(There's A) Fire In The Night

Album: Roll On (1984)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This country chart-topper was written by Bob Corbin, co-lead vocalist/guitarist of the Corbin/Hanner Band. It was Alabama's 15th consecutive single to land at #1 on the country chart. The steamy track tells the tale of a lonely man who shares a passionate night with a woman he meets far from home.
  • Two music videos were made by veteran director David Hogan (who also helmed clips for "The Closer You Get" and "Dixieland Delight," among others). The first involves a man crossing paths with a sexy witch and being branded with a poisonous tattoo, a premise that was deemed too "demonic" for the group’s Bible Belt audience.

    The second video has Alabama performing around a campfire while a woman secretly watches. Hogan admits the song is hard for him to hear, but not because of any bad blood over the rejected video. He had hired a burlesque-style performer to play the witch, who thought her starring role in the clip would be her big break into show business. When the first video was rejected, Hogan incorporated her into the new video, but things went downhill from there. Hogan told Songfacts: "She went for a job on Music Row for some sleazy producer. He hired her and he made a play on her as soon as she started work and she went home that night and hung herself. She was so depressed over that damn video. I hated hearing that."

    He continued: "But that's why I just hate hearing that song, because of that. It wasn't Alabama's fault by any means. But it was weird, I worked her into the second video that we did around the campfire, and they didn't want to be around her. She freaked them out for some reason. Freaked [guitarist] Randy [Owen] out, anyway. I don't know if they thought she was a real witch; I don't know what the deal was. But they didn't want her around."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Matt Sorum

Matt SorumSongwriter Interviews

When he joined Guns N' Roses in 1990, Matt helped them craft an orchestral sound; his mezzo fortes and pianissimos are all over "November Rain."

Michael W. Smith

Michael W. SmithSongwriter Interviews

Smith breaks down some of his worship tracks as well as his mainstream hits, including "I Will Be Here For You" and "A Place In This World."

Who Did It First?

Who Did It First?Music Quiz

Do you know who recorded the original versions of these ten hit songs?

Yacht Rock Quiz

Yacht Rock QuizFact or Fiction

Christopher Cross with Deep Purple? Kenny Loggins in Caddyshack? A Fact or Fiction all about yacht rock and those who made it.

Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

Kim Thayil of SoundgardenSongwriter Interviews

Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.

Glen Burtnik

Glen BurtnikSongwriter Interviews

On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.