Fire With Fire

Album: Night Work (2010)
Charted: 11
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the lead single by American pop band Scissor Sisters, from their third studio album, Night Work. The song was co-written and produced by Madonna and The Killers collaborator Stuart Price.
  • This was the first time Scissor Sisters had worked with another producer; and the collaboration saw the group's relationship with Price come full circle after they opened for his band Zoot Woman on their first UK tour in 2004. The hook-up with the Madonna producer came about after the group had ditched an entire album and co lead singer Jake Shears fled to Berlin to get his creative juices flowing again. Female lead singer Ana Matronic told Spinner UK that Shears was able to re-ignite his creativity after a conversation with sometime Berlin resident and Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant. "Neil said, 'Why don't you just call Stuart and see what's going on?' At that point, I think Jake was just looking for a really good friend and a good sounding board to bounce off ideas," Matronic explained.
    Not much later, Shears called up Matronic in New York, who told Spinner UK. "[Jake] was so excited and Stuart was so excited. Stuart said to Jake, 'I would drop everything to make a record with you guys.' So that next weekend, Stuart and Babydaddy were out in Berlin and then a week or two after that, I went to London to work in the studio with them. It was all just this great creative explosion, all caused by Neil Tennant."
  • Guitarist Del Marquis discussed the song's music video with Digital Spy: "We wanted to make a video where we claimed the streets as our own because we'd never really done that before. You know, we've never had as much fun shooting a video. We rode around on the back of that truck for about six hours beginning at 11pm at night. There were drunk people yelling at us, people looking sheepish because they were taking home one night stands and people puking on street corners. It was a real good time, shooting that video!"
  • Shears told Q magazine that writing this song was a liberating experience. He explained; "I was in the studio here in London having a creative crisis. I wasn't just blocked; I thought it was over for us unless something drastic happened. And that song is about overcoming that moment."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Album Cover Inspirations

Album Cover InspirationsSong Writing

Some album art was at least "inspired" by others. A look at some very similar covers.

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.

Chris Fehn of Slipknot

Chris Fehn of SlipknotSongwriter Interviews

A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

Shaun Morgan of Seether

Shaun Morgan of SeetherSongwriter Interviews

Shaun breaks down the Seether songs, including the one about his brother, the one about Ozzy, and the one that may or may not be about his ex-girlfriend Amy Lee.

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.