Fire Lake

For the lake in Quebec, see Fire Lake, Quebec.

"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]} 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.^[1] A live version of the song appeared on the album Nine Tonight, released in 1981.

"Fire Lake"
Single by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
from the album Against the Wind
B-side	"Long Twin Silver Line"
Released	January 1980
Recorded	1979
Studio	Muscle Shoals (Sheffield)
Genre	Rock, heartland rock, country rock
Length	3:30
Label	Capitol
Songwriter(s)	Bob Seger
Producer(s)	Bob Seger and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band singles chronology
"Old Time Rock and Roll" (1979) "Fire Lake" (1980) "Against the Wind" (1980)

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."^[2]

• "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]}
• "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]}
• "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]}

Reception

Music critic Maury Dean described the song as an "ominous ballad" about "4th of July fireworks".^[3] Dean praised the song's intensity, Seger's vocal, and the "nifty" minor chords.^[3] 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.^[3] 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."^[4] Cash Box said it has "full-bodied harmonies and an easy, country-tinged melody" and praised the production.^[5] Record World called it "Dynamite!"^[6] Classic Rock History critic Janey Roberts rated it as Seger's 14th best song.^[7]

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".^[8]

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Seger's 2003 Greatest Hits 2 compilation.^[9]

• Bob Seger – lead vocals

Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section

• 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

Weekly charts Chart (1980) Peak position Australian Kent Music Report[10] 57 Belgian VRT Top 30 21 Canadian RPM Top 100 3 Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks 4 Dutch Singles Chart 26 New Zealand Singles Chart 18 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 6 U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 31

Year-end charts Chart (1980) Rank Canada RPM Top 100[11] 22 US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[12] 67

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Pop Songs: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 218.
2. "Fire Lake", Lamont's Music Notes Feb. 19, 2020, Lamont and Tonelli. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
3. Dean, Maury (2003). Rock 'n' Roll Gold Rush. Algora Publishing. p. 359. ISBN 087586208X.
4. "Top Singles Picks" (PDF). Billboard Magazine. February 23, 1980. p. 58. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
5. "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. February 23, 1980. p. 13. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
6. "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. February 23, 1980. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
7. Roberts, Janey. "Top 20 Bob Seger songs". Classic Rock History. Retrieved 2023-01-22.
8. "David Cole homepage". Davidcolemusic.com. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
9. Greatest Hits 2 (CD). Bob Seger. Capitol Records. 2003. CDP 7243 8 52772 0 7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
10. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
11. "Top 100 Singles (1980)". RPM. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
12. "1980 Talent in Action – Year End Charts : Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 51. December 20, 1980. p. TIA-10. Retrieved 5 April 2020.