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Fire, Fire

from Discover: the bones by the bones

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about

Joe says: "This song is not about my father. People get worried when they hear it, but the narrative voice is that of a kid I saw on TV. I was cutting vocals at Contempt with Sean It so happened we had come to the end of tracks I had vocals written for, and I was spit-balling lyrics over what became "Fire, Fire". I can't remember what it was called before that. I was stuck, no ideas really, so I was taking a weed break, and watching the old Face Vacuum.

"There was this show with a woman who'd remarried and her son was freaked out about it and whenever she left the house he would start these little fires. And the little fires were getting bigger. So the cheeseball host, whoever it is -- Geraldo, Phil Donahue, Montel -- asks the kid what's wrong, Junior,why are you endangering your family's safety and risking death and such by being a pyro? And the kid looks into the camera and says 'fire is my only friend.' I had the chorus written before the hitting the roach end of the begonia I was smoking. When we went back upstairs to cut vocals [Sean in the attic, me on the second floor] I had that to work with, and improvised the verses until Sean said 'that was the one'.

lyrics

Well if I had a … well if, if I had … if I had a … if I had a … if I had a face.
if I had a face, if I had a … if I had a face like yours
If I had a face like yours I don’t know what I’d do
I don’t know what I’d do

Fire, fire is my friend, my one and only
One on whom I can depend when I get lonely
Light it up then pretend that I’m at home again
Fire, Fire

Well if I had a real dad. If I had a real dad.
If I didn’t have to call my mother by her first name.
“Judy” what are you’re doing to me?

Fire, fire is my friend, my one and only
One on whom I can depend when I get lonely
Light it up then pretend that I’m at home again
Fire, Fire

Well I’m confused again. I blew a fuse again. Well what do they expect?
Well what do they expect from me?

If I had a face like yours I don’t know what the fuck I would do
I’d ask ‘em to put me in a freak show I’d ask ‘em to stick me in the zoo!
Then I could be with people who looked like me, or at least some kinda thing that looked like me, some kinda organism thing.
I don’t want you to be my father, I don’t want you to be fucking anything to me.

Fire, fire is my friend, my one and only
One on whom I can depend when I get lonely
Light it up then pretend that I’m at home again
Fire, Fire [repeat]
There’s a fire in the house mom, better come home right now

credits

from Discover: the bones, released August 6, 1982
Dave "Bone" Pedersen - bass
Richie "Cunningham" Maddalo - drums, percussion
Joe Harvard - Telecasters

engineered by Sean Slade at Contempt Studios, 82 Kenwood St. Dorchester MA. produced by Sean and Joe

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Joe Harvard Asbury Park, New Jersey

"VU & Nico" author, producer-artist-musician
LP creds: Dinosaur, Jr, Pernice Brothers, Throwing Muses etc; spiritual midwife to tons more as co-founder/owner of Fort Apache '85-'93.
An East Bostonian based [One Banned Man, Dub Proof, Doctor Danger, Cockwalkers] in NJ & MOTH NYC Storyslam Champ '01; loves cats. Asbury Music Awards: Top Americana '09/Top Multi-Instrumentalist & Top Avant-Garde '10. ... more

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