Firefall – Cinderella

An unfortunate true-to-life song by Firefall. I was at my friend Dave’s site a few days ago and he featured one of their bigger hits. I like their big hits so I enjoyed Dave’s post but this is the song I think of when I think of Firefall. It’s a dark song that I remember well because my sister had the single.

This song peaked at #34 on the Billboard 100. Some of the band members were from other bands. Drummer Michael Clarke was from the Byrds, Jock Bartley played with Gram Parsons, and Rick Roberts was formerly with the Flying Burrito Brothers. Cinderella was released in 1977.

It was written by Firefall’s guitarist and vocalist Larry Burnett, the song stands out for its unfortunate realistic tone. This wasn’t the recipe for a hit song but was a hit. It was on their self-titled debut album released in 1976 which also included You Are The Woman.

Dave said this in his Just Remember I Love You post: They’d had one prior top 10 hit in “You Are The Woman” the year before and one more sizable hit the following year with “Strange Way.“, which was written mainly by Atlantic Records producer Tom Dowd. Thanks, Dave!

Larry Burnett: “I certainly didn’t have a wife or a girlfriend who was pregnant and I was working my butt off trying to support us. None of that was going on. But it was certainly happening around me in other people’s lives.”

According to the interview below…Larry wrote it when he was 16 years old and in high school but he didn’t live it.

Cinderella

Last December I met a girl
She took a likin’ to me
Said she loved me
But she didn’t know the meaning of the word

She imagined love to be grand
Me holdin’ her hand and
Whisperin’ sweet things and
Cooin’ softly like a song bird

Then one mornin’ she came to me
With a tear in her eye and a
Sigh on her breath Lord she said
“Hon I’m heavy with child”

I said “god damn girl can’t you see
That I’m breakin’my back
Just tryin’ to keep my head above water
And it’s turnin’ me wild”

Cinderella can’t you see
Don’t want your company
You better leave this mornin’ leave today
Take your love and your child away

Rockin’ chair on the front porch
I’m thinkin’ about all the things that I did
As a young man
Now that I’m old

I remember her and the boy
Did he have all the toys and the joys
That a young man should have
Before he gets too old

Cinderella couldn’t you see
Didn’t want your company
Shoulda left that mornin’ left that day
Took your love and your child away

Cinderella – Heartbreak Station

Any song that contains train references I usually like and this one is no exception. I was surprised when I heard this song was by Cinderella. They had changed themselves into a bluesy hard rock roots band. The other song that I heard off the album at the time was Shelter…and that one I loved also.

The song peaked at #44 on the Billboard 100, #60 in Canada, #54 in the UK, and #13 on the Billboard Rock Charts in 1991.

In 1990 we were the house band at club at the time. We never played new music but I learned this one just to see the faces of the people when we played a new song. We did this one and Jealous Again by the Black Crowes.

They never really got a chance to follow this momentum up with another album. n 1991, Keifer lost his voice due to a paresis of his vocal cords. After operations, they didn’t follow up this album until 1994 (Still Climbing) and by then grunge had taken over and Cinderella was dropped from the record company after the album went nowhere.

They reformed in 1996 and would tour off and on until 2014.

Heartbreak Station

Waiting at the station
Tears filling up my eyes
Sometimes the pain you hide
Burns like a fire inside

Lookin’ out my window
Sometimes it’s hard to see
The things you want in life
Come and go so easily

She took the last train out of my heart
The last train
And now I think I’ll make a brand new start
The last train out of my heart

Watching the days go by
Thinking ’bout the plans we made
Days turn into years
Funny how they fade away

Sometimes I think of those days
Sometimes I just hide away
I’m waiting on that 9:20 train
I’m waiting on a memory

She took the last train out of my heart
The last train
And now I think I’ll make a brand new start
The last train out of my heart, yeah

My lady’s on the fly
And she’s never coming back
My love is like a steam train
Rolling down the tracks, yeah, yeah

The last train out of my heart
The last train
And now I think I’ll make a brand new start
Took the last train out of my heart, yeah

she took the last train, out of my heart
(The last train) she took the last train
And now I think I’ll make a new start
Last train out of my heart