Taking Sides (By Strategy): "St. Elmo's Fire" vs. "Baby's on Fire"

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Love them both, love "St. Elmo's Fire" more. The cascading piano, weird, shimmery guitar; it may be as simple as my having been over-exposed to "Baby" but I gotta say that "St. Elmo's" is the pick for me.

― owen moorhead (i heart daniel miller), Sunday, 23 October 2005 13:27 (twenty years ago)

i take the theme from st. elmo's fire.

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 23 October 2005 13:30 (twenty years ago)

"burning ring o' fire" beats rook in smirnov gambit ho ho ho

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!, Sunday, 23 October 2005 13:30 (twenty years ago)

Growin' up you don't see the writing on the wall
Passin' by,
movin' straight ahead you'd knew it all
But one day sometime when you feel the pain
You'll find you're all alone,
everything has changed.
Play the game,
you know you can't quit until it's won
Soldier on,
only you can do what must be done
You know in some ways you're a lot like me
You're just a prisoner,
and you're tryin to break free
I can see the new horizon underneath the blazing sky
I'll be where the eagles flyin higher and higher
Gonna be a man in motion,
all i need's a pair of wheels
Take me where my future's lyin,
St.
Elmo's fire.
Burnin up,
dont know just how far that I can go
Soon be home,
only just a few miles down the road.
I can make it,
I know I can
You broke the boy in me,
but you won't break the man.
Just once in his life a man has his time,
and my time is Now,
I'm coming
alive -
I can hear the music playin,
i can see the banners fly
Feels like you're back again and hope riding high
Gonna be your man in motion,
all i need's a pair of wheels
Take me where my future's lyin St.
Elmo's fire
I can climb the highest mountain,
cross the wildest sea
I can feel St.
Elmo's fire burnin in me
burnin,
I can feel it burnin in me.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 23 October 2005 14:33 (twenty years ago)

John Parr vs. Brian Eno!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 23 October 2005 15:05 (twenty years ago)

Eno's "St. Elmo's Fire" >>> Superpitcher's "Baby's on Fire" >>>>> Parr's "St. Elmo's Fire" > Eno's "Baby's on Fire"

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Sunday, 23 October 2005 15:08 (twenty years ago)

St. Elmo's Fire for that awesome sped-up Fripp solo.

― sleeve (sleeve), Sunday, 23 October 2005 15:55 (twenty years ago)

My favorite is the Portastatic cover of "St. Elmo's Fire." Mac's voice really works well for that song.

― viborgu, Sunday, 23 October 2005 17:12 (twenty years ago)

"Baby's On Fire"

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 23 October 2005 17:18 (twenty years ago)

both are great, though. parr's is great too, but in a leni reifenstahl way.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 23 October 2005 17:18 (twenty years ago)

Eno's "St Elmo's" > Eno's "Baby on Fire" > than Laughner's "Baby on Fire" > Portastatic "St Elmo's.

All great tho.

― TRG (TRG), Sunday, 23 October 2005 17:27 (twenty years ago)

Um, I don't think that Fripp solo is sped up.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Sunday, 23 October 2005 18:30 (twenty years ago)

Baby's on Fire - but I say that keeping in mind that Here Come the Warm Jets is one of the most perfect records ever and the first Eno record I ever had - so objectivity is not possible for me.

― when something smacks of something (dave225.3), Sunday, 23 October 2005 18:35 (twenty years ago)

Likewise with Another Green World.

― owen moorhead (i heart daniel miller), Sunday, 23 October 2005 18:35 (twenty years ago)

"Baby's On Fire," in any version (any one I've heard, anyway.) But "St. Elmo's Fire" is not John Parr's best song. Didn't he have a smaller radio hit a few years earlier with "Naughty Naughty," which (in my memory at least) was quite possibly the best Billy Squier ripoff ever (unless "Dragon Attack" by Queen counts)? That song just disappeared, forever, when his huge movie theme came out. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any of this, though.

― xhuxk, Sunday, 23 October 2005 18:41 (twenty years ago)

"Naughty Naughty" is terrible.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Sunday, 23 October 2005 18:47 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, maybe it is, but not in my head it's not. (I haven't heard it for 20 if not 25 years).

Actually, I was only comparing Eno vs Parr in that above post. I think I'd still take "Baby's on Fire" over HIS "St Elmo's Fire," too, but it'd be close. Also, Taking Tiger Mountain > Here Come the Warm Jets > Another Green World > Before And After Science > My Life in the Bush of Ghosts > Music For Airports > Discreet Music > all the other albums I've ever heard by him, I suppose, but the distance between the first 3 or 4 is really not very huge.

― xhuxk, Sunday, 23 October 2005 18:52 (twenty years ago)

Joh Parr was excellent onstage. Saw him open for either the Hooters or Heart at the time of "St. Elmo's Fire." Opened with "Fire," closed with "Naughty Naughty" which was also a sort of MTV hit. Liked both, the latter more, both more than "Baby's On Fire."

― George the Animal Steele, Sunday, 23 October 2005 19:10 (twenty years ago)

So George, am I right in remembering "Naughty Naughty" as being somewhat Squier-like, or am I totally off? Other than that, I have no real concept of who the hell John Parr was. Are any of his albums worth checking out? Was he better, or worse, than Aldo Nova?

― xhuxk, Sunday, 23 October 2005 19:35 (twenty years ago)

"Dragon Attack" aint that great, Chuck! I don't know why you always mention that track everywhere.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 23 October 2005 19:51 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, "Naughty Naughty" was sort of Squier -- same in combination of bombast, pop hook and rock 'n' roll. I believe there was only one Parr album and it was reissued a couple years ago. Aldo Nova was huge in the Valley. More toward the pomp rock side of things and I liked John Parr a lot better. I still like hearing both the songs mentioned, nothing by Aldo Nova although the latter got played a lot more. I remember being bummed by one Aldo Nova cover that hinted at
a guy a lot more ballsy rocking than the album delivered.

― George the Animal Steele, Sunday, 23 October 2005 19:57 (twenty years ago)

This is a fabulous idea for a thread. Cheers, Owen.

― Bimble The Nimble, Jumped Over A Thimble! (Bimble...), Sunday, 23 October 2005 21:30 (twenty years ago)

sixteen years pass...

just once in his life
a man has his time
WELL MY TIME IS NOW
I'M COMING ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE

― Deez NFTs (Neanderthal), Thursday, 28 April 2022 16:28 (four years ago)

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