♫ I’m On Fire ♫

Posted on by under music

I had an Elton song in my head, but a look back at the last month shows that I played Elton just two weeks ago, so I made a note and took a look at my growing list of songs to play.  I saw this one that was mentioned by Dweezer a month or two ago, and decided to go with it.  This one’s for you, Cheryl!

Bruce Springsteen came up with this song in the studio during recording sessions in early 1982. He was playing around with a slow Johnny Cash rhythm which he put to some lyrics he had already written. The song was recorded in May 1982, and originally intended for the Nebraska album, but it was not released until Born In The U.S.A. was finished in 1984.

Springsteen, pianist Roy Bittan, and drummer Max Weinberg recorded the first version of this song themselves because the rest of the band was taking a break when inspiration struck.  This was the fourth of seven US Top 10 singles from the Born In The U.S.A. album.

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, the video was not a performance clip, but rather a dramatic interpretation of the song’s themes.  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.

An interesting side note:  Many radio stations stopped playing this after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US. The image of fire was considered too sensitive.  Seems a bit odd, but what do I know?

I’m On Fire
Bruce Springsteen

Hey little girl, is your daddy home?
Did he go and leave you all alone?
I got a bad desire
Oh oh oh, I’m on fire

Tell me now, baby, is he good to you?
Can do to you the things that I can’t do?
I can take you higher
Oh oh oh, I’m on fire

Sometimes it’s like someone took a knife, baby
Edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley
Through the middle of my soul

At night I wake up with the sheets soakin’ wet
And a freight train running through the middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire
Oh oh oh, I’m on fire

Oh oh oh, I’m on fire
Oh oh oh, I’m on fire
Oh oh oh, I’m on fire

Songwriters: Bruce Springsteen
I’m On Fire lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing

25 thoughts on “♫ I’m On Fire ♫”

  1. I never understood the attraction of music videos. Guess I come from a different generation, a different era! This song is over before it starts. Bu each to their own…
    Springsteen, or Mellencamp, never spoke to my soul. But Ring of Fire and I’m on Fire, mighty similar…

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    • I like some music videos, but I’m partial to the ones that simply show the group performing for an audience. I like the energy in those. Unfortunately, sometimes the sound quality is lacking.

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      • Yeah, the live set-up has to be perfect, and seldom is. But much better than an artsy-fartsy video. Seems to me you don’t like funk, but if you do, check out the video of Paint It Black by Eric Burdon and War. 12 minutes of sheer on-stage fun and energy. A real masterpiece.

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        • You’re right that I’m not a fan of funk, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I think i remember liking Paint It Black … I will definitely check it out later this evening … I’ll let you know what I think.

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          • Mostly is good. 🙂
            Your (non) friend the Tramp, on visit to the UK just practically insulted Theresa May. (he would have negotiated better). Involved himself in the politics of the European Union telling the Brits they should leave without a deal and not pay what they owe. That’s what he would have done. (Of course, leaving without paying) And that Boris (Judas) Johnson would make an excellent UK Prime Minister. If that is not interference I don’t know what is.
            Please, please, pretty please, please, fire him. 😉

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            • If I could, my friend, I would fire him in a heartbeat. At the very least, I would lock him in the White House and never let him darken the shores of the UK or any of our allies. I did a post yesterday about his visit, but since then I read in The Guardian that he is planning to try to make the UK’s National Health Service a part of any trade agreement! I was incensed! It’s not bad enough that he is trying to take health care away from us here in the U.S., but now he wants to do the same in the UK? What the Sam Hell does this ‘man’ think he is???? I wish … I wish I could say what I wish would happen to him, but I don’t need the men in dark glasses pounding my door down tomorrow. Sigh.

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              • NHS a part of any trade agreement? He is a crook. What I don’t understand is why idiot Europeans keep inviting him? To be insulted? He just insulted Sadiq Khan. I guess he will insult Macron and Merckel before the week is over. I want to put forth the proposition to suspend him from the G7… 😉 (Him. Not the US)

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                • I know he’s a crook, you know he’s a crook, and even his base knows he’s a crook. That, I think, is part of what motivates them … a crook and a liar, and look … he ended up in the White House! European leaders keep inviting him for two reasons: trade and security. He claims they ‘love’ him … you can bet your last dollar that they only barely tolerate him. He has already insulted Ms. Merkel, Ms. May, Macron and others. Don’t ask yourself how much more can he possibly do, for you won’t like the answer.

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                    • He is indeed a coward. He is the schoolyard bully who terrorizes the smaller kids, but let a bigger kid come kick some dirt in his face, and he runs crying home to mama. Sigh. Can we be rid of him now, please? I don’t know for what we are being punished, but we have had enough!

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                    • Democrats need to get their sh… (act) together. But it doesn’t look like it. They have no platform. They still don’t talk to ALL Americans, only to minorities. 23 candidates? Are you kidding me? That is probably as many candidates as registered minorities. 😦
                      I had suggested a slogan on another blog you may have seen:
                      “Democrats, we care for all Americans”. (Spread it around) 🙂

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                    • You’re so right! It is concerning that Trump and the question of impeachment are leaving little room for anything else in the day-to-day dialog. And, democrats are split on the impeachment issue that they are eating their young, so to speak. It does not bode well for next year’s elections, but if Trump has his way, those may be canceled anyway. 😦 That is an excellent slogan! Some days I feel as if this nation is spinning out of control.

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                    • Impeachment is besides the point. They need to do two things: 1) Fight him on every decree. Balance of powers. Make him sweat every word he writes. 2) Design a platform for ALL Americans. (And not leave the 23 candidates do it, that will only lead to more fragmentation)

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                    • I cannot argue any of your points. We need to force him to be accountable, to put the brakes on his ‘executive orders’, but Congress seems almost unable to make up its mind to act, and unfortunately, many of them are already in campaigning mode for an election that is almost 17 months away, and that seems to take precedence over actually doing their job. They all seem more concerned with how it will affect their elections next year than how to save the country this year. Some of those 23 will start being culled from the herd this month, but … I think it will come down to between 6-10, which is still too many.

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