I'm on Fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “I'm on Fire” | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||||
| Single by Bruce Springsteen from the album Born in the U.S.A. |
||||||||||||
| B-side | "Johnny Bye Bye" | |||||||||||
| Released | February 6, 1985 | |||||||||||
| Format | 7" single | |||||||||||
| Recorded | February 1982 | |||||||||||
| Genre | Rock | |||||||||||
| Length | 2:37 | |||||||||||
| Label | Columbia Records | |||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Bruce Springsteen | |||||||||||
| Producer | Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt | |||||||||||
| Bruce Springsteen singles chronology | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
"I'm on Fire" is a song written and performed by American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. In 1985 it became the fourth single released from his massively successful album Born in the U.S.A..
Contents |
[edit] History
"I'm on Fire" was recorded in February 1982 during the first wave of Born in the U.S.A. sessions. This took place in impromptu fashion when Springsteen started making up a slow tune on guitar for some lyrics he had, and drummer Max Weinberg and keyboardist Roy Bittan, hearing it for the first time, created an accompaniment on the spot. The result was a moody number that merges a soft rockabilly beat, lyrics built around sexual tension, and synthesizers into an effective whole; it was one of the first uses of that instrument in Springsteen's music.
The song peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles charts in early 1985. It was the fourth of a record-tying seven Top 10 hit singles to be released from Born in the U.S.A.
Unlike the first three singles from the album, no remixes were made for "I'm on Fire" (nor were any made for any of the subsequent singles released).
[edit] Chart performance
| Country | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia | 12 |
| The Netherlands | 1[1] |
| United Kingdom | 5 |
| United States | 6 |
[edit] Music video
The music video for the song was shot in March 1985 in Los Angeles, and was directed by filmmaker John Sayles. Unlike the previous videos from the album, this video was not a performance clip but rather portrayed a dramatic storyline that alluded to some of the song's emotions. In it, Springsteen plays a working class automobile mechanic with an attractive, married, very well-to-do, mostly unseen female customer who brings her vintage Ford Thunderbird in for frequent servicing, always requesting that he do the work. She gives him all her keys, not just the ones for the car. Later that night, he drives the T-Bird up to her mansion high in the hills above the city. He is about to ring the bell, when he thinks better of it, smiles wistfully, drops her keys in the mailbox next to the door and walks away down towards the lights below.[2]
The video began airing in mid-April, received extensive MTV airplay, and later in the year won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video.
[edit] Track listing
- I'm on Fire - 2:36
- Johnny Bye Bye (Springsteen, Chuck Berry) - 1:50
The B-side of the single, "Johnny Bye Bye", was an adaptation of Chuck Berry's "Bye Bye Johnny" that focused on the death of Elvis Presley. Springsteen had first started performing it in 1981 at the tail end of The River Tour. It was then recorded in early 1983 during the second phase of the Born in the U.S.A. recording sessions, but never considered for inclusion on the album.
[edit] Live performance history
"I'm on Fire" was performed only sporadically at the start of the Born in the U.S.A. Tour, but a couple of months later, it settled into a regular place in the middle of the second set. It was usually preceded by a long musical introduction, during which Springsteen spoke about not being able to sleep at night back when he was young and his parents were struggling and the house was cold. The song was also given an extended coda of Springsteen's moans against waves of synthesizer. Such a rendition from an August 19, 1985 performance at Giants Stadium is included on the Live/1975-85 box set, but with the spoken part of the introduction edited out.
In some cases, unsubtle red lighting from stage floor focused on Springsteen's face was used to further accentuate the song. On the Tunnel of Love Express, the song was still a regular, and it evoked reactions ranging from young female fans squealing in admiration to drunken males making too much noise and being castigated by The Boss. On the Human Rights Now! Tour, Springsteen conducted crowd sing-alongs during the chorus and coda parts. After some appearances on the "Other Band" Tour, the song went into a long retirement, not emerging again until occasional performances on 2005's solo Devils & Dust Tour, when he performed it on banjo with the red lighting back.
[edit] Interpretations
Writer Stan Ripley of Guitar World magazine stated that the song could be interpreted as a pedophiliac ballad: "The referring to the woman as 'little girl', asking if 'daddy's home', and a 'bad desire' all paint a picture of a man tormented by his dreams, waking up in sweats, knowing what he wants is wrong."
[edit] Other renditions
Heather Nova is known to perform an aethereal version at her live shows, often at the end of the set. It can be heard as the last track of her 2000 live album Wonderlust. She also performed the song as a duet with Sarah McLachlan during Lilith Fair.
Tori Amos covered the song in concert and on the television program and CD release VH1 Crossroads (1996).
Johnny Cash did a famous cover version for the tribute album Badlands: A tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska (2000).
Electrelane has covered the song live. It appears as a B-side on the On Parade single and their 2006 compilation album Singles, B-Sides & Live.
Big Country covered this song live on their 1996 album Eclectic.
Natasha Khan of Bat for Lashes also covered the song live and is a bonus track on her 2006 debut album Fur and Gold.
Jack's Mannequin did a cover of the song for AP on April 10, 2007.
New Zealand band HLAH (Head Like A Hole) did a cover of the song.
Tim Hawkins parodied the song on his album Extremely Madeover.
Greg Dulli performed the song as a lead in to "The Killer" in Israel during the 2006 Twilight Singers tour in the first encore.
Blitzkid performs the song whenever they come to New Jersey.
Chromatics covered the song in 2007. [3]
Bat For Lashes have covered the song live, as well as including it as a bonus track on their début album Fur and Gold.
Ari Hest often performs the song live.
[edit] References
- Born in the U.S.A. The World Tour (tour booklet, 1985), Tour chronology.</ref>
- Marsh, Dave. Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s. Pantheon Books, 1987. ISBN 0-394-54668-7.</ref>
- ^ De Nederlandse Top 40, week 29, 1985. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
- ^ Bruce Springsteen. (1986). I'm on Fire [Videotape]. Sony BMG.
- ^ Pitchfork Forkcast: New Music: Chromatics: "I'm On Fire" (Bruce Springsteen cover) [MP3/Stream]
