Fire In The Morning

Album: Melissa Manchester (1979)
Charted: 32
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In the '70s, pop music was filled with not-so-subtle songs about love-making. A great example is "Right Time Of The Night" by Jennifer Warnes. "Fire In The Morning" is one of those songs. It's about woman who gets lonely and calls her ex for a tryst. They'll "light a fire in the morning and make love all day long."

    Many of these saucy songs were sung by women but written by men. "Fire In The Morning" was a hit for Melissa Manchester and written by Steve Dorff, Gary Harju and Larry Herbstritt. Manchester's label asked her to record it.
  • Melissa Manchester is known for soaring ballads like this one - her biggest hits include "Don't Cry Out Loud" and "Midnight Blue." She resisted dance music as long as she could but finally gave in with "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" in 1982. To her dismay, it became her biggest chart hit, but she later came to appreciate the song.

    "In the '70s, songs were still melody-driven, from Motown songs to the Philadelphia-sound songs, all pop music was still melody-driven," she told Songfacts. "'Fire In The Morning' was a lovely song and melodic, and people cozied up to it."
  • In 2021, Manchester released a new version of this song featuring musicians and singers from Citrus College in Glendora, California. She included it on her 2024 album Re:View, which includes updated versions of 10 songs she wrote or recorded.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

Artis the Spoonman

Artis the SpoonmanSong Writing

Even before Soundgarden wrote a song about him, Artis was the most famous spoon player of all time. So why has he always been broke?

Elton John

Elton JohnFact or Fiction

Does he have beef with Gaga? Is he Sean Lennon's godfather? See if you can tell fact from fiction in the Elton John edition.

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Booker T. Jones

Booker T. JonesSongwriter Interviews

The Stax legend on how he cooked up "Green Onions," the first time he and Otis Redding saw hippies, and if he'll ever play a digital organ.

Bill Withers

Bill WithersSongwriter Interviews

Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."