"One Wing in the Fire" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist

Trent Tomlinson Trent Tomlinson (born July 3, 1975) is an American country music artist. After several failed attempts at finding a record deal, Tomlinson was signed to Lyric Street Records in 2005, with his debut album ''Country Is My Rock'', released in earl ...

. It is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

dedicated to Tomlinson's father, Don. The song was released in May 2006 as the second single from Tomlinson's debut album ''

Country Is My Rock ''Country Is My Rock'' is the debut studio album of American country music artist Trent Tomlinson. It was released on March 7, 2006 (see 2006 in country music) on Lyric Street Records. The album produced three chart singles on the ''Billboard'' Ho ...

'', and reached a peak of number 11 on the U.S. ''

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 ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts in early 2007. Tomlinson wrote the song with

Bobby Pinson Bobby Olen Pinson (born August 10, 1972) is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Nashville in 2005, Pinson made his debut that year with his album ''Man Like Me''. Its lead-off single, " Don't Ask Me How I Know", peaked at No. ...

Content

The song's lyrics tell of the narrator's father's various character flaws ("Daddy's been a back-row

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

/ With his share of front-row sin"), but also of the good deeds that his father has done for him ("Daddy's always been there for me / From T-ball to touchdowns"). In the song, the narrator asks that God will forgive his errant father, who "lives a little left of living right", but is still a good person despite his flaws — in other words, "an angel with no halo / And one wing in the fire". Tomlinson has also stated that he receives

e-mail Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...

s from fans regarding the song. He stated that the song "never gets old... because it means so much to so many people". He has also stated that his father has "been very influential in what I do, the good and the bad. Thank God he understands that and doesn't get mad at me when I write about the bad." The song is in the key of

E-flat major E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically ...

, with a moderate tempo and a vocal range of two octaves, spanning E-E.

Music video

The music video was directed by

Shaun Silva Shaun Silva is a music video director who works primarily in the country music field. He has directed a number of music videos for many country music artists, including many of Kenny Chesney's music videos. His other clients include Jason Aldean, ...

and premiered in mid-2006.

Chart performance

References

{{reflist 2006 singles 2006 songs Trent Tomlinson songs Songs written by Bobby Pinson Music videos directed by Shaun Silva Lyric Street Records singles Songs written by Trent Tomlinson