Fire

Album: Saint Cloud (2020)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Waxahatchee is a folk-rock music act fronted by American singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield. The project's name comes from Waxahatchee Creek in central Alabama where Crutchfield grew up. "Fire" is the first single from her fifth studio album, Saint Cloud.
  • That's what I wanted
    It's not as if we cry a river, call it rain
    West Memphis is on fire in the light of day
    Give me something, it ain't enough


    This folky slow burner sprung from a brief, spontaneous melody that came into Crutchfield's head as she was driving from Birmingham, Alabama to her home in Kansas City. At the time she was driving over the Mississippi River from Memphis into West Memphis, and the sun, reflecting off the water, made West Memphis glow.
  • The lyrics came to Crutchfield concurrently with the music, but she was driving with her musician boyfriend Kevin Morby at the time. The singer explained to Pitchfork that she was concerned about "introducing another person into what was happening in my mind." So rather than singing the words into her phone, Crutchfeld held onto her thoughts, and once they'd stopped, she wrote them all down.
  • Crutchfield's alcoholism came to a fore during the promotional tour for her 2017 Out in the Storm album. This song, written shortly after getting sober, is an internal pep talk that she shouldn't dwell too hard on past misdemeanors. Crutchfield explained during a Song Exploder podcast that she'd gone through "a lot of dark stuff" around the time she wrote the track. "I wanted to find a way to poetically say 'I can love myself through this darkness that's happening.'"
  • The album title comes from St. Cloud, Florida, her father's hometown. Crutchfield explained St. Cloud's main themes to Pitchfork as "addiction and co-dependency."
  • The UK band The Vaccines recorded a version for their 2021 covers EP Cosy Karaoke, Vol. 1.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater RevivalFact or Fiction

Is "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" about Vietnam? Was John Fogerty really born on a Bayou? It's the CCR edition of Fact or Fiction.

JJ Burnel of The Stranglers

JJ Burnel of The StranglersSongwriter Interviews

JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music Scene

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music SceneSong Writing

With $50 and a glue stick, Bruce Pavitt created Sub Pop, a fanzine-turned-label that gave the world Nirvana and grunge. He explains how motivated individuals can shift culture.

Famous Singers' First Films

Famous Singers' First FilmsSong Writing

A look at the good (Diana Ross, Eminem), the bad (Madonna, Bob Dylan) and the peculiar (David Bowie, Michael Jackson) film debuts of superstar singers.

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"They're Playing My Song

Gramm co-wrote this gorgeous ballad and delivered an inspired vocal, but the song was the beginning of the end of his time with Foreigner.

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.