Fire (U2 song)

"Fire"
"Fire"
	UK/Irish cover
Single by U2
from the album October
B-side	"J. Swallo"
Released	27 July 1981
Recorded	April 1981
Studio	Compass Point Studios (Nassau, Bahamas)
Genre	Rock; post-punk;
Length	3:48
Label	CBS Ireland; Island;
Songwriter(s)	U2
Producer(s)	Steve Lillywhite
U2 singles chronology

"Fire" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the fifth track on the band's 1981 album, October, and it was released in July 1981 as the album's first single.

History

The October album version of "Fire" was recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas while U2 took a break from the Boy Tour in April 1981. After its initial release, "Fire" was U2's first song to chart in the UK, where it managed to break the top 40, peaking at No. 35.^[2]

Some vinyl and cassette versions of U2's debut album Boy included a 30-second instrumental hidden track after the album's closer, "Shadows and Tall Trees". This track featured the same guitar riff as the one from "Fire". It was not until the release of the 2008 Deluxe Edition of Boy and its bonus CD that this track was shown to be "Saturday Night", a previously unreleased song that featured the same guitar riff from "Fire" and almost the same instrumentation, but with different lyrics. "Saturday Night" was eventually rewritten into what became "Fire".

Live performances

"Fire" was played in concert for the first time on 27 May 1981 a month after the album version was recorded. It was the second of two songs from the October album played on the Boy Tour with the first being "I Fall Down". "Fire" was a set list regular for much of the October Tour, although it was not played at any of the tour's shows where U2 acted as support for the J. Geils Band. It then appeared on the War Tour's "Pre-Tour", and its last live performance was at the first proper date of the War Tour on 26 February 1983. Most of its live appearances were in the encore, often as the first encore song. "Fire" was also the song U2 played for their first appearance on Top of the Pops.

Releases

The July 1981 single release came in three versions – a two-track 7-inch vinyl, a double 7-inch vinyl pack, and a 12-inch vinyl single titled "U2 R.O.K.", a pun on the word "rock" and on the phrase "U2 are OK". A fourth version was released ten years later on CD in 1991, also under the title "U2 R.O.K."

The song was later included as a B-side on the Japanese version of the "A Celebration" single in 1982, and as a live version on several versions of the "New Year's Day" single in 1983.

The single was not released in North America.

"Fire" was reissued on Record Store Day in 2021 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of its original release. It was pressed on vinyl picture disc, with "Fire" and "J. Swallo" on the A-side and two live versions of "Fire" on the B-side.^[3]

Formats and track listings

7": Island / WIP6679 United Kingdom
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Fire"	3:48
2.	"J. Swallo"	2:18

2x7": Island / UWIP6679 United Kingdom
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Fire"	3:48
2.	"J. Swallo"	2:18
3.	"11 O'Clock Tick Tock/The Ocean" (Live at Paradise Rock Club, Boston, Massachusetts, March 6, 1981)	7:03
4.	"Cry/The Electric Co." (Live at Paradise Rock Club, Boston, Massachusetts, March 6, 1981)	4:53

12": Island / 600.417 Germany (U2 R.O.K.)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Fire"	3:50
2.	"J. Swallo" (Listed as "Johnny Swallow" on record)	2:20
3.	"11 O'Clock Tick Tock" (Live at Paradise Rock Club, Boston, Massachusetts, March 6, 1981)	4:52
4.	"The Ocean" (Live at Paradise Rock Club, Boston, Massachusetts, March 6, 1981)	2:14

1991 CD: Island / 664 972 Germany (U2 R.O.K.)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Fire"	3:48
2.	"J. Swallo"	2:18
3.	"11 O'Clock Tick Tock" (Live at Paradise Rock Club, Boston, Massachusetts, March 6, 1981)	4:52
4.	"The Ocean" (Live at Paradise Rock Club, Boston, Massachusetts, March 6, 1981)	2:14

Charts

Chart (1981)	Peak position
Irish Singles Chart^[4]	4
UK Singles Chart^[5]	35

References

^ Sams, Aaron; Kantas, Harry. "U2 – "Fire" Single". U2songs.com. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
^ "U2". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
^ Sexton, Paul (9 April 2021). "U2 Go Back To Paris Via 'Virtual Road' Screening Of Emotional 2015 Show". UDiscover Music. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
^ "Irish Singles Chart". The Irish Charts. Archived from the original on 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2009-11-23. Note: U2 must be searched manually.
^ "EveryHit.com search results: U2". Everyhit.com. Archived from the original on 2007-07-17. Retrieved 2009-11-22. Note: U2 must be searched manually.

External links

"Fire" Single Discography Entry at U2songs.com

[1] Sams, Aaron; Kantas, Harry. "U2 – "Fire" Single". U2songs.com. Retrieved 16 May 2016.

[2] "U2". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 February 2014.

[3] Sexton, Paul (9 April 2021). "U2 Go Back To Paris Via 'Virtual Road' Screening Of Emotional 2015 Show". UDiscover Music. Retrieved 9 April 2021.

[Irish_S-4] "Irish Singles Chart". The Irish Charts. Archived from the original on 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2009-11-23. Note: U2 must be searched manually.

[Everyhit-5] "EveryHit.com search results: U2". Everyhit.com. Archived from the original on 2007-07-17. Retrieved 2009-11-22. Note: U2 must be searched manually.

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v t e U2 songs
Discography Covers
1970s	"Out of Control"
1980s	"Another Day" "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" "A Day Without Me" "I Will Follow" "An Cat Dubh / Into the Heart" "The Electric Co." "Fire" "Gloria" "October" "A Celebration" "New Year's Day" "Two Hearts Beat as One" "Sunday Bloody Sunday" "Seconds" "Red Light" "Pride (In the Name of Love)" "The Unforgettable Fire" "A Sort of Homecoming" "4th of July" "Bad" "Elvis Presley and America" "MLK" "With or Without You" "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" "Where the Streets Have No Name" "In God's Country" "One Tree Hill" "Bullet the Blue Sky" "Running to Stand Still" "Red Hill Mining Town" "Trip Through Your Wires" "Exit" "Mothers of the Disappeared" "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" "Desire" "Angel of Harlem" "When Love Comes to Town" "All I Want Is You" "Hawkmoon 269" "Heartland" "God Part II"
1990s	"Night and Day" "The Fly" "Mysterious Ways" "One" "Even Better Than the Real Thing" "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" "Zoo Station" "Until the End of the World" "So Cruel" "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World" "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" "Acrobat" "Love Is Blindness" "Numb" "Lemon" "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" "Zooropa" "Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car" "Dirty Day" "The Wanderer" "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" "Miss Sarajevo" "Slug" "Your Blue Room" "Discothèque" "Staring at the Sun" "Last Night on Earth" "Please" "If God Will Send His Angels" "Mofo" "Gone" "Sweetest Thing"
2000s	"The Ground Beneath Her Feet" "Beautiful Day" "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" "Elevation" "Walk On" "Kite" "In a Little While" "Wild Honey" "Peace on Earth" "When I Look at the World" "New York" "Electrical Storm" "The Hands That Built America" "Take Me to the Clouds Above" "Vertigo" "All Because of You" "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" "City of Blinding Lights" "Miracle Drug" "A Man and a Woman" "One Step Closer" "Original of the Species" "Yahweh" "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" "The Saints Are Coming" "Window in the Skies" "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew" "Get On Your Boots" "Magnificent" "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" "No Line on the Horizon" "Moment of Surrender" "Unknown Caller" "Stand Up Comedy" "Fez – Being Born" "White as Snow" "Breathe" "Cedars of Lebanon" "Winter"
2010s	"Ordinary Love" "Invisible" "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)" "Every Breaking Wave" "Song for Someone" "You're the Best Thing About Me" "Get Out of Your Own Way" "Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way" "XXX"
2020s	"Your Song Saved My Life" "Atomic City"
Category

v t e October track listing
“Gloria” “I Fall Down” “I Threw a Brick Through a Window” “Rejoice” “Fire” “Tomorrow” “October” “With a Shout (Jerusalem)” “Scarlet” “Is That All?”
Boy War