Category: Blog

Song Lyric Sunday – Girl on Fire

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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

After the Storm

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After the Storm

Geography of sands
shifted by the storm
forming a river
through the dunes
Water collected 
in a cerulean bay
of calmness after the rage
Angry winds sweeping
seaweed and driftwood ashore 
Remnants of horseshoe crabs
Laid to rest on a beachy grave
Coffee-colored sea grasses
Pliable and resilient
Standing tall, now waving gently
Resistant to the wind
The ravages
of nature’s anger
Abolished
Long gone
leaving only silence


Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing © 

In response to Sue Vincent’s Weekly Write/Photo

Word Prompts

Coffee - Stream of Conciousness 
River - Word of the Day
Cerulean Bay - RDP
Abolish - FOWC

The Legend of the Selkie

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The Legend of the Selkie

The land was calling
He could hear it
beckoning to his soul
Come, come it cried
Over and over
Echoing through the shoal

He followed the sounds
through the waters deep
until the beach he found
Where he shed his sealskin
taking on human form
and laid there on the ground

Breathless, resting on the sand
Looking skyward to the sun
Feeling the warmth of the glow
A shadow crossed his eyes
and he did see an outline
of a beautiful female torso

As he struggled to get up
the girl held out her hand
“Come with me”, she said
Mesmerized he complied
“You and I belong together
and we will surely wed”

He hid away his Selkie skin
in a place so secret
no one would ever look
He lived happily in human form
with his beautiful bride but
curiosity is all it took

She found his sealskin
one fateful day
in its hiding place
The legend came true
He did leave her there, alone
with her own good grace

The sea called him back
to where he did belong
leaving her broken-hearted
The Selkie returned
from whence he came
to the ocean uncharted


Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing ©

Whimsy Gizmo is hosting D'Verse Poets tonight
and has prompted us with Legends of Mermaids,
Sirens and Selkies.  I had prepviously written a poem
about the Legend of the Selkie and wanted to share
it again with you tonight.

You can learn more about The Legend
of the Selkie  here

Now is the Time

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Now is the Time

One more
blue-black bruise
on society
One too many
The beast has been
unleashed
Voices heard
Strength in numbers
taking to the streets
Waking the silent
Unmasking the blind
A united voice
heard by deaf ears
Heads previously
buried in the sand
resurrected
A time of change
Power in the hands
of the peaceful oppressed
The dark days
are numbered
One man’s breath
choked from his body
Yet his words 
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
will live in infamy
and be carried
on wings of soaring birds 
His voice stolen
but we speak
for him, for all
Now is the time
 
 
 
Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing ©

In response to Sue Vincent's Weekly Write/Photo
#Blacklivesmatter
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