"Danced in the Fire" is a song by New Zealand singer songwriter

Sharon O'Neill Sharon Lea O'Neill (born 23 November 1952) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and pianist, who had an Australasian hit single in 1983 with " Maxine" which reached No. 16 on both the Australian Kent Music Report and Recording Industry Association ...

. The song was released in February 1988 as the second single from her fifth studio album, '' Danced in the Fire'' (1987).

Background

O'Neill signed with

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

records in 1978 and between 1979 and 1983, released four top twenty albums in New Zealand. A number of disputes followed, leading to an almost 5-year break where O'Neill was not able to release music. O'Neill continued to write music however and in 1987 once the CBS contract had expired,O'Neill promptly signed a two-album deal with

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

. "Danced in the Fire" was written during that 5-year hiatus. In a 2014 interview with 'Stuff', O'Neill said "Danced in the Fire" is her personal favourite and still resonates deeply now. She says ""It is my personal favourite... a lot was going on in my personal life, it was something I had to just get out musically. You are baring your soul to a degree. It's a nice disguise to put it in that form rather than just bawl your eyes out, that doesn't get you anywhere." adding "I was really happy when I finished that song, you know. I thought, phew, I can breathe now." In a 2016 interview with Herald NZ, O'Neill said it is the song she is more proud of writing. She added "That was such a momentous time in my life – meeting Alan, breaking up with my husband, all the shit we went through with the record company – it's all in that song. It spilled out of me so fast, I had to get it out – it was cathartic."

Track listing

7" (Polydor – 887 326-7) *Side A "Danced in the Fire" – 3:29 *Side B "Thirst for Love" – 3:50 12"/CD Maxi (Polydor – 887 326-1) *Side A1 "Danced in the Fire" (12" Mix) – 5:14 *Side A2 "Thirst for Love" – 3:50 *Side B1 "Danced in the Fire" (7" Version) – 3:29 *Side Bs "Danced in the Fire" (Acapella Mix) – 3:42

Charts

Credits

* Alan Manfield –

DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 19 ...

, Hammond, Guitar * Michael Hegarty – Bass *

Tommy Emmanuel William Thomas Emmanuel (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian guitarist. Regarded as one of the greatest acoustic guitarists of all time, he is known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and use of percussive effects on ...

– Guitar *

Jon Farriss Jonathan James Farriss (born 10 August 1961) is an Australian drummer and founding member of rock band INXS. Biography Jon Farriss was born to Dennis and Jill Farriss, and is the second youngest of four children: brothers and fellow band mem ...

– Drums * Maggie McKinney, Mark Williams – Backing vocals

References

{{authority control 1987 songs 1988 singles Sharon O'Neill songs Songs written by Sharon O'Neill Polydor Records singles