[ ]   [ ]   [ ]                        [ ]      [ ]   [ ]
Bob Seger — The Fire Inside
Album: The Fire Inside
Avg rating:
6.6

Your rating:
Total ratings: 659









Released: 1991
Length: 5:49
Plays (last 30 days): 0
There's a hard moon risin' on the streets tonight
There's a reckless feeling in your heart as you head out tonight
Through the concrete canyons to the midtown lights
Where the latest neon promises are burning bright

Past the open windows on the darker streets
Where unseen angry voices flash and children cry
Past the phony posers with their worn out lines
The tired new money dressed to the nines
The low life dealers with their bad designs
And the dilettantes with their open minds

You're out on the town, safe in the crowd
Ready to go for the ride
Searching the eyes, looking for clues
There's no way you can hide
The fire inside

Well you've been to the clubs and the discotheques
Where they deal one another from the bottom of a deck of promises
Where the cautious loners and emotional wrecks
Do an acting stretch as a way to hide the obvious
And the lights go down and they dance real close
And for one brief instant they pretend they're safe and warm

Then the beat gets louder and the mood is gone
The darkness scatters as the lights flash on
They hold one another just a little too long
And they move apart and then move on

On to the street, on to the next
Safe in the knowledge that they tried
Faking the smile, hiding the pain
Never satisfied
The fire inside
Fire inside

Now the hour is late and he thinks you're asleep
You listen to him dress and you listen to him leave like you knew he would
You hear his car pull away in the street
Then you move to the door and you lock it when he's gone for good

Then you walk to the window and stare at the moon
Riding high and lonesome through a starlit sky
And it comes to you how it all slips away
Youth and beauty are gone one day
No matter what you dream or feel or say
It ends in dust and disarray

Like wind on the plains, sand through the glass
Waves rolling in with the tide
Dreams die hard and we watch them erode
But we cannot be denied
The fire inside
Comments (44)add comment
Two brief comments from someone who was heading down a depressive hole and turned on RP while getting ready in the morning. First, is that Bob Seger always got a rough rap in my area, but this song really helped me this morning. Its not his best, but he's a better musician than he gets credit for.
Second is the ubiquitous shout out to Bill and RP for continuing to be the BEST DAMN RADIO STATION on the planet!!!
Roy Bittan hammering the piano, right? I love his style.
Ugh .. nice Bob Seger song, but the snare is too high in the mix.

Bap. Bap. Bap. Bap. :(
Such a recognizable voice! 
So underrated. Bob paved a way.
Think about it.
 radiojunkie wrote:
KevDogRedux wrote: And when he does, do you think he'll come in shakin' off the cold, and hear the same old cliche, "Is that a woman or a man"? Anyway, I like The Fire Inside. Just not as much as the Fire Down Below. Smokin' O.P.'s, anyone?


Never replied to 17-year old post before!  Loved that same old cliche line.  Among Seger's best.  But yes, Fire Inside is a little uninspired.
 KevDogRedux wrote:
While I don't have a problem with playing Bob Seger's work, this song comes from that part of his portfolio he no doubt will use to get that gig at the Holiday Inn "Traveler's Lounge" in ten years or so.
 

As someone enjoying this song 16 years after the post above... I beg to differ :-)
A solid 7 from me!
one of his best
 I love it! 
For some reason I find the drum in this distracting.  Maybe they could have dressed it up a bit.

But hey it was a hit.
KevDogRedux wrote:
While I don't have a problem with playing Bob Seger's work, this song comes from that part of his portfolio he no doubt will use to get that gig at the Holiday Inn "Traveler's Lounge" in ten years or so.
And when he does, do you think he'll come in shakin' off the cold, and hear the same old cliche, "Is that a woman or a man"? Anyway, I like The Fire Inside. Just not as much as the Fire Down Below. Smokin' O.P.'s, anyone?
This is one of those musicians to whom you listen, and realize after a few tunes that his popularity only underscores the fact that most people have extremely simple tastes in music. Solid rock, but absolutley no creativity or contribution to the genre.
Eclectic piano.... Hmmm, who could we play that bangs a rock and roll piano yet still qualifies as eclectic? Ben Folds? Tori? By one definition (not mine), EVERY SONG EVER MADE is eclectic. Still, this is a reach. Isn't there ANYONE who will give this a 10 :?:
Great song! Great singer! Been too long since I heard some Seger. This song takes me way back to some really good times! Love it!
There are about three good Bob Seger tunes. This is not one of them. Ugh!
I can't think of a single Bob Seger song that I have ever enjoyed.
oxford_john wrote:
I strenuously avoid giving negative ratings but in this case I can't resist....SUCKO-BARFO...BIGTIME, and I'm from Ann Arbor and have seen his name scratched into a school desk! NO MORE SEGER, if I want it I'll listed to "classic" radio off the air. jeepers, bill.
BTW BOB, nothing personal...Chevy's "like a rock" campaign pushed me over the edge. BTW Bill, I support variety in all respects...keep playing Seger 'cause other's dig it. I'll survive.
I strenuously avoid giving negative ratings but in this case I can't resist....SUCKO-BARFO...BIGTIME, and I'm from Ann Arbor and have seen his name scratched into a school desk! NO MORE SEGER, if I want it I'll listed to "classic" radio off the air. jeepers, bill.
This certainly isn't Bob's best work, but it certainly is listenable. I keep on hoping that he comes out of retirement for just one more tour, I've already warned my wife that we'd be flying back to Michigan to catch him playing in Detroit (hopefully, Pine Knob, or whatever it is called these days).
been a while
Kurt_from_La_Qui wrote:
wouldn't "long twin silver line" sound good here also?
and"Ain't got no Money" written by Frakie Miller with Joe Walsh on slide
Platypus wrote:
at least it's not one of his "hits" that we've all heard half a million times already.
wouldn't "long twin silver line" sound good here also?
I only have "Stranger in town" and "Live Bullet" at home on cd and vinyl, but when I hear Old / New tracks, i still get chills. See what I did there?
GawgaBoy wrote:
I know what you mean. I'm a georgia boy but lived in Ypsilanti for 7 years, 81 to 87, and the radio played LOT'S of Segar. I was burned out by the time I got back south, BUT ... I too find my head banging just a bit. Go, Bob, Go ! P.S. I miss Ann Arbor in the Fall and spring (you can keep winter and summer).
Well, at least us Ann Arbor-ites can crow about "back home"!
sunny_day wrote:
....fire inside...fire inside....
I suggest Tums.
....fire inside...fire inside....
While I don't have a problem with playing Bob Seger's work, this song comes from that part of his portfolio he no doubt will use to get that gig at the Holiday Inn "Traveler's Lounge" in ten years or so.
Ew! :-k
bluelight wrote:
If anyone has a right to be burned out on Bob Seger it is a fellow Ann Arbor born lad like myself. However rather than being compelled to reach for the proverbial "mute" button on the remote when this song came on I find myself thinking: "hmmm...maybe he wasn't so bad after all. GOBOBGO!" (I'm not saying I wall to hear olde tyme rocknroll or anything like that)
I know what you mean. I'm a georgia boy but lived in Ypsilanti for 7 years, 81 to 87, and the radio played LOT'S of Segar. I was burned out by the time I got back south, BUT ... I too find my head banging just a bit. Go, Bob, Go ! P.S. I miss Ann Arbor in the Fall and spring (you can keep winter and summer).
Wow... a Bob Seger song I haven't heard to death that is actually listenable!
wow, this is blowing up my skirt! surprised to hear any negative comments, but growing up in the detroit area and experiencing at cobo hall i migh tbe a little biased.
each time I’ve heard this on RP I find my head starts banging back and forth, then about half a minute into the song I stop working and say ’hey, this is Bob Seger what the hell is he doing here’ then I go back to banging my head and get back to work.
If anyone has a right to be burned out on Bob Seger it is a fellow Ann Arbor born lad like myself. However rather than being compelled to reach for the proverbial "mute" button on the remote when this song came on I find myself thinking: "hmmm...maybe he wasn't so bad after all. GOBOBGO!" (I'm not saying I wall to hear olde tyme rocknroll or anything like that)
This is a good song, and it belongs on the RP playlist. I will add my voice to the chorus of listeners who are a bit burned out on Seger, and don't want to hear from him too often. The thing I love about RP is being exposed to such a variety of new things, but it's good to hear an old favorite thrown into the mix now and then, too.
Not sure Bob ever really strung together a truly outstanding album with no duds (i.e. We've got Tonite), and we certainly don't need to hear Old Time Rock and Roll, but there's some great songs on every album (like this one) that definitely have a place here. Please do play more.
...a welcome addition IMHO - and ditto on the "non-hit" selections - some excellent songs in his catalog.....Sun Spot Baby among them !!!
Anytime!
Please Bill, drop any and all Bob Seger from the playlist. While I did have a moderate appreciation for his stuff in my youth, thanks to conventional radio, and my wife (a HUGE fan in her youth) I am terminally burned out on this stuff.
at least it's not one of his "hits" that we've all heard half a million times already.
Finally, after 3 years of listening, I hear a Bob Seger song on RP. He definitely belongs!! BTW, Sun Spot Baby is my favorite Bob Seger song... but there are many great ones
I have no problem with this.
well, I too was going to chime in with a sniping little comment or two...but y'all are right, Bob Seger is somehow hitting the spot right now...and bringing back a few nice memories. Thanks RP, yet again.
whoa! me too. I only have a few favorites like firelake and.......well thats all I can think of right now....oh and shame on the moon and you'll accompany me. this isn't bad and fits in ok.
wow...... as ubiquitious as his tunes were in my high school years in the midwest, this is really evocative. I've spent 25 years pooh-poohing his stuff. I must be mellowing with age.