“Bonfire Heart” by James Blunt

The addressee of James Blunt’s “Bonfire Heart” is a lady whom the singer wants to get with. The way that James is premising the situation is that they live in a world full of romantic challenges. For instance, the statement “I’ve been putting out fires all my life” is likely symbolic of the singer having been in a number of failed romances. The second verse also begins alluding to an idea like urban isolation, where “strangers pass you by”, and “no one offers you a shoulder”, as in genuine affection.

However, the singer also recognizes that “everybody wants a flame”. Or stated in an alternate manner, despite such obstacles to realizing true love, it is still something that is universal desired, especially in this particular context in the romantic sense. Yet they “don’t want to get burned”, as in deal with the potential of getting their hearts broken.

Song’s Title (“Bonfire Heart”)

The above brings us to the title of this song, “bonfire heart”. So fundamentally, we can say that fire and the like, within this song, is symbolic of heavy-romantic emotion. The singer is so smitten by the addressee that he is willing to throw caution to the wind. That is to say his heart is on ‘fire’, which once again is indicative of him being overtaken with affection for this lady. And likewise he is entreating her to adopt a similar disposition of loving him just as passionately. Indeed he proclaims that what they both need most in life is someone like each other, i.e. an individual to bring out that type of loving, exciting quality.

So as you have likely already deduced, this is in fact a love song. But in this particular case it is set against the background of the narrator acquiring a newfound hope of fulfillment, despite past disappointments, if only the addressee too would likewise give in to his romantic urgings.

Facts about “Bonfire Heart”

This song came out on 18 October 2013 as part of Blunt’s album “Moon Landing”. “Bonfire Heart” was the the lead single from the album.

Prior to its release, BBC Radio 2 had premiered the song on 29 July 2013.

“Bonfire Heart” reached number one in five countries, including Luxembourg and Slovenia. And overall it charted in over 20 nations, which included peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart.

This track has also been certified double-Platinum in Australia and Platinum in a handful of other countries.

“Bonfire Heart” was produced and co-written by Ryan Tedder, with the other writer being James Blunt.

Notable Live Performance

In 2014, James Blunt performed “Bonfire Heart” live at the official 2014 concert organized by the Nobel Peace Prize committee. He performed the song along with another classic of his titled “You’re Beautiful“.