“Feed the Fire” is about her musical inspirations, mainly Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, Queen, Yes and Wendy Carlos.
The album version of the song appeared on 1991’s Warpaint, and later she recorded an “Acoustic Tribute version” with snatches of songs by Kate Bush (“Running Up That Hill”), David Bowie (“Starman”) and Yes (“Long Distance Runaround”).
Here are both versions and the lyrics (I have permission to share her songs and lyrics):
That laugh is there, I think, because the song (and Feed the Fire) could be seen as, by turns, arrogant/hopelessly optimistic/shamefully needy, whatever a person wants to read into it, I suppose it’s there. She laughs at herself. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to want to be in the company of those you admire, and to want to inspire others the way you’ve been inspired. She has the talent to be in their company and to inspire, but not the drive to climb and claw and do whatever it takes to “make it.”
Oh, man, XTC wrote a zillion of these, esp. in their early pop-punk days. Just off their debut, White Music: “Radios In Motion,” “Crosswires,” “This Is Pop,” “Dance Band,” “Traffic Light Rock,” “Instant Tunes,” “Spinning Top,” and “Neon Shuffle”. Most of these songs are about the transformative, liberating power of music, whether it’s for awkward British teens or the new generation in other countries (and esp. communist ones). The material gets better as the band, ahem, matured. From Go2: “Meccanic Dancing,” “Crowded Room,” and “The Rhythm”. From Drums & Wires: “Life Begins at the Hop”. You can look up the lyrics to one and all on the XTC fansite Chalkhills.org – Archives – Lyrics (my server is unresponsive right now, so I can’t link it, sorry).
Eric B & Rakim - Every other song Rakim did celebrated rap anmd hip. Move The Crowd, Check Out My Melody, Make 'Em Clap To This, Pump Up The Volume, Don’t Sweat The Technique