Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Fire’: 20 versions, through the years

The cover of Bruce Springsteen’s 1987 single, “Fire.”

A sultry eight-minute-plus version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire” by New Jersey jazz singer Carrie Jackson (listen below), from her new Jersey Bounce album, got me exploring different versions of the song, and so I decided to put together this post, with 20 different takes on it, through the years.

It is fitting that there have been a lot of covers of this song, given that Springsteen originally saw it as something that someone else — Elvis Presley, specifically — could record. Springsteen wrote it after seeing Presley perform at The Spectrum in Philadelphia in May 1977, but Presley died in August 1977, without ever hearing it.

Springsteen considered it for his own Darkness on the Edge of Town album in 1978; it didn’t make the final cut, but he did start performing it live on his Darkness on the Edge of Town Tour. He released a 1978 concert performance of it on his Live/1975-85 boxed set in 1986, and put out that version as a single in 1987. His studio version came out on The Promise in 2010.

The first official release of “Fire” was by Robert Gordon, on his 1978 Fresh Fish Special album, with Springsteen playing piano. And The Pointer Sisters’ version, released later in 1978, became a Top 10 hit.

Here are 20 videos of “Fire,” starting with the aforementioned versions by Springsteen, Gordon, The Pointer Sisters and Jackson and then going into the others, including some dynamic duets (Rita Wilson & Elvis Costello, Tom Jones & Enrique Iglesias, Babyface & Des’ree, Springsteen & Patti Scialfa), the “Glee” version, Robin Williams’ Elmer Fudd version, an Elvis impersonator version, and more. I have also embedded a Spotify playlist with the 13 of these versions that are available there.

Enjoy!

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND

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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

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ROBERT GORDON

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THE POINTER SISTERS

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CARRIE JACKSON

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RITA WILSON & ELVIS COSTELLO

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TOM JONES & ENRIQUE IGLESIAS

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SHAKIN’ STEVENS

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BABYFACE & DES’REE

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HENNING STÆRK BAND

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LINK WRAY

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JOEL REYES

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ANNA CALVI

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STORM LARGE

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JULIETTE LEWIS WITH STEVE JONES

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LERA LYNN

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KRISTIN CHENOWETH & MATTHEW MORRISON (IN “GLEE”)

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ROBIN WILLIAMS (AS ELMER FUDD)

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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & PATTI SCIALFA

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MARK WRIGHT (AS ELVIS PRESLEY)

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