Fire Woman by The Cult

Album: Sonic Temple (1989)

Charted: 15 46

License This Song

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

This song is about a fiery femme fatale. When Songfacts asked The Cult front man Ian Astbury just who the "Fire Woman" was, he replied: "That's more of a universal symbol. More of an archetype. It's about elemental primary symbols. That's definitely a universal symbol."
"Fire Woman" is one of the most popular songs by The Cult, a British band that specializes in hard rock mysticism. They made some noise in the UK with their 1985 hit "She Sells Sanctuary," but didn't chart in the US until "Fire Woman" went to #46. Their songs didn't get much airplay but their albums sold pretty well; "Fire Woman" is from their fourth album, Sonic Temple, which went Platinum in the US and other territories and roused interest in their back catalog, including songs like "Love Removal Machine" and "Rain." The band split in 1995 but returned to action in 1999.
The song was a #1 hit in New Zealand and also quite popular in Australia, where it played during the closing credits for Formula One broadcasts.
Like most of The Cult's songs, "Fire Woman" was written by lead singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, the mainstays in the group.
"Fire Woman" was a huge hit for The Cult, but Astbury felt that this commercial success overshadowed other aspects of the band's work.

"I thought 'Fire Woman' was our albatross," he told Mojo magazine. "I didn't think it was a fair representation of the band. It was like we were evolving into this A&R person's wet dream of what The Cult should be."

Comments: 2

Seleniuxmiux Rucobo from Fresno, CaJust love it!!!
Chris from Germany Actually THE CULT had 3 RIAA Certified Albums in the USA
their debut was GOLD then they had two other albums which were PLATINUM certified

that is remarkable for a band without any Top 40 Hits. FIRE WOMAN was#46 in the US Hot 100. Their song CIAO EDIE reached barely the Hot 100.

see more comments

More Songfacts:

JumpVan Halen

Van Halen's first #1 hit was "Jump," an unusual song for the band because the lead instrument was synthesizer, not guitar.

We Are The ChampionsQueen

Freddie Mercury considered "We Are The Champions" his version of "My Way." "We have made it, and it certainly wasn't easy," he said.

We Didn't Start The FireBilly Joel

Billy Joel wrote "We Didn't Start The Fire" after a 21-year-old told him, "everyone knows that nothing happened in the '50s."

Real LoveMary J. Blige

Prince Markie Dee of The Fat Boys co-wrote the Mary J. Blige hit "Real Love."

I Don't Want To Miss A ThingAerosmith

Diane Warren originally wrote Aerosmith's hit tune "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" for Celine Dion.

Crank That (Soulja Boy)Soulja Boy

"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" was the most successful digital track of 2007 in the US with 2,909,000 downloads. On January 6, 2008 it became the first song ever to sell 3 million digital copies in the States.