"Fire Lake" is a song written and recorded by the American musical artist Bob Seger. He had planned to record "Fire Lake" for his 1975 album Beautiful Loser, but the track was not finished. The song had been partly written years before, in 1971, and was finally finished in 1979 and released in 1980 on Seger's album Against the Wind. The single reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. A live version of the song appeared on the album Nine Tonight, released in 1981.

Background and writing

Seger and colleagues decided to make "Fire Lake" the first single from Against the Wind because it was "totally and unequivocally unlike anything I'd ever done before."

Reception

Music critic Maury Dean described the song as an "ominous ballad" about "4th of July fireworks". Dean praised the song's intensity, Seger's vocal, and the "nifty" minor chords. Dean speculated that the title may not be entirely figurative, as there may be a hidden reference to a midwestern body of water which caught fire, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio. Billboard described "Fire Lake" as an "excellent song [that] is paced by acoustic guitar which lends a folk flavor" and the lyrics as describing "the subversion of small-town life." Cash Box said it has "full-bodied harmonies and an easy, country-tinged melody" and praised the production. Record World called it "Dynamite!" Classic Rock History critic Janey Roberts rated it as Seger's 14th best song.

Production

Three of the Eagles provided the backing vocals for this track: Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit. Seger's recording engineer David Cole refers to the song on his website when he talks of his history with Seger: "I was there when the Eagles sang 'Who wants to go to Fire Lake?' and many other great moments during the Stranger in Town album".

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Seger's 2003 Greatest Hits 2 compilation. Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section Additional musicians

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts