Fire Lake#Chart performance
{{for|the lake in Quebec|Fire Lake, Quebec}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Fire Lake
| cover = Bob Seger Fire Lake single.png
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
| album = Against the Wind
| B-side = Long Twin Silver Line
| released = January 1980
| recorded = 1979
| studio = Muscle Shoals (Sheffield)
| venue =
| genre = Rock, heartland rock, country rock
| length = 3:30
| label = Capitol
| writer = Bob Seger
| producer = Bob Seger and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
| prev_title = Old Time Rock and Roll
| prev_year = 1979
| next_title = Against the Wind
| next_year = 1980
}}
"Fire Lake" is a song written and recorded by the American musical artist Bob Seger. He had planned to record "Fire Lake" for his 1975 album Beautiful Loser, but the track was not finished. The song had been partly written years before, in 1971,{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} and was finally finished in 1979 and released in 1980 on Seger's album Against the Wind. The single reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.{{cite book |title= Top Pop Songs: 1961-2001|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2002 |publisher=Record Research |page=218}} A live version of the song appeared on the album Nine Tonight, released in 1981.
Background and writing
Seger and colleagues decided to make "Fire Lake" the first single from Against the Wind because it was "totally and unequivocally unlike anything I'd ever done before.""[https://landtradio.com/fire-lake/ Fire Lake]", Lamont's Music Notes Feb. 19, 2020, Lamont and Tonelli. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- "The lyric is very ... different ... and very kind of unique. It's about taking risks. About risking love, chucking it all and just heading off with a bunch of wild people, whatever.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}
- "It is one of my favorite lyrics down through the years, and the track is very unusual. It's sort of an R&B meets country kind of thing.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}
- "I really wanted it to be the first single but I never thought Capitol would agree to it, and I believe it was Punch (Andrews, Seger's manager and often co-producer) who talked them into it. What I liked about it was that it broke new ground for us. It really showed that we were unafraid to push the envelope of what we were doing before, which was basically pretty hot rock and roll, you know, with a few ballads thrown in."{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}
Reception
Music critic Maury Dean described the song as an "ominous ballad" about "4th of July fireworks".{{cite book|title=Rock 'n' Roll Gold Rush|author=Dean, Maury|author-link=Maury Dean|page=359|year=2003|publisher=Algora Publishing|isbn=087586208X}} Dean praised the song's intensity, Seger's vocal, and the "nifty" minor chords. Dean speculated that the title may not be entirely figurative, as there may be a hidden reference to a midwestern body of water which caught fire, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio. Billboard described "Fire Lake" as an "excellent song [that] is paced by acoustic guitar which lends a folk flavor" and the lyrics as describing "the subversion of small-town life."{{cite news|newspaper=Billboard Magazine|title=Top Singles Picks|access-date=2020-07-07|date=February 23, 1980|page=58|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/80s/1980/BB-1980-02-23.pdf}} Cash Box said it has "full-bodied harmonies and an easy, country-tinged melody" and praised the production.{{cite news|title=CashBox Singles Reviews|date=February 23, 1980|page=13|newspaper=Cash Box|accessdate=2022-01-01|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1980/CB-1980-02-23.pdf}} Record World called it "Dynamite!"{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=February 23, 1980|accessdate=2023-02-16|title=Hits of the Week|page=1|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/80s/80/RW-1980-02-23.pdf}} Classic Rock History critic Janey Roberts rated it as Seger's 14th best song.{{cite web|title=Top 20 Bob Seger songs|author=Roberts, Janey|publisher=Classic Rock History|accessdate=2023-01-22|url=https://www.classicrockhistory.com/best-bob-seger-songs/}}
Production
Three of the Eagles provided the backing vocals for this track: Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit. Seger's recording engineer David Cole refers to the song on his website when he talks of his history with Seger: "I was there when the Eagles sang 'Who wants to go to Fire Lake?' and many other great moments during the Stranger in Town album".{{cite web|access-date=24 May 2014 |url=http://www.davidcolemusic.com/ |title=David Cole homepage |publisher=Davidcolemusic.com}}
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Seger's 2003 Greatest Hits 2 compilation.{{cite AV media notes |title=Greatest Hits 2 |others=Bob Seger |year=2003 |type=CD |publisher=Capitol Records |id=CDP 7243 8 52772 0 7}}
- Bob Seger – lead vocals
- Barry Beckett – piano
- Pete Carr – lead guitar, acoustic guitar
- Roger Hawkins – drums, percussion
- David Hood – bass
- Jimmy Johnson – rhythm guitar
- Randy McCormick – organ
Additional musicians
- Glenn Frey – harmony vocals
- Don Henley – harmony vocals
- Timothy B. Schmit – harmony vocals
Chart performance
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=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1980)
!Peak |
|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report{{cite book |last=Kent |first=David |author-link=David Kent (historian) |title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 |year=1993 |publisher=Australian Chart Book |isbn=0-646-11917-6}}
| style="text-align:center;"|57 |
| Belgian VRT Top 30
| style="text-align:center;"|21 |
| {{singlechart|Canadatopsingles|3|chartid=0153a|access-date=7 December 2024}} |
| {{singlechart|Canadaadultcontemporary|4|chartid=0166|access-date=7 December 2024}} |
| Dutch Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|26 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|18 |
| {{singlechart|Billboardhot100|6|artist=Bob Seger|access-date=7 December 2024}} |
| {{singlechart|Billboardadultcontemporary|31|artist=Bob Seger|access-date=7 December 2024}} |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
{{col-end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Bob Seger}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Songs written by Bob Seger