Song On Fire

Album: Feed The Machine (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Here, Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger sings about the struggle to express what he wants to say when writing a song to a former lover that he still has feelings for. He explained how all the band members connected to the track on different levels through their own differing experiences.

    "Everyone has a need to love or be loved and we've all been hurt or felt loss," Kroeger said. "It's about your heart yearning for something that your rational mind knows is impossible to hold on to. There is a universally, haunting finality to losing love and we found 'our protagonist' (in this song) trying to reclaim it; but not knowing where to begin or that it might ultimately be in vain."
  • Many fans have speculated that Chad Kroeger wrote the song about his breakup with his former wife Avril Lavigne.
  • The song's music video was directed by frequent collaborator Nigel Dick ("Photograph," "Too Bad," "Savin' Me") and filmed in the plush forests of the Vancouver area. The clip features a lost woman running through the woods interspersed throughout with footage of the band performing. The woods serve as a metaphor for the woman's struggle to find herself as well as her way back home.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Maria Muldaur

Maria MuldaurSongwriter Interviews

The "Midnight At The Oasis" singer is an Old Time gal. She talks about her jug band beginnings and shares a Dylan story.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top Proverb

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top ProverbSong Writing

How a country weeper and a blues number made "rolling stone" the most popular phrase in rock.

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors Examined

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors ExaminedSong Writing

Doors expert Jim Cherry, author of The Doors Examined, talks about some of their defining songs and exposes some Jim Morrison myths.

Cheerleaders In Music Videos

Cheerleaders In Music VideosSong Writing

It started with a bouncy MTV classic. Nirvana and MCR made them scary, then Gwen, Avril and Madonna put on the pom poms.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.