Fire (Bruce Springsteen song)

"Fire"
Single by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
from the album Live/1975-85
B-side	"Incident on 57th Street" (live)
Released	January 1987
Format	7" single
Recorded	Winterland, San Francisco December 16, 1978
Genre	Rock
Length	2:58
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Bruce Springsteen
Producer	Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band singles chronology
"War" (1986) "Fire" (1987) "Brilliant Disguise" (1987)

For other songs of this name, see Fire (song)

"Fire" is a song written by Bruce Springsteen, written around 1977. Though written and first recorded during the troubled sessions that followed Born to Run, Springsteen's version of the song remained unreleased until his 1986 live compilation Live/1975-85.

The Live/1975-85 version of the song was released as a single in January 1987, reaching #46 on the pop charts. Springsteen's studio recording of the song remained unreleased until 2010's The Promise. In addition, "Fire" has been covered by a number of notable artists, including Robert Gordon, The Pointer Sisters, Shakin' Stevens and Cher.

Bruce Springsteen version

"Fire" was written during the troubled sessions that followed Born to Run. The song was written as a tribute to Elvis Presley, who died during the recording sessions on August 16, 1977. A studio take of "Fire" was recorded during the sessions, but would not see official release until 2010's The Promise box set.

Although he performed the song live from his 1978 tour onwards, Springsteen himself did not release his own recording of the song until his 1986 Live/1975-85 album, which contains his December 16, 1978 performance at Winterland in San Francisco. The recording was heavily edited, to eliminate Springsteen's on-stage hijinks. This version was released as a single, scoring number 46 on the U.S. pop chart. The B-side was a live version of "Incident on 57th Street".

A music video for the song was released at the time, but included a completely unrelated 1986 acoustic performance at a Bridge School Benefit concert. The song was also released on 'The Promise' and a video version appears on the associated 'The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story' as part of the Thrill Hill Vault Houston '78 Bootleg: House Cut DVD.

Robert Gordon version

"Fire"
Single by Robert Gordon with Link Wray
from the album Fresh Fish Special
B-side	"If This Is Wrong"
Released	March 1978
Format	7" single
Genre	Rock
Length	2:47
Label	Private Stock
Writer(s)	Bruce Springsteen
Producer	Richard Gottehrer, Robert Gordon

"Fire" was first released by Robert Gordon in 1978 from the album Fresh Fish Special, and the song received some modest album-oriented rock radio broadcasting with it. The single features American guitarist Link Wray.

Pointer Sisters version

"Fire"
Single by the Pointer Sisters
from the album Energy
B-side	"Love Is Like a Rolling Stone"
Released	October 1978
Format	7" single
Recorded	1978
Genre	Rock
Length	3:41
Label	Planet
Writer(s)	Bruce Springsteen
Producer	Richard Perry
Certification	Gold
the Pointer Sisters singles chronology
"I Need a Man" (1977) "Fire" (1978) "Everybody Is a Star" (1979)

The Pointer Sisters recorded "Fire" for their 1978 album, Energy, with the track, featuring Anita Pointer on lead, being issued as lead single. The inaugural single by the Pointer Sisters as the trio of Anita, June and Ruth Pointer, "Fire" brought the Pointer Sisters to a new level of success marking the group's Top Ten debut: rising as high as #2 on the Hot 100 in Billboard magazine in February 1979, "Fire" would eventually be tied by "Slow Hand" as the Pointer Sister's highest-charting single. A hit on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Adult Contemporary charts at respectively #14 and #22, "Fire" would also afford the Pointer Sisters an international chart hit, reaching #1 in Belgium, the Netherlands, South Africa and New Zealand, and charting in Australia (#7), Austria (#10), Canada (#3), Germany (#35) and the UK (#34).

Chart performance

Chart	Peak position
Austrian Top 40	10
Australian Kent Music Report	7
Belgium VRT Top 30	1
Canadian RPM Top Singles	3
Dutch Top 40	1
German Top 100	35
New Zealand RIANZ Singles	1
South African Top 30	1
UK Singles Chart	34
US Billboard Hot 100	2
US Billboard R&B Singles	14
US Billboard Adult Contemporary	21

Preceded by "Chiquitita" by ABBA	Dutch Top 40 number-one single March 10, 1979 - March 31, 1979	Succeeded by "Lay Your Love on Me" by Racey
Preceded by "Y.M.C.A." by Village People	New Zealand RIANZ Top 40 number one single March 11, 1979	Succeeded by "Tragedy" by Bee Gees

Other notable cover versions

Shakin' Stevens had an early single release with it in 1978 as a B-Side to his early single "Endless Sleep". It was swapped to the A-Side within a very scarce Dutch picture sleeve pressing of the single, which now is valued at £200+. A number of other artists covered the song in the 1990s and 2000s. Cher performed the song on the "Love Hurts Tour" in 1992. Enrique Iglesias and Tom Jones performed the song live, but did not include it in any album. The fictitious Austrian artist Kurt Ostbahn (played by musician Willi Resetarits) made a German cover of the song called "Feuer" (The word "fire" sounds similar in Viennese dialect) in the year 1985. A cover version of "Fire" was recorded by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Des'ree for the soundtrack of the 1998 motion picture Hav Plenty. This particular version has a beat that makes it suitable for dancing Bachata.

Link Wray, rockabilly guitarist who played on the Robert Gordon version, released his own version on his 1997 live album Walkin' Down A Street Called Love. In 2001, contemporary jazz guitarist Chuck Loeb covered the song on his release In a Heartbeat.

In popular culture

In a famous stand-up routine, Robin Williams performed the song as if it were sung by Elmer Fudd.

Kristin Chenoweth and Matthew Morrison, in character as April Rhodes and Will Schuester respectively, sing "Fire" as a duet in the Glee episode "Home".