“Baby's on Fire” by Brian Eno

Three songs into Here Come the Warm Jets, Brian Eno's first solo album, "Baby's on Fire" stages a photo shoot out of a fever dream: a woman going up in flames, a crowd of gawkers laughing along without a thought in their heads, and a pair of second-hand tobacconists wandering through for good measure. Eno cut it at Majestic Studios in Clapham, London, in September 1973, singing it, playing guitar, keyboards and synthesizer, producing, and mixing it with Chris Thomas.

He packed the session with guests: Robert Fripp on guitar, Paul Rudolph and John Wetton on bass, Simon King and Marty Simon on percussion. The song kept a life on stage, too. The first live take, from June 1, 1974, with Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Ollie Halsall and Eddie Sparrow, was so wildly out of tune that Eno said one riff came out sounding like cellos, and he meant that as high praise.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.