Eternal Flame (song)

History

Unlike the rest of the more uptempo songs on their album Everything, "Eternal Flame" is a ballad. Co-writer Billy Steinberg describes it as "the Beatles meet the Byrds."

The song was inspired by two eternal flames: one at the gravesite of Elvis Presley that the Bangles saw when the band visited Graceland, and one at a local synagogue in Palm Springs which Steinberg attended as a child. Steinberg recalled to Songfacts: "Susanna was talking about the Bangles having visited Graceland, and she said there was some type of shrine to Elvis that included some kind of eternal flame. As soon as those words were mentioned, I immediately thought of the synagogue in the town of Palm Springs, California where I grew up. I remember during our Sunday school class they would walk us through the sanctuary. There was one little red light and they told us it was called the eternal flame."

In the BBC programme I'm in a Girl Group, Hoffs revealed she actually sang the studio recording of the song completely naked after producer Davitt Sigerson pranked her by telling her Olivia Newton-John had done the same thing, but he later told Hoffs he had been lying the whole time.

It spent one week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, blocking Milli Vanilli's "Girl You Know It's True" from reaching the summit position. It was preceded at #1 on the Hot 100 by Mike + the Mechanics' "The Living Years" and succeeded by Roxette's "The Look." It also topped the US adult contemporary chart for two weeks.

The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart in February 1989 at number 81 and peaked at number one in April, spending four weeks there. It went on to spend twenty weeks in the chart and was the UK's third best-selling song of 1989.

The song spent three weeks at number one in Sweden and 18 weeks in the Swedish charts

The song also spent seven weeks at number one in the Dutch Top 40. The song was Australia's 4th biggest selling single of 1989 and was sent up on the Australian TV show Fast Forward.

Personnel

Tomoya Nagase featuring 3T version

In 1997 a Japanese version of the song was recorded by Tomoya Nagase, the vocalist of the Japanese idol rock group Tokio, featuring 3T. This song was used as the theme song of the Nippon TV drama DXD, in which Nagase played the main role. He also wrote the Japanese version lyrics. This version was released as a single in Japan under the name of "Tomoya with 3T".

Human Nature version

In 1999, Australian group Human Nature covered "Eternal Flame" and released it as the fifth single from their second album Counting Down. It peaked at number eight on the ARIA singles chart and was certified gold.

Track listings

1. "Eternal Flame"
2. "She's So Gone"
3. "Breaking Me Down"
4. "Don't Cry" (Discothèque Club remix)
5. "Eternal Flame" (music video)

1. "Eternal Flame"
2. "Shake You Outta My Head" from the Happy Days production
3. "She's So Gone"
4. "Breaking Me Down"
5. "Don't Cry" (Discothèque Club remix)
6. "Eternal Flame" (music video)

Atomic Kitten version

British pop group Atomic Kitten subsequently recorded the song in 2001 and released as the sixth overall single and lead single from the reissue of the debut studio album, Right Now. It was the group's first single to feature new band member Jenny Frost. Their version was produced by multi-platinum singer producer Ray Ruffin.

Track listing

1. "Eternal Flame" (Single Version) – 3:15
2. "Right Now" (Jenny Frost version) – 3:35
3. "Right Now" (K-Klass Phazerphunk Club Mix) – 7:22
4. "Eternal Flame" (Blacksmith RnB Club Dub) – 3:55
5. "Right Now" (video)

1. "Eternal Flame" (Single Version) – 3:15
2. "Album Medley" – 5:30
3. "Eternal Flame" (Blacksmith RnB Club Rub) – 3:54
4. "Eternal Flame" (video)

1. "Eternal Flame" (Single Version) – 3:15
2. "Album Medley" – 5:30
3. "Dancing in the Street" – 3:39

Music video

The video begins with the band members walking up to the screen in a stylized pace, in plain white clothes and bare feet, with a dark background. This is shown often in the video, and is also how the video ends. Throughout the video, each of the band members do different poses and dance moves in time to the song, with the dark, cloudy background in place. Also in one of the scenes in the video, all three band members are seen in a line, with a glass floor and four metal posts with lights in the background that accompanies the perennial dark background. In this scene, the girls are seen doing a basic dance routine in time with the song. For Jenny's solo, she is seen lying down on the floor doing a sexy pose. However, Frost later claimed in the So Far So Good DVD, that she had tonsillitis for the video shoot, and was lying down due to being ill and couldn't stand up. There is also a version of the video that contains clips from the movie The Parole Officer which was taken from the DVD "So Far So Good".

Chart performance

Atomic Kitten made the song another massive success; it entered the top twenty in every country it was released, except for Australia, where it peaked at number 47. It entered at number one in the UK, staying at the top for two weeks. On its first day, "Eternal Flame" sold 35,358 copies, and its closest rival was Destiny's Child's "Bootylicious", which sold 13,182 copies in its opening day. The song sold over 140,000 copies in its first week and 70,000 copies in its second week. The song sold over 400,000 copies in the UK, and was certified Gold. The single entered the top five in over ten countries. The single went to number two in the French singles chart, a huge success, and became one of the best selling singles by a girl group of all time in France. However, it was their only single to reach the top 20, making them one-hit wonders there. It was certified gold for sales of over 250,000 copies. Atomic Kitten's version charted higher in France than the original version by the Bangles.

Over a year later, the single appeared in the Canadian Singles Chart. "Eternal Flame" was Atomic Kitten's only single to chart over there. It debuted at number 20, and peaked at number 15. It spent twelve weeks in the top forty—five of which were in the top twenty, making the song a moderate success. The single was also a number-one hit in the Flanders region of Belgium, and Atomic Kitten's became their best-selling single there, subsequently lasting sixteen weeks on the chart; it became the 28th best selling single of 2001 in Belgium. It also spent one week at number one in New Zealand. "Eternal Flame" went on to sell over one million copies worldwide and was certified Gold in the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, and New Zealand.

Other cover versions

The song was covered in 2000 by Rollergirl on the album Now I'm Singin'... and the Party Keeps On Rollin', and released as a single which peaked at #87 in the Swiss Charts. Bonnie Tyler and French singer Laura Zen recorded a version in 2011 which went to French radio stations on Monday August 29. The song was named "Eternal Flame (Amour éternel)".