Fire (U2 song)

Infobox Single
Name = Fire


Caption = UK cover
Artist = U2
from Album = October
B-side = "J. Swallow"
Released = July 1981
Format = 7" vinyl
Recorded =
Genre = Rock, post-punk
Length = 3:48
Label = flagicon|Ireland CBS - CBS 1376 flagicon|UK Island - WIP6679
Producer = Steve Lillywhite
Chart position =

#35 (UK Singles Chart)

Reviews =
*AMG [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:2v7tk6gxrkrw link]
Last single = "I Will Follow" (1980)
This single = "Fire" (1981)
Next single = "Gloria" (1981)
Misc =Extra album cover
Upper caption = Alternate Cover
Background = khaki

---

Lower caption = "U2 R.O.K." cover (12" vinyl)Extra tracklisting
Album = October
Type = studio
prev_track = "Rejoice"
prev_no = 4
this_track = "Fire"
track_no = 5
next_track = "Tomorrow"
next_no = 6"Fire" was the first single from U2's 1981 album, "October".

History

"Fire" was recorded at a studio in the Bahamas while U2 took a break from the "Boy" Tour in April 1981, and it debuted live the next month on 27 May 1981. It was the second of two "October" songs played on the Boy Tour, the first being "I Fall Down." "Fire" was a setlist 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 final 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. 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 #35. This chart position would not be surpassed until 1983's "New Year's Day."

Releases

A previously unreleased demo, "Saturday Night" was included on the bonus CD of the 2008 Deluxe Edition of "Boy". The song featured the same guitar riff from "Fire" and almost the same instrumentation, but with different lyrics. Some vinyl and cassette versions of "Boy" included the riff from "Saturday Night" as a 30-second instrumental hidden track after the album's closer, "Shadows and Tall Trees." Until the release of "Saturday Night" in 2008, the hidden track was considered to be a demo of "Fire".

When the single to Fire was released, three versions were produced — a two-track 7", a double 7" pack, and a 12" single titled "U2 R.O.K.," a pun on the word "rock" and on the phrase "U2 are OK." A fourth version was later released ten years later on CD in 1991, also under the title "U2 R.O.K."

In addition to the "Fire" singles, 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.

Track listings

7": Island / WIP6679 flagicon|UK

#"Fire" (Album Version) – 3:48
#"J. Swallow" – 2:18

2x7": Island / UWIP6679 flagicon|UK

#"Fire" (Album Version) – 3:48
#"J. Swallow" – 2:18

#"11 O'Clock Tick Tock" / "The Ocean" (Live from Boston March 6, 1981) – 7:03
#"Cry / The Electric Co." (Live from Boston, March 6, 1981) – 4:53This is the version on The Complete U2.

12": Island / 600.417 flagicon|Germany

#"Fire" (Album Version) – 3:48
#"J. Swallow" – 2:18
#"11 O'Clock Tick Tock" / "The Ocean" (Live from Boston March 6, 1981) – 7:03
* released as "U2 R.O.K."

CD: Island / 664 972 flagicon|Germany

#"Fire" (Album Version) – 3:50
#"J. Swallow" – 2:20
#"11 O'Clock Tick Tock" (Live from Boston March 6, 1981) – 4:52
#"The Ocean" (Live from Boston March 6, 1981) – 2:14
* released as "U2 R.O.K." in 1991

Chart positions

External links

* [http://www.u2-vertigo-tour.com/song226.html Performance history of "Fire" at U2-Vertigo-Tour.com]