during their career, including two Brit Awards for Best British Dance Act, three MTV Video Music Awards, two Kerrang! Awards, five MTV Europe Music Awards, and received two Grammy Award nominations.
The Prodigy were founded in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by keyboardist and songwriter Liam Howlett. He had taken piano lessons in his youth and gained the ability to play difficult passages in just a few run-throughs. After he decided to pursue a music career, Howlett met dancer and vocalist Keith Flint in mid-1989 at a rave at which Howlett was DJing. After Flint requested Howlett make a mix tape for him, Howlett obliged, returning a cassette several days later with a collection of his own songs on the other side. Howlett had scratched the word "Prodigy" onto the cassette, the same name as the Moog Prodigy analogue synthesiser, and Howlett's moniker. The tape was well-received by Flint and keyboardist Leeroy Thornhill who developed new dance sequences to the music and suggested to Howlett they begin a group together. They were soon joined by MC and vocalist Maxim, then known as Maxim Reality, and female dancer and vocalist Sharky, a friend of Flint's. Together they became the first line-up of the Prodigy.
On 4 March 2019, Keith Flint was found dead at his home in Essex, just weeks after playing six live dates in Australia and New Zealand. On 5 March, the band announced on Twitter that "all forthcoming concerts in 2019 would be canceled, effective immediately".
Following Flint's death, fans began using the Twitter hashtag "Firestarter4Number1" on various social media platforms to get "Firestarter" to top the British singles charts again. This was done out of respect for Keith Flint and to raise awareness of suicide among men.
On 20 August 2019, one day before his 48th birthday, Liam Howlett posted on the band's official Instagram page, saying he is "back in the studio making noise [...] brand new Prodigy tunes are gonna roll", referring to his intention to keep on releasing music under the Prodigy moniker.
Along with the Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim, the Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s. The Prodigy, however, is not considered entirely representative of the genre as their production "often reflected the more intelligent edge of trip-hop, and rarely broke into the mindless arena of true big beat" according to AllMusic. The Prodigy are also considered alternative dance, techno, electronica, breakbeat hardcore, and rave.
Liam Howlett cited early electro as a big influence, mentioning tunes like "Clear" by American music group Cybotron and "Al Naafiysh" by Hashim. Liam Howlett also cited The Bomb Squad, Public Enemy, and Rage Against the Machine as influences.
Medicine
The Prodigy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The medicine we're delivering
The medicine we're delivering
(The medicine we're delivering)
A spoonful of sugar just to sweeten the taste
Just to keep you in your place
A spoonful of sugar just to sweeten the taste
Just to keep you in your place
Just to keep you in your place
Never surrender, in sickness
Never surrender, in sickness
Never surrender, in sickness
The medicine we're delivering
The medicine we're delivering
The medicine we're delivering
(The medicine we're delivering)
A spoonful of sugar just to sweeten the taste
Just to keep you in your place
A spoonful of sugar just to sweeten the taste
Just to keep you in your place
Just to keep you in your place
Just to keep you in your place
Never surrender, in sickness
Never surrender, in sickness
Never surrender, in sickness
Just to keep you in your place
Just to keep you in your place
Just to keep you in your place
Just to keep you in your place
The medicine we're delivering
The medicine we're delivering
The medicine we're delivering
(The medicine we're delivering)
A spoonful of sugar just to sweeten the taste
Just to keep you in your place
A spoonful of sugar just to sweeten the taste
Just to keep you in your place
Just to keep you in your place
Just to keep you in your place
The Prodigy's song Medicine presents a rather cynical view of the pharmaceutical industry and its practices. The lyrics suggest that medicine is just a product that is designed to keep people in their place, rather than a solution to alleviate illness. The repetition of "The medicine we're delivering" emphasizes the idea of a mass-produced product, delivered without much thought or care for individual patients' needs.
The line "A spoonful of sugar just to sweeten the taste" seems to refer to the way in which pills are often coated in sugar or other sweeteners to make them more palatable, despite the fact that the active ingredients may be unpleasant or have side effects. The following line, "Just to keep you in your place," implies that medicine is used to control people and keep them passive and compliant.
Overall, the song suggests that the pharmaceutical industry is geared more towards profit than healing, and that patients are often treated as mere consumers rather than individuals with unique needs and concerns.
Line by Line Meaning
The medicine we're delivering
We are providing medical treatment to you
The medicine we're delivering
We are providing medical treatment to you
The medicine we're delivering
We are providing medical treatment to you
(The medicine we're delivering)
We want to emphasize that we are providing medical treatment to you
A spoonful of sugar just to sweeten the taste
We are adding a small amount of something sweet to the medication to make it more palatable
Just to keep you in your place
We want you to comply with the treatment and not resist it
A spoonful of sugar just to sweeten the taste
We are adding a small amount of something sweet to the medication to make it more palatable
Just to keep you in your place
We want you to comply with the treatment and not resist it
Just to keep you in your place
We want you to comply with the treatment and not resist it
Just to keep you in your place
We want you to comply with the treatment and not resist it
Never surrender, in sickness
Do not give up on getting better even when it is difficult
Never surrender, in sickness
Do not give up on getting better even when it is difficult
Never surrender, in sickness
Do not give up on getting better even when it is difficult
The medicine we're delivering
We are providing medical treatment to you
The medicine we're delivering
We are providing medical treatment to you
The medicine we're delivering
We are providing medical treatment to you
(The medicine we're delivering)
We want to emphasize that we are providing medical treatment to you
A spoonful of sugar just to sweeten the taste
We are adding a small amount of something sweet to the medication to make it more palatable
Just to keep you in your place
We want you to comply with the treatment and not resist it
A spoonful of sugar just to sweeten the taste
We are adding a small amount of something sweet to the medication to make it more palatable
Just to keep you in your place
We want you to comply with the treatment and not resist it
Just to keep you in your place
We want you to comply with the treatment and not resist it
Just to keep you in your place
We want you to comply with the treatment and not resist it
Contributed by Joseph L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
TheMajin7
This is EXCELLENT! I like it more everytime I hear it. IMO out of all the songs on this great album, this is the one with most ... how could I say it? ... Swag xD
One of the best from the new album!
I'd say the Top 5 are, in no particular order:
- Wild Frontier
- TDIME
- Medicine
- Destroy
- Rok Weiler
Matīss Liepa
this song puts me back to 90's. Prodigy Forever 🤟
Trifon Statkov
One of the rare cases of fresh sound in the past 18 years.
Cat Cheshire
Нет слов... Приятная вещь
Валерия Атанасова
Man they should've played this when they were in Bulgaria, the crowd would have gone nuts
satelitetvbulgaria
Was about to say that as well... :/
Αδάμ Μιχαλίτσης
fake fan lena You should see the reactions it would have in Greece.
Dominga Doflaminga
They did in Sea Dance 2015 (Montenegro)
Razor M
fake fan lena I need to get my medicine after listening to this xd
Django Flaherty
Two tracks in and this album sounds like classic Prodigy. Wish I'd checked it out sooner!
Robbie Hall
This is my fav on the album! I'm going to see them for the first time live next week! CAN'T WAIT! Hope they play this track!!!!! :)