The thing I like about Fire
Night from Cliffie Swan is that it takes old
fashioned disco and adds self-awareness. For instance
listen to the bass. It couldn’t be more riddled with sex. Ditto the
vocals. There’s the standard oohs and aahs you’d expect from this kinda song. The difference
though, between this and old fashioned disco, is that the musicians
perform as though they know full well the response they’re hoping to
provoke, and
ask the listener to be complicit. Hence the oohs and aahs don’t just prompt the listener to start
dancing. They
pose an ultimatum: I know this is going to titillate you, and you know it
too. So what are you gonna do about it?
The listener in turn has just two options: to start dancing
or walk away. This, of course, makes the song just a little bit aggressive, and that much
sexier for it.
