"Ana's Song (Open Fire)" is a song by the Australian

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Silverchair Silverchair were an Australian Rock music, rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Ben Gillies on drums, Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got thei ...

. It was released in May 1999 as the second single from their third album, ''

Neon Ballroom ''Neon Ballroom'' is the third studio album by Australian alternative rock band Silverchair, released in 1999 by record labels Murmur and Epic. The songs " Anthem for the Year 2000", "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" and "Miss You Love" were released ...

''. The song is about lead vocalist

Daniel Johns Daniel Paul Johns (born 22 April 1979) is an Australian musician, singer, and songwriter best known as the former frontman, guitarist, and main songwriter of the rock band Silverchair. Johns is also one half of The Dissociatives with Paul Mac a ...

' struggle with

anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gr ...

. "Ana's Song" peaked at 14 on Australia's

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, at No. 12 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart, and at No. 28 on the ''Billboard''

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 1999 The 13th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 12 October 1999 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Hosted by Paul McDermott and Bob Downe, and present ...

, it was nominated for two awards. The track also earned Silverchair a

Comet Award Paramount International Networks (PIN) is the international division of Paramount Global. The division oversees the production, broadcasting and promotion of key Paramount's brands outside of the United States. These brands include Paramount Net ...

in Germany.

Background

"Ana's Song (Open Fire)" was written by the group's lead singer,

. In 1999, Johns announced that he had developed the eating disorder

due to anxiety and depression. Johns noted that the lyrics to "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" dealt with his disorder, where he would "eat what he needed ... to stay awake". Ana is the nickname given to anorexia nervosa by people affected by it. He revealed that his eating problems developed from the time of ''

Freak Show A freak show, also known as a creep show, is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with ...

'' (May 1996) and when ''Neon Ballroom'' was written he "hated music, really everything about it", but felt that he "couldn't stop doing it; I felt like a slave to it." Johns sought therapy and medication but felt "It's easier for me to express it through music and lyrics". Johns eventually overcame the disorder, realising that he would never be cured of the disease but could live a fulfilled life by learning to cope with it.

Reception

"Ana's Song (Open Fire)" peaked at No. 12 on ''

''s

. On the

it reached No. 14. According to ''

100 Best Australian Albums 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

'', by three Australian journalists, John O'Donnell,

Toby Creswell Toby Creswell (born 21 May 1955) is an Australian music journalist and pop-culture writer. He was editor of ''Rolling Stone'' (Australia) and a founding editor of ''Juice''. In 1986, he co-wrote, with Martin Fabinyi, his first book, ''Too Much ...

and

Craig Mathieson Craig Mathieson (born 1971) is an Australian music journalist and writer. His books include, '' Hi Fi Days'' (1996), ''The Sell-In'' in (2000) and the 100 Best Australian Albums in 2010, with Toby Creswell and John O'Donnell Biography Craig ...

, "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" directly focused on Johns' eating disorder, " tbecame a hit all over the world and opened up for discussion the fact that males could also be affected by anorexia".

Music video

The music video was directed by Cate Anderson, who also made the band's video for the song " Emotion Sickness". Australian actress

Sarah Aubrey Sarah Aubrey is a British-born Australian actress. She has had guest roles in episodes of ''Pieces of Her'', ''The Secret Life of Us'', '' All Saints'', '' Water Rats'' and '' Frayed'', along with numerous animation series and TV commercials. S ...

played the girl at the sink washing her hands, while having a distorted image of their cleanliness through the mirror. The video was nominated for an

ARIA Award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

for Best Video in 1999.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Jason Anderson thought that "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" was one of the three highlights from ''Neon Ballroom''.

Track listings

Australian CD single (MATTCD086) # "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" # "Trash" # "

Anthem for the Year 2000 "Anthem for the Year 2000" is a song by Australian rock band Silverchair, released as the first single from their third album, ''Neon Ballroom''. The song reached number three on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, becoming the band's sixth top- ...

" (

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

) # "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" (acoustic) Australian limited 7-inch vinyl (MATTV086) # "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" # "Anthem for the Year 2000" (a cappella) European CD single (6671072) # "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" # "Anthem for the Year 2000" (a cappella) # "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" (acoustic) European CD single (with different cover) (6673455) # "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" # "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" (acoustic) # "Trash" UK deleted CD single (6673452) # "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" # "The Millennium Bug" ( The Paul Mac remix) # "London's Burning" UK limited 7-inch picture disc (667345 7) # "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" # "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" (acoustic)

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1998 songs 1999 singles Columbia Records singles Epic Records singles Murmur (record label) singles Silverchair songs Song recordings produced by Nick Launay Songs about diseases and disorders Songs about eating disorders Songs written by Ben Gillies Songs written by Daniel Johns