I'm on Fire

"I'm on Fire" is a song written and performed by American rock performer Bruce Springsteen. Released in 1985, it was the fourth single from his album Born in the U.S.A.[5]

For other uses, see I'm on Fire (disambiguation).

"I'm on Fire"
Single by Bruce Springsteen
from the album Born in the U.S.A.
B-side"Johnny Bye Bye"
ReleasedFebruary 6, 1985
RecordedMay 11, 1982
StudioThe Power Station, New York City
Genre
Length2:37
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bruce Springsteen
Producer(s)
Bruce Springsteen singles chronology
"Born in the U.S.A."
(1984)		 "I'm on Fire"
(1985)		 "Glory Days"
(1985)
Music video
"I'm on Fire" on YouTube

History

"I'm on Fire" was first recorded in January 1982 during the first wave of Born in the U.S.A. sessions, but the album version and the single was cut on May 11, 1982, at The Power Station.[6] This took place in impromptu fashion when Springsteen started making up a slow tune on guitar for some lyrics he had, some of which had been written for "Spanish Eyes", which would later surface on The Promise, 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.

Cash Box said that the song is "at once a quiet and tense tune of pent up desire."[7]

The song peaked at No. 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. The single also reached No. 1 in the Netherlands for 3 weeks in July and August 1985, while two other Springsteen singles ("Dancing in the Dark" and "Born in the U.S.A.") were also in the top ten. This marked the first time for an artist to have as many as three singles inside the Dutch top ten since the Beatles did so in 1965.[8]

Music video

The music video for the song was shot in March 1985 in Los Angeles, and was directed by filmmaker John Sayles.[9] Unlike the previous videos from the album, the video was not a performance clip, but rather a dramatic interpretation of the song's themes.

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 does the work. She leaves a small bunch of keys with him when she leaves in her car, possibly including house keys implying that she wishes to start an affair with him, but declines his offer to bring the car out to her house when it's ready. Later that night, he drives the car up to her mansion high in the hills above the city. He looks to a second floor window with the light on and is about to ring the bell, when he thinks better of it and drops her keys in the mailbox next to the door. He smiles wistfully and walks away down towards the city lights below.[10]

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.

Track listing
  1. "I'm on Fire" – 2:36
  2. "Johnny Bye Bye" (Springsteen, Chuck Berry) – 1:50

The B-side of the single, "Johnny Bye Bye" - Just before he was sentenced to three years for violating the Mann Act in 1962, Chuck Berry wrote "Bye Bye Johnny", a sequel to "Johnny B. Goode", where a mother sent her musician son off to Hollywood to be a star. "She drew out all her money from the Southern Trust, and put her little boy aboard the Greyhound Bus." It was not a big hit for Berry, but Springsteen decided to use those lines in 1981, for a new song that used most of the lyrics from "Come On Let's Go Tonight", calling it "Johnny Bye-Bye". Springsteen had first started performing it in 1981 at the tail end of The River Tour. It was then recorded in April 1982 during the "Electric Nebraska" sessions. The official version was recorded on January 4, 1983, at Thrill Hill West, Los Angeles, CA, and one of the mixes was released on February 6, 1985, as the B-side to "I'm On Fire". The song appeared on preliminary song lists for inclusion on what would become Born in the U.S.A. but was ultimately left off the final album.

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 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, 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. 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.

Between 1999 and 2008, the song was only performed on eight occasions with the E Street Band: once on the Reunion Tour (June 17, 1999, Bremen), once on The Rising Tour (April 18, 2003, Ottawa) and six times on the Magic Tour. The song has made surprise return on a semi-regular basis during the European leg of the 2009 Working on a Dream tour. As of November 2009, it has been performed live 245 times.

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon:[11]

Charts

Certifications
Certifications and sales for "I'm on Fire"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[39] Gold 45,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[40] Gold 250,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[41] Gold 25,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[42] Platinum 600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[43] 2× Platinum 2,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Bruce Springsteen's 10 best songs". Faroutmagazine.co.uk. March 5, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  2. Breihan, Tom (September 28, 2020). "The Number Ones: USA For Africa's "We Are The World". Stereogum. Retrieved July 30, 2023. Bruce Springsteen's painfully horny synth-rockabilly slow-burn "I'm On Fire" peaked at #6 behind "We Are The World".
  3. Pitchfork Staff (August 24, 2015). "The 200 Best Songs of the 1980s". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 18, 2022. ...the video for "Fire" was abstract and dreamy—an impression of the music instead of an illustration of how it gets made.
  4. https://www.al.com/entertainment/2016/01/20_awesome_country_songs_by_ro.html
  5. Richard Buskin (March 2010). "Bruce Springsteen 'Born In The USA' – Classic Tracks". Sound on Sound. Retrieved March 4, 2012. Recorded with Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan, this moodily atmospheric, synth-based rockabilly track would be added to the album and released as its fourth single.
  6. Heylin, Clinton (2012). Song By Song. London: Penguin. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  7. "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. February 16, 1985. p. 9. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  8. "Top 40-lijst van week 29, 1985". Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  9. Carlin, Peter Ames (October 30, 2012). Bruce. Simon and Schuster. p. 353. ISBN 978-1-4711-1235-5. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  10. Bruce Springsteen (1986). I'm on Fire (Videotape). Sony BMG.
  11. Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (2020). Bruce Springsteen All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-78472-649-2.
  12. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 289. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Music Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and June 12, 1988.
  13. "Bruce Springsteen – I'm on Fire" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  14. "Bruce Springsteen – I'm on Fire" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  15. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0515." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  16. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 8332." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  17. "European Top 100 Singles" (PDF). Eurotipsheet. Vol. 2, no. 27. July 8, 1985. p. 12. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  18. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  19. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – I'm on Fire". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  20. "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved June 1, 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, with "I'm on fire" in the "Titolo" field, click "cerca".
  21. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 29, 1985" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  22. "Bruce Springsteen – I'm on Fire" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  23. "Bruce Springsteen – I'm on Fire". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  24. "Bruce Springsteen – I'm on Fire". Singles Top 100. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  25. "Bruce Springsteen – I'm on Fire". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  26. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  27. "Bruce Springsteen Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  28. "Bruce Springsteen Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  29. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles" (PDF). Cash Box. Vol. XLVIII, no. 45. April 20, 1985. p. 4. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  30. "Offiziellecharts.de – Bruce Springsteen – I'm On Fire" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  31. "Kent Music Report No 599 – 30 December 1985 > National Top 100 Singles for 1985". Kent Music Report. Retrieved September 30, 2020 – via Imgur.com.
  32. "Jaaroverzichten 1985". Ultratop. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  33. "RPM's Top 100 Singles of 1985". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  34. "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 1985". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  35. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1985". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  36. "1985 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 52. December 28, 1985. p. T-21.
  37. "Adult Contemporary Songs – Year-End 1985". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  38. "Top 100 Single–Jahrescharts 1985" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  39. "Danish single certifications – Bruce Springsteen – I'm on Fire". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  40. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Bruce Springsteen; 'I'm on Fire')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  41. "Italian single certifications – Bruce Springsteen – I'm on Fire" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved October 3, 2020. Select "2018" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "I'm on Fire" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  42. "British single certifications – Bruce Springsteen – I'm on Fire". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  43. "American single certifications – Bruce Springsteen – I'm on Fire". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 25, 2022.

Works cited

  • Born in the U.S.A. The World Tour (tour booklet, 1985), Tour chronology.
  • Marsh, Dave. Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s. Pantheon Books, 1987. ISBN 0-394-54668-7.
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