Bruce Springsteen - I'm on Fire Lyrics Meaning (2024)

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:

   anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Oct 5th 2017!⃝

   This song is a sexy ass song...and it's not about pedophedilia in my opinion...that would be taking it to the complete literal sense, which is usually not the case with music...there's always somethin much more profound in it...I mean come on, so then every time we see the word "baby" used in a song we all assume that we're talking about a child? No...

   Here's what I think:

   1. "Little Girl", I feel is his stance on her maturity level.
   2. "Daddy", obviously is the guy that she's with, not her real father because the verse that says "tell me baby is he good to you, can he do all the things that I can do...", expresses that it's the man she's with....
   3. The soakin in the sheets and all that...he desires her, he's tortured by the idea that he can't have her...it torments him to know that he's better than that guy she's with...

   It's what us guys go thru at least once in our lives when we see or know a girl that we're just completely infatuated with and never get to have...and it takes us to that level of, man, I wish I had her, ya know...its a good song...It's one of those songs you listen to when you fantasize about the girl you want, but can't have, starin up at the ceiling just wishin and hopin...

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:

   anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 4th 2017!⃝

   He loves someone so much it keeps him up at night. She is the only woman he wants and she is the only one that sets him on fire, but can cool him down. It's pretty self explanatory.

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:

   anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Dec 19th 2019!⃝

   I think that we all want to resist the idea that such an awesome, sing-along, ear-catching song, could be about paedophilia. But it disturbs me every time I hear it. If he'd been trying to strive for allusions, there are plenty more that could have been more effective. As it stands, and without the benefit of seeing the video, I simply wish he'd made clear word choices, particularly about the 'daddy' line which is super-disturbing.

   See Also

   The Meaning Behind The Song: I'm On Fire by Bruce Springsteen - Old Time MusicI'm On Fire by Bruce Springsteen: Lyrics Meaning and Interpretation | SharpensBruce Springsteen - I'm on Fire Lyrics | SongMeanings

4. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 8th 2023!⃝

   He was singing about being a pedophile having selfish erotica love for a little girl. He wants with demonic fury to rape here with lustful violence.

5. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Aug 9th 2022!⃝

   If only Bruce Springsteen had changed the word "little" for, for instance, "sweet", and "daddy" for "lover", the song wouldn't have been this controversial, as it rightfully is, nowadays. I wonder why he chose these words.
   Ingrid August 10 22

6. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   May 22nd 2022!⃝

   In the 70s and 80s it was common for people to use ‘daddy’ and ‘baby’ just as we use ‘boo’ or ‘hunny’ today. (or 10 years ago) The idea that this is about a child is the worst interpretation of anything I’ve ever seen, except maybe the idea it’s the CAR!! Come on man. GTFO with both. It’s obviously what the easily viewed music video portrays without any ambiguity at all. Sheesh.

7. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Sep 3rd 2021!⃝

   How can people be so stupid????

   If any of you've written a comment, tagging the song as "child abuse" or something nasty and you haven't seen the official song video then your misinterpretation of his song's lyrics is quite understandable.

   Watch the video first before you comment....the women (not a child) has clearly taken a liking to the mechanic (Bruce). The mechanic likes her too but he also knows he can't have her coz she's already taken. He checks out her wedding ring that is still on her finger as she leaves the keys (not jus the keys of the car but to her (her home) as she hints him where she lives.

   Bruce caught in this desire which he knows is bad but couldn't resist that it makes him sleepless, torn and mentally ill.

   But he comes out clean at the last minute....he decides not to do it...he ditches her invite, smiles at the whole damn thing and does the right thing....HE LEAVES leaving the keys at her doorstep.

   It's a wonderful song....tells the story of a man who almost made a wrong decision in his life.

8. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Apr 16th 2021!⃝

   The song is about a woman battling with an addiction. It shifts perspectives from the drugs seducing her, to her withdrawals, and battling the call of the drugs.

9. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jan 3rd 2021!⃝

   Its about the car - the little girl. Daddy is the owner of the car. The car is what he desires. That's why he asks if she (the car) was left all alone. He's the mechanic in the clip, hence the lyric "can he (the owner) do to the things that I (the mechanic) do" and he drove the car. Well that's my spin. All of this of course may be metaphorical.

10. This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

11. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jul 14th 2020!⃝

    It's about a man's selfish desire to pour out his morbid death lust for a little girl. He wants to use hi penis as a knife to stab her between his legs until she dies.

12. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Apr 20th 2020!⃝

    This song is definately about a pedophile wanting to pound someone’s daughter. His head hurts because he knows his thoughts are terrible and wishes they would go away

13. This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

14. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Dec 4th 2018!⃝

    If you watch the music video it explains... He's in love with a woman that has a sugar daddy.

15. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Oct 26th 2018!⃝

    totally pedophilia song. Is your Dad home, I got a bad desire, I want to do things to you

    Crazy I hear it sometimes on radio,
    old guy wants to make sex to a little girl when daddy isnt home...

    OMG. another Harvey Weinstein scandal noone talked about, because???

16. SNAPS

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Oct 24th 2018!⃝

    It’s a song about drug use and addiction- initially, his addiction is mocking him by calling him a “little girl”, the “daddy” reference being the drug itself or his dealer, either one having left him alone with this “bad desire” (craving the drug). His addiction this time is tempting him, sarcastically (as in, how is quitting working for you so far) with “Can he do the things to you that I can?” - with the “he” in this case being his abstinence.
    Then, his addiction is tempting him much more SEDUCTIVELY with “Are you all alone? I can take you higher”.
    The dull knife through the middle of his skull, waking up with night sweats, followed by the freight train coming at him, are full blown withdrawal symptoms; after that, ALL he does is answer back to it, “ONLY YOU can cool my desire.... woohoo....”

17. This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

18. This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

More Bruce Springsteen songs »

Latest Articles

• Let’s Go to the Hop - Ignore That Door’s Four Bunnies and a Beatbox
• Forgotten Weird Music Videos of the Ancient 80s | vol 3
• Forgotten Weird Music Videos of the Ancient 80s | vol 2
• Forgotten Weird Music Videos of the Ancient 80s | vol 1
• Let’s Chase Taylor Swift Rumors
• When the Beatles Touched Off a Movie War