Alicia Keys - Girl on Fire

"Girl on Fire" is the lead single and title track from Keys' fifth studio album Girl on Fire(2012).

"Girl on Fire" is a midtempo R&B and hip hop song written by Keys, Jeff Bhasker, Salaam Remi and American rock guitarist Billy Squier. Squier earns a writing credit for the inclusion of a sample of the drum track from Squier's 1980's song "The Big Beat".

Composed on the key of A major, "Girl on Fire" uses common time and is set to a "heavy beat" at a tempo of 96 beats per minute. Key's vocals range in the song over an octave from a lote note of C♯3 up to a high note of E5. On the main single, Keys opens the songs with the lyrics "She got both feet on the ground and she's burning it down. She got her head in the clouds and she's not backing down. This girl is on fire." Keys' lyrics centre around toasting the "achievements of women everywhere", particularly with the hook "She's just a girl and she's on fire", which according to MTV's Rob Markman is delivered with a "calming-yet-commanding wail".

Alicia Keys - Girl on Fire printable sheet music - CLICK HERE

 

Markman also spoke of the pace of the song, describing it as "pulsating". LA Time's Gerrick Kenndey expanded further describing the songs components as "a fierce battlecry over a fast-building simplistic hook". Critics likened "Girl on Fire" to Keys' previous singles "No One" (2007) and "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart" (2009). Throwing "If I Ain't Got You" (2004) into the list of comparisons, Erin Thompson from Seattle Weekly said "Girl on Fire" compares to previous Keys' ballads with its "quiet, unassuming verses leading into big, empathic choruses."