His extravagance, combined with tenderness and complimented by a whole lot of 'Funkiness', is enriched through years of recording with award-winning stars like Steve Vai, Cindy Lauper, Little Steven, Tina Turner and Billy Joel. A former member of he Pretenders, TM recorded on the platinum album "Get Close" and also produced and arranged, amongst others, the album "Tribute to Deep Purple According to New York" on which artists like Yngwie Malamsteen, members of Living Colour and Bernie Worrell (P-Funk) all participated. It was TM who contributed the compelling groove with his unmistakable style on Joe Cocker's mainstream classic "Unchain my Heart." Together with Narada Michael Walden he penned the billboard hit "I Should Have Loved Ya." (Source: http://www.tmstevens.com)
Smoke On The Water
T.M. Stevens Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile
We didn't have much time
Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place around
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
They burned down the gambling house
It died with an awful sound
Funky Claude was running in and out
Pulling kids out the ground
When it all was over
We had to find another place
But Swiss time was running out
It seemed that we would lose the race
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
We ended up at the Grand Hotel
It was empty cold and bare
But with the Rolling truck Stones thing just outside
Making our music there
With a few red lights and a few old beds
We make a place to sweat
No matter what we get out of this
I know we'll never forget
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
T.M. Stevens's song Smoke On The Water is a tribute to a famous incident that happened in Montreux, Switzerland in 1971. The song's first verse talks about how they all came to Montreux to record with a mobile studio. Frank Zappa and the Mothers were also present at the place, but unfortunately, the venue burned down due to a flare gun. This event makes the centerpiece of the song as the recurring phrase "Smoke on the water, fire in the sky" emphasizes upon it.
The second verse narrates how they had to find another place to record, and the Grand Hotel turned out to be the place. They made do with what they had and created music with "a few red lights and a few old beds." According to the lyrics, no matter what they had at their disposal, the band still produced great music that they won't ever forget even in the face of tragedy.
Line by Line Meaning
We all came out to Montreux
We all traveled to Montreux
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
Montreux is located on the shoreline of Lake Geneva
To make records with a mobile
We came to Montreux to record music using a mobile recording studio
We didn't have much time
We were on a tight schedule
Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Frank Zappa and his band, The Mothers of Invention, were also present in Montreux
Were at the best place around
They were playing at the best venue in town
But some stupid with a flare gun
But unfortunately, someone caused a dangerous event with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
As a result, the venue was burned to the ground
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
The venue was on fire and smoke was rising above the water from Lake Geneva
They burned down the gambling house
The venue had a gambling house in it that was also destroyed
It died with an awful sound
The building collapsed with a terrible noise
Funky Claude was running in and out
Funky Claude Nobs, the event organizer, was trying to help people escape from the fire
Pulling kids out the ground
He helped rescue young attendees
When it all was over
When the fire was extinguished
We had to find another place
We needed to find a new venue to record our music
But Swiss time was running out
We were running out of time in Switzerland
It seemed that we would lose the race
It appeared that we would not be able to complete recording on time
We ended up at the Grand Hotel
We decided to record at the Grand Hotel instead
It was empty cold and bare
The new venue was not ideal and had little amenities
But with the Rolling truck Stones thing just outside
However, the Rolling Stones' mobile recording studio was just outside
Making our music there
We were able to record our music with their studio
With a few red lights and a few old beds
We made do with what we had
We make a place to sweat
We set up a place to record and work hard
No matter what we get out of this
Regardless of the outcome or the challenges we face
I know we'll never forget
We will always remember this experience
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
The memory of the burned venue and the intense experience will stay with us
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: RITCHIE BLACKMORE, IAN GILLAN, ROGER D GLOVER, JON LORD, IAN PAICE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind