"Fire On Babylon" is about Sinéad O'Connor's mother, a common topic in her songs. O'Connor has accused her mother, who died in 1985, of abusing her and her siblings. In this song, she levels another accusation when she sings: "Look what she did to her son."
"It had to do with something I found out she'd done to one of my brothers that just really made me angry," O'Connor explained in her memoir Rememberings. "Truth to tell, it's very hard for me to get angry about my mother. It's the way I've survived. I've convinced myself she didn't know what she was doing. People will do that, but of course, I've misplaced that anger and it might be more mature for me to accept it."
The song was released as a single from O'Connor's fourth album, Universal Mother. By this time, she had burned many bridges in the industry, so she had trouble getting radio play or positive publicity. In 1990, she had a huge hit with "Nothing Compares 2 U," a song from her second album, which made her a global star. But she kicked back against the notoriety and became more political, veering as far from pop stardom as she could. Her next album, released in 1992, was a collection of covers called Am I Not Your Girl? By the time Universal Mother came out in 1994, her star had fallen, which was fine with her. She still had enough fans to get the album on the charts in many countries.
O'Connor wrote the song with John Reynolds, her first husband and the father of her first child. They divorced in 1991 but shared a lasting bond and kept working together. He also produced the track (along with O'Connor and Tim Simenon) and played drums on it. Michel Gondry directed the music video, which shows O'Connor in what looks like a doll house as she shares screen time with her younger self. At one point, she presents her mother with a birthday cake that catches fire, a symbol of her resentment. Gondry has many very clever videos with bright colors and shifting perspectives. Others include "Everlong" by Foo Fighters and "Human Behaviour" by Björk.
A few things were different about O'Connor on the Universal Mother album. For one, she had hair. Not a lot, but enough to cover her head. Also, she sang in her Irish accent instead of suppressing it like she had done before. The trumpet riff is a sample of "Dr. Jekyll," a 1958 track by jazz great Miles Davis. From: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/sinead-oconnor/fire-on-babylon
