I'm on Fire

"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
Recorded	May 11, 1982
Studio	The Power Station, New York City
Genre	Rock[1] soft rock rockabilly dream pop[2]
Length	2:37
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Bruce Springsteen
Producer(s)	Jon Landau Chuck Plotkin Bruce Springsteen Steven Van Zandt
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

"I'm on Fire" is a 1985 song by Bruce Springsteen and taken from his seventh studio album Born in the U.S.A.. It went to number 1 in Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands, number 5 in the United Kingdom, number 6 in the United States, number 10 in Austria and New Zealand, number 12 in Australia and Canada, number 13 in Italy, number 15 in Switzerland, number 16 in Germany and number 20 in Sweden.

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.

References

1. "Bruce Springsteen's 10 best songs". Faroutmagazine.co.uk. March 5, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
2. 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.