Great prompts for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, hosted by Jim Adams. Cool, Freeze, Heat and Melt. There will be a lot of interesting songs chosen today. My pick is Girl on Fire from the fantastic and very talented Alicia Keys.
“Girl on Fire” is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her fifth studio album of the same name. Keys co-wrote and co-produced the R&B ballad with Jeff Bhasker and Salaam Remi. The song contains an interpolation of the drums from the 1980 song “The Big Beat” by American rock guitarist Billy Squier, who received a writing credit on “Girl on Fire”. Released on September 4, 2012, as the lead single from the album of the same name, “Girl on Fire” is Keys’ first release under RCA Records following the closure of J Records, after a reorganization at Sony Music Entertainment.
“Girl on Fire” was inspired by Keys’ giving birth to her son Egypt and marriage to husband Swizz Beatz. Keys recorded a three-track suite for the song, consisting of the main version in addition to two remixes. The first remix, titled “Inferno”, adds two new verses from American hip hop artist Nicki Minaj, whilst the second mix titled “Bluelight” strips back the drums and piano leaving a sparse bass-led production and re-recorded “smokey” vocals. “Girl on Fire” opened to extremely positive reviews from critics, with many praising Keys’ vocals and the song’s production. Keys performed “Girl on Fire” for the first time at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards on September 6, 2012, where she was joined by Minaj and American gymnastics gold-medalist Gabby Douglas. The song has sold over 4 million paid downloads in the United States.
The following January Alicia Keys changed the word slightly and performed the song as “Obama is on Fire” and played it at his second inauguration.
Lyrics She's just a girl, and she's on fire Hotter than a fantasy, longer like a highway She's living in a world, and it's on fire Feeling the catastrophe, but she knows she can fly away Oh, she got both feet on the ground And she's burning it down Oh, she got her head in the clouds And she's not backing down This girl is on fire This girl is on fire She's walking on fire This girl is on fire Looks like a girl, but she's a flame So bright, she can burn your eyes Better look the other way You can try but you'll never forget her name She's on top of the world Hottest of the hottest girls say Oh, we got our feet on the ground And we're burning it down Oh, got our head in the clouds And we're not coming down This girl is on fire This girl is on fire She's walking on fire This girl is on fire Everybody stands, as she goes by Cause they can see the flame that's in her eyes Watch her when she's lighting up the night Nobody knows that she's a lonely girl And it's a lonely world But she gon' let it burn, baby, burn, baby This girl is on fire This girl is on fire She's walking on fire This girl is on fire Oh, oh, oh, She's just a girl, and she's on fireWriter/s: Jeff Bhasker, Alicia Augello-Cook, Salaam Remi, Billy Squire, Nicki Minaj Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Spirit Music Group Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind
Awesome choice, Christine, and kudos for this version! 😉👍
Aww thanks Felicia! 🥰
Fantastic song and video! I really like the scenes with the family. I’m sure I’ve heard it before, but didn’t remember who sang it. Thanks so much. 🙂
Thank you! I love this song and video🙂
I was just listening to this last night – brilliant track!
Thanks Mel. It’s superb! 🙂
Great song! Alicia Keys is amazeballs.
She certainly is! I’m happy you liked it ☺️
Fan-freaking-tastic! <3. Absolutely love this song.
Thanks Jilly. It’s a great song ☺️
YESSSSS! Love Alicia Keys! 🙂
Yes, what’s not to like ☺️💕
A great song that celebrated achievements of women everywhere and the parody that credits Obama is pretty cool. I think you are right about this prompt bringing out a lot of interesting songs today Christine.
Thanks so much Jim. I can think of a lot of songs. Great prompts! ☺️