Tiger

Album: This Fire (1996)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song finds Cole unleashing her inner beast, free from the strictures of her small-town upbringing no longer contending with "sex-starved teachers trying to touch my ass."

    Cole was class president and a top student growing up in Rockport, Massachusetts, but she wasn't satisfied. "I wanted to break free from my self-imposed good girl expectations," she said in a Songfacts interview. "I was a bit of a repressed goody two-shoes, you see, and I needed to bust out of that in my 20s and I needed to rebel."
  • This is an important song for Cole, with a regular spot on her setlists. When she returned in 2007 after a seven-year absence with the album Courage, it included a song called "14," with the line, "The mighty tiger doesn't blink."

    Cole also used "Tiger" to open her 2016 live album This Bright Red Feeling, recorded at The City Winery in New York City. The album title comes from a line in the song.
  • The album title comes from a line in the song: "Where do I put this fire?"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Weird Al Yankovic

Weird Al YankovicFact or Fiction

Did Al play on a Beach Boys record? Did he have beef with George Lucas and Coolio? See if you can spot weird but true stories.

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Motley Crue

Motley CrueFact or Fiction

Was Dr. Feelgood a dentist? Did the "Crüecifixion" really happen?

Andy McClusky of OMD

Andy McClusky of OMDSongwriter Interviews

Known in America for the hit "If You Leave," OMD is a huge influence on modern electronic music.

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in Rock

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in RockSong Writing

We ring the Hell's Bells to see what songs and rockers are sincere in their Satanism, and how much of it is an act.

Christmas Songs

Christmas SongsFact or Fiction

Rudolf, Bob Dylan and the Singing Dogs all show up in this Fact or Fiction for seasonal favorites.