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."