The Sign of Fire - The Fixx

The Fixx got quite a bit of airplay on both rock and pop stations in the early-mid 80s, starting with Red Skies from their 1982 debut album Shuttered Room, through their smash hit album Reach the Beach (1983), which had several songs that saw airplay, most notably One Thing Leads To Another and Saved by Zero, followed by Phantoms (1984), which contained the hit Are We Ourselves?. These last three songs essentially became permanent fixtures in the 80s pop canon. Their material after this period remained excellent but their mainstream popularity waned. I particularly like the album Calm Animals from 1988.

The sound of The Fixx is somewhat unique. Very tight but adept guitar work, the constrained high-end vocals of Cy Curnin (strangely he doesn’t have much of a web presence, although he is apparently still active, both with and without The Fixx), atmospheric synthesizer work, and somewhat minimalist drum and bass tracks. This was one of those bands who could only have achieved any kind of stardom in the 80s, when there were a huge variety of sounds within pop. The themes of the music were serious, running the gamut from politics to pop psychology to personal relationship stuff. The one mystery about the Fixx that I’ve never truly solved is why I have never met a female Fixx fan. The Fixx was music for introversion for myself and my (male) geek friends. I had female geek friends but this stuff was apparently lost on them. And no female 80s music fan I’ve met since high school has ever professed serious fandom of The Fixx. For whatever reason, there’s just a lack of appeal there for women…

Nevertheless, the atmospherics and unique musical sound of The Fixx is what has always attracted me. The Sign of Fire (sorry no Youtube video), off Reach the Beach, is a subtle song that managed to get a quite respectable amount of airplay (although it probably does not any more, now that “Classic Rock” seems to have taken over the formats of virtually all former rock stations).

This really is a masterfully written and produced pop song. After a very cold fade-in, the basic rhythmic sequence that defines the song breaks in. It’s a jumpy, mid-tempo, almost march-like composition, with the fragile and precise guitar so characteristic of The Fixx controlling the pace and a very spare somewhat stocatto-ey bass line. There’s a very nice guitar figure, impossible to describe, leading into the chorus. Again, it’s that fast, light, surgical, strongly-effected (phaser and/or chorus? I’m not a guitarist) Fixx sound of lead-guitarist Jamie West-Oram. The bass line bounces lightly during the chorus, in counterpoint to the guitar licks. I pretty much hate actual baroque music, but these are indeed the equivalent of baroque stylings for pop music. What other bands then or now did this and got on the radio? The break back into the verse from the chorus releases energy, but still maintains the precise Fixx control. In the second verse and thereafter there is some modulating synth in the background, adding to the disorienting atmosphere. After the second chorus there is a very atmospheric bridge (after the lyric “hot”; see below). Held synth strings in the background provide the atmosphere. But this is just a brief interlude before we go back to intro/verse music.

The lyrics are suitably cryptic. Here they are:

Heart of stone -- I tried to reach you
Of the altar stone -- I tried to warn you
But you were not alone -- you wouldn't take the call
You wear brimstone -- I tried to warm you
Always the same desire
After the tone -- they try to storm you
You are a voice alone and who dares to question
Forgotten at home - how do you live with
Do you wear brimstone -- give me the call
Always the sign is fire
I'm being drawn by the heat
Always the same desire. Hot
Through the telephone -- I tried to reach you
But if you're not alone -- I know your life is torn
I see your lover's tomb -- why don't you mention
To me whenever I call -- I'll try to warm you
Always the sign is fire
I'm being drawn by the heat
Always the same desire
You're not alone
Always the sign is fire
Heart of stone
Always the sign is fire . . . (repeat)

Not to jest about the lyrics – they fit the piece very well. It’s standard unrequited love stuff. The object has some complicated things going on. Wearing brimstone sounds pretty serious. And her (presumably it’s a she) lover has a tomb. Not good, one would think. The song fades out and we are left with unsettled angst. But it’s a very controlled and measured injection of atmosphere. A great soundtrack for many a lonely day walking around in the cold, I can attest well.