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Bangles lead singer Susanna Hoffs wrote this with songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. Says Steinberg, "Tom and I met Susanna Hoffs and we set out to write several songs for their next recording. When we got together with Susanna, she admired a song that Tom and I had written for Cyndi Lauper called 'Unconditional Love.' I think she liked the song because it was highly melodic and resembled a ballad that would not have been out of place on The Beatles' Revolver album. She was sort of envious of that song, she said she wished we could come up with something as good as that song. I told her, 'Susanna, we're going to write something better than that song.'"

There is an Eternal Flame at the gravesite of Elvis Presley in Memphis. Says Steinberg:
"Susanna was talking about The Bangles having visited Graceland, and she said there was some type of shrine to Elvis that included some kind of eternal flame. As soon as those words were mentioned, I immediately thought of the synagogue in the town of Palm Springs, California where I grew up. I remember during our Sunday school class they would walk us through the sanctuary. There was one little red light and they told us it was called the eternal flame. When I was a child I remembered thinking it never burned out, that it was something like the sun or something beyond our capacity to even contemplate. It seemed like a very profound thought when I was a child. I thought, 'Well that's a great title for a song,' so very quickly I wrote the rest of the lyrics for the song based on that title."

Steinberg: "Tom started to write the chords and the melodies on an acoustic guitar at my house. The bridge to the song, or the middle eight as the British would say, the part that starts, 'Say my name, sun shines through the rain,' that part in particular is very Beatlesque. Tom, who's a great lover of harmonies, worked with Susanna to create almost a tribute to The Beatles and Beach Boys background harmonies in our demo and The Bangles recreated them on their record. One of the unusual things about that song, which is also attributable to its Beatlesque roots, is the fact that it really doesn't have a chorus. The part that starts, 'Close your eyes, give me your hand, do you feel my heart beating, do you understand,' that part sets out to be the verse of the song and then the title is incorporated in the last line of the verse when it says, 'Am I only dreaming, or is this burning an eternal flame.' By the end of the song when all The Bangles chime in and re-sing the first verse at the end of the song, the whole verse feels like a chorus. The Beatles used to write in that way, for example, 'We Can Work It Out.' The line, 'We can work it out,' is sort of a tag in the verse. The verse ends with, 'We can work it out, we can work it out.' It isn't a chorus, it doesn't begin with the line, 'We can work it out,' which would be more traditional pop hit structure. The whole song 'Eternal Flame' is so melodic that it doesn't really miss a traditional chorus, it just works the way it is. In one more Beatle type arrangement decision we do the bridge after two verses and then there's a guitar solo and then we do the bridge again. Again, The Beatles would often do that. In the song 'We Can Work Out,' the bit that begins, 'Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend' - I think that happens twice in the song. Sometimes if you have a bridge that's really good, it's nice to repeat it, and also if a song doesn't have a traditional Pop chorus you almost need to repeat the bridge so that the song is long enough and that's what we did in 'Eternal Flame'."

Steinberg: "One of the main differences between our demo and what was to become The Bangles' record is that we based our demo on the acoustic guitar while The Bangles' record, which was produced by Davitt Sigerson, is based on a simple piano. I think we based our demo on the acoustic guitar because there was no keyboard player in The Bangles. When you're a songwriter and you're trying to write something for a particular project, you very self-consciously do whatever you can do to see that it gets on the record and to ensure getting it on the record you want to make it sound like something the band could play. For that reason we tried to leave keyboards off our demo, but then we were very pleased with Davitt Sigerson's production and the way it featured the piano. I know Tom and I both loved Davitt's production, we both loved Susanna's lead vocal and all The Bangles' harmonies and were very pleased with the way the song turned out."

Steinberg and Kelly have written many hit songs, including "Like A Virgin" for Madonna, "Alone" for Heart, and "I Touch Myself" for The Divinyls. They also wrote The Bangles' hit "In Your Room." (Thanks to Billy for speaking with us about this song. Read his full interview in the Songfacts Interviews.)

The Bangles broke up soon after this was recorded - Hoffs wanted to pursue a solo career and work on movies. The Bangles have had several reunions since.

The Bangles re-released this on the album Eternal Flame (release date Jun 30, 1998), and then in 2001 on Eternal Flame: The Best of the Bangles. The Bangles officially reformed in the summer of 2000, announcing tour dates and plans for a new studio album. (thanks, Dino - Bandung, Indonesia)

In 2001 Atomic Kitten covered this, taking the song back to top of the UK chart. It was the first time a song had reached #1 twice performed by 2 different female acts. The Kitten's version was featured in the 2001 film The Parole Officer.

Atomic Kitten Liz McClarnon explained why they recorded this song in a Sun newspaper web chat on November 22, 2001: "We thought it was such a brilliant song that we wanted to bring it to a younger generation." (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England)

Comments:

One of the best songs I ever heard. Very well sung both by Susanna Hoffs and the other Bangles.Can see the influence of the Beatles and Beach Boys in this song.
- Rich, Wall , NJ

It's a bit sappy, but still a sweet song, sung very nicely. I must admit that I was a bit stunned when I first saw the singer back in 1987, and I had to roll up my tongue. Smoking hot, and now she is 48, and as beautiful as ever. Yes, Virginia, the years have been very kind to Susanna Hoffs!
- oldpink, New Castle, IN

It's the songs with the simple, true sentiment like this one that stand the test of time. This is the power of love, music and magic.
- Dale, Santa Fe, NM

this was hugely popular in my country when it came out. still is, though considered by some as too sappy for comfort. but i won't be surprised if everyone likes it, albeit secretly.
- joycemorrison, PH

This may be 'Urban Legend' but many years ago (soon after the original song came out, I distinctly recall hearing a local radio DJ matter of factley stating that Suzanna Hoffs admitted somewhere to doing the studio recording session of 'Burning Flame' while in the buff. Allegedly, it inspired her to do the most honest and heartfelt rendition possible. Hmm..
- Tobes, Upton, NY

Mitchell - Atomic Kitten did not write any of their songs. The ones which were not direct covers were written by ex-OMD frontman Andy McCluskey. When they sacked him as their main songwriter in 2004, AK's success ground to a halt... The Bangles' version of 'Eternal Flame' still remains the more the popular the world over
- Dave, Cardiff, Wales

"Everything" was a fantastic album! It did not only include the singles "Eternal Flame" and "In Your Room" but also such lesser-known greats as "Complicated Girl", "Bell Jar", Crash and Burn" and "Something To Believe In". One of the most underrated albums of the last 25 years for sure...
- Dave, Cardiff, Wales

reminds me of my ex-girlfriend, we had some good times together, too bad it ended so badly
- Pete, Toronto, Canada

It'll soon be 4 years when mom and I listened to Sharika's "Underneath Your Clothes" and she told me it'd got the melody from an old song, and I saw what she was talking about when a few days later I started singing The Bangles' "Eternal Flame" and she told me that was the song she meant.
- Alexander, Ciudad Ojeda

I first heard this song when I met the love of my life, and the lyrics were constantly on my mind.Though I was little embarrassed to listen to such sentimental song, i've never since found other song that would better describe the state of being in love.
- Tereza, Praha, Czech Republic

susanna look so hot back in this video clip...
- marlow, perth, Australia

i agree with Marina. the very first time i heard "eternal flame" i thought it sounded alot like "underneath your clothes".
- Natasha, Bethany, OK

Practically all of Atomic Kitten's songs are remakes. Infact, I'm not sure if they wrote any of them themselves... Eternal Flame, See Ya, The Tide Is High, Whole Again..
- Mitchell, Auckland, New Zealand

This song was also spoofed by Jason Bateman in The Sweetest Thing with Cameron Diaz
- Kristy, saco, ME

The song "Underneath Your Clothes" by Shakira sounds very, very similar to this song. Listen to them both and you'll agree.
- Marina, Seattle, WA

Dutch dj's spread the rumour that in order to get in the right mood for the song Susanna Hoffs sang it naked in the studio
- Martijn, Helmond, Netherlands

Appeared in Season 1 Episode 21 of Cold Case on CBS. The name of the episode is "Maternal Instincts."
- Jonathan, Natchitoches, LA

I remembered this song when I was little and it was one of my favorites!
- Tiffany, Dover, FL

Atomic Kitten's version was a UK No. 1 in 2001 (not 2002). It was the first instance of a song topping the UK chart twice by two different female-fronted bands. They did it a second time, too, in 2002, with The Tide Is High [Blondie].
- Martin, London, England

Covered by Australia's Human Nature on the album Here & Now: The Best of Human Nature, released in 2001.
- Dino, Bandung, Indonesia