Working with Fire and Steel (song)

{{Infobox song

| name = Working with Fire and Steel

| cover = WorkingwithFireandSteel.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| album = Working with Fire and Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume Two

| released = {{Start date|1983|10|3|df=yes}}{{cite magazine|date=1 October 1983|title=New Crisis|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Number-One/1983/No1-1983-10-01-OCR.pdf|magazine=Number One|page=5|access-date=16 August 2022}}

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = New wave

| length = 3:41

| label = Virgin

| writer = * Gary Daly

Eddie Lundon

| producer = Mike Howlett

| chronology = China Crisis

| prev_title = Tragedy and Mystery

| prev_year = 1983

| next_title = Wishful Thinking

| next_year = 1983

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|srhAmIgvL54|"Working with Fire and Steel"}}

}}}}

"Working with Fire and Steel" is a song by the English new wave band China Crisis, released as the second single from their second studio album Working with Fire and Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume Two (1983). It peaked at No. 48 on the UK singles chart{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19709/china-crisis/ |title=CHINA CRISIS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company |website=Officialcharts.com |date=2016-01-04 |accessdate=2016-04-12}} and at No. 47 in Australia.{{Cite book|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 |last=Kent |first=David |authorlink=David Kent (historian) |publisher=Australian Chart Book |location=St Ives, NSW |year=1993 |isbn=0-646-11917-6}} It was also a hit on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart where it reached No. 27.[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/china-crisis-mn0000773392/awards China Crisis Awards] Allmusic.com

Critical reception

Spin said the song was, "pop in every sense of the word" but the meaning was, "too precious and couched in metaphor and the whole mix was too crowded with different sounds and instruments to be considered strictly pop. It was more than the average listener could decipher while watching MTV or tuning his car radio."{{cite magazine| magazine= Spin | title=Spins|author=Steve Matteo| date=October 1985|issue=6|page=31}}