Songfacts®:

• This upbeat track features soul singer John Legend, who told MTV News he's been a fan of the Philly collective since his college days, when he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania. "This is a group I've been following since I was a kid at UPenn. I would go to open mics and watch them host the open mics, wishing I could be onstage with them, and now I'm in the studio with them," he gushed.
• Roots drummer and co-producer ?uestlove told MTV News about this song, which is a rare upbeat tune on How I Got Over: "As far as 'The Fire' is concerned, we wanted to balance the record out also, with a sign of hope, a ray of hope. 'The Fire' is almost an anthem, if you will. It's like a hang-on-in-there, if you will, for us."