"Fire" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the fifth track on the band's 1981 album, ''

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôctō'' meaning "eight") after Januar ...

'', 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 Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producers ...

in the Bahamas while U2 took a break from the

Boy Tour ''Boy'' is the debut studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Steve Lillywhite and was released on 20 October 1980 by Island Records. ''Boy'' contains songs from the band's 40-song repertoire at the time, including two tracks th ...

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. Some vinyl and cassette versions of U2's debut album ''

Boy A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is usually described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a 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

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 The J. Geils Band (formerly known as The J. Geils Blues Band) was an American rock band formed in 1967, in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist John "J." Geils. The original band members included vocalist Peter Wolf, h ...

. It then appeared on the

War Tour The War Tour was a concert tour by the Irish Rock music, rock band U2, which took place in 1982 and 1983 in support of the group's third album ''War (U2 album), War''.Exact delineation of this tour is subject to various interpretations. U2's w ...

'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 ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

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 Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

" 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 The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

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 In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

" single in 1983. The single was not released in North America. "Fire" was reissued on

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

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.

Formats and track listings

Charts

References

External links

"Fire" Single Discography Entry
at U2songs.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Fire (U2 Song) 1981 singles U2 songs CBS Records singles Island Records singles Songs written by Bono Songs written by the Edge Songs written by Adam Clayton Songs written by Larry Mullen Jr. Song recordings produced by Steve Lillywhite 1981 songs