What does Girl On Fire mean?

Alicia Keys: Girl On Fire Meaning

Album cover for Girl On Fire album cover

Song Released: 2012


Featuring: Nicki Minaj


Get "Girl On Fire" on MP3: Get MP3 from iTunes

Girl On Fire Lyrics

She's just a girl, and she's on fire
Hotter than a fantasy, lonely like a highway
She's living in a world, and it's on fire
Filled with catastrophe, but she knows she can fly away

Oh, she got both feet on the ground
And she's burning it...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    shenelle.hills
    click a star to vote
    Jun 5th 2014 !⃝

    Keys introduce a girl in the very first line of the song. Keys did not stop there but she immediately attached a characteristic to the girl through a metaphor, ‘she’s on fire’. Describing the girl as ‘fire’ can suggest that she is untamed, passionate and is a go getter kind of person. Further down in the song reinforces the image of the girl as untamed, uncontrollable or fearless when Keys commands us to ‘look the other way’. By elevating the girl Keys allows us to wonder what makes this girl a ‘flame’. In the final verse this answer is revelled. Keys confirms that the girl is human but what sets her apart from others is her ability to overcome the ‘catastrophes’ that life throws at her or the ability to stay motivated even though ‘she’s a lonely girl’. This adds a realistic touch to the song aside from her heavenly. This quote can be complicated as keys could be suggesting that the girl or women do not need a male companion to be ‘bright’ or a beacon of light bringing hope to this ‘lonely world’.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 6th 2021 !⃝

    I think it's about a persistent and relentless woman. Who knows who she is and has embraced the struggles that come with being such a woman. She isn't perfect but she keeps her dreams and ambitions big. She is a powerful woman. One most want to be.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 8th 2013 !⃝

    i believed this song is about a tragic character,a girl living in a catastrophe,she is lonely and has many enemies.However she fight hard for life with the eyes of fire,overcoming many obstacles which was meant to held her down.It was all about the real world,cruel and harsh and many people are living in a tragedy and the only way out is to fight with determination and bravery.Girl on fire showing us the desire to be successful when we are are almost like invisible to the world.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 1st 2022 !⃝

    It's me Marylyn the green smoke to green wichtown ship the highway is centralize girfidi high way high way to hell and I've been torched my hole life even by my boy friend my life is linked to everything and has a butterfly affect I think I'm the mona lisa but every one beliefs in different and won't listen because they are some what brain washed cb in mona Lisa's eye is crybaby rain man rain deer your dead guide my sled santa is bad!!! The holiday all of it and jesus christ is me I think. The pirmids 3 my aunt's murder on Warren st in phillipsburg nj is a palm print norwestcap. Cap a gun the school top a diamond an project's a cobra snake.i wrote 40 book they my past shows further plans to murder and messages of smoking gun box chocolates and last supper voices trying to get me to pick a other man or go in wood they wanted to make it up to me but I know they going to kill me. They fix my boy friends to hurt me and cheat on me and make me seem crazy an the man I'm with now I want to see to that no one on earth will want him for what hes doing to me because I told him what's going on an he still doing it. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE REASON THE WORLD ENDED!!! Proof I got it all

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 29th 2022 !⃝

    I think it's about a girl who refuses to be held back.Even though she's had a lot of challenges in her life,she keeps moving forward by not giving up on her dreams.

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 4th 2021 !⃝

    It is all a girl who went through a large and disastrous event and at a point in lifese said no to such and now she is trying to break out from the mess which she went through. And no one can extinquish her desires for greatness.

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 13th 2021 !⃝

    She has seen and possibly had catastrophes in her own life. She makes a conscious decision to make her life meaningful, therefore she makes a difference in the world she lives in.

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 26th 2020 !⃝

    I thought it was about her admiration for a girl... possibly in gay way?
    that’s why i searched up to find the interpretation, because i thought it might be lgbtq representation!

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 12th 2020 !⃝

    This girl has had much sadness in her life but she is strong & fearless & determined to come out the other side. She is going to leave her tragic life behind & she is going to fight for her dreams to become reality & nothing is going to stop her. No obstacles are going to keep her from reaching her goals—this girl is on fire!!!

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 24th 2019 !⃝

    These songs are almost always beautiful to the ears, even if they're daunting to the comprehension.

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 12th 2019 !⃝

    When we hang our lyric tapestry upon the breeze and sculpt the air into poetic phrasing, our laces are bound to get tangled in the winds of change. Wait, what was that? That was figuratively speaking, using poetic metaphors, similes, and expressions to bend the language to suit our message. These songs are almost always beautiful to the ears, even if they're daunting to the comprehension.

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 4th 2017 !⃝

    Guys this song starts with "spirit of Marilyn calling me....." DEFINITELY illuminati. She's not bragging about it. She says "nobody knows that she's a lonely girl and it's a lonely world!"
    "X in the box coz aint nobody checkin me"
    This girl is on fire to the public but is going through a very hard time.
    Probably been sexually abused in Hollywood because she said she's in the ghost of Marilyn [Monroe]

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 2nd 2016 !⃝

    I think it's about an illuminati person.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 13th 2015 !⃝

    I think it's about a mother who raised us hard I think.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 1st 2014 !⃝

    I think it means a girl who used to suffered from bad experiences. So now she decide that she will not be back down by their words and all those experiences, and hence, she decide to take the high road in which she is also doing great too.

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 28th 2014 !⃝

    I think the song is about that she is doing great and even though her past wasn't the best she's on top now. Also that nobody can bring her down no matter what they say it can't and won't. When she says this girl is on fire shes saying I'm doing great and achieving my dreams, and I don't care what you think.

  17. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 29th 2013 !⃝

    I think this song is about perseverance. 'fire' is a symbol for her determination because even though she's had a bad past('lonely like a highway') she doesn't give up. 'her head in the clouds' means that she's not letting anyone tear her from her dreams.

  18. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 12th 2013 !⃝

    The devil's bragging what is done to whitney Houston, a coded message to other devils,though there followers don't understand the level of deception being played on them,they rejoice in the success of decieving and reaping there followers,you can tell its being sung in a third party,for what price they sold there soul for the false angle of light.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
‹ prev 12



More Alicia Keys songs »


 


Latest Articles

 


Submit Your Interpretation

[ want a different song? ]




Blog posts mentioning Alicia Keys

Just Posted

Steve's Going to London anonymous
Yes I'm A Mess anonymous
Droppin' Plates anonymous
Rat anonymous
Cry for the Moon anonymous
And the Snakes Start to Sing anonymous
Gingerbread Man anonymous
Not Like the Movies anonymous
This Masquerade anonymous
Birthday Suit anonymous
Dollhouse anonymous
Death anonymous
Copy Cat anonymous
I Hate Jimmy Page anonymous
I Hate Jimmy Page anonymous

(We won't give out your email)