2012Released
3:44

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Girl on Fire. By Songfacts®.

She's just a girl, but she's on fire. Alicia Keys told the audience at her 2012 Manchester Cathedral concert the song is about "really letting go of anything that's holding you back. Following your light. Following your passion. That puts you on fire."

"Girl On Fire" is the title track and first single from Alicia Keys' fifth studio album. She was just 30 years old, but had already logged over a decade in the industry, having released her debut album, Songs in A Minor, when she was 20. Signed to Clive Davis' mighty J label, she was carefully managed. This song finds her liberated. Said the singer: "Before making this record, in some ways I felt like a lion locked in a cage. I felt like a girl misunderstood that no one really knew, I felt like it was time to stop making excuses for any part of my life that I wanted to change. Once I made that choice I became a Girl on Fire, the lion broke free!!" The song was made available on iTunes and radio on September 4, 2012. It was her first released on her new label, RCA.

The song (and album title) was inspired by an Essence article written by Jeannine Amber, who described Alicia Keys as a "girl on fire." Keys recalled to Entertainment Weekly: "When I read that line, it was so crazy impactful to me, and I carried that title around for months. I knew that I was going to name the album that."

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Girl on Fire.
AKey
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
93BPM

Album

The album Girl on Fire is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Girl on Fire.
RCA Records Label
(P) 2012 RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment

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