"Eternal Flame" | ||||
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U.S. commercial cassette release
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Single by The Bangles | ||||
from the album Everything | ||||
B-side | "What I Meant to Say" | |||
Released | February 17, 1989 | |||
Format | Vinyl record (7", 12" 45 rpm), CD single (3"), Cassingle | |||
Recorded | 1988 in Studio 55, Ocean Way Recording, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | Soft rock | |||
Length | 3:56 | |||
Label | CBS | |||
Songwriter(s) |
Susanna Hoffs Tom Kelly Billy Steinberg |
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Producer(s) | Davitt Sigerson | |||
The Bangles singles chronology | ||||
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"Eternal Flame" | ||||
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Single by Tomoya Nagase featuring 3T | ||||
Released | 1997 | |||
Format | CD | |||
Recorded | 1996 | |||
Genre | J-pop, soft rock | |||
Length | 3:56 | |||
Label | Universal Music Japan | |||
Songwriter(s) |
Susanna Hoffs Tom Kelly Billy Steinberg |
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Producer(s) | 3T | |||
Tomoya Nagase featuring 3T singles chronology | ||||
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"Eternal Flame" | ||||
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Single by Human Nature | ||||
from the album Counting Down | ||||
Released | October 17, 1999 | |||
Format | CD single | |||
Recorded | 1999 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 3:25 | |||
Label | Sony Music Entertainment/Columbia Records | |||
Songwriter(s) |
Susanna Hoffs Tom Kelly Billy Steinberg |
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Producer(s) | Andrew Klippel | |||
Human Nature singles chronology | ||||
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"Eternal Flame" | ||||
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Single by Atomic Kitten | ||||
from the album Right Now (re-issue) | ||||
Released | July 23, 2001 | |||
Format | CD single, cassette | |||
Recorded | 2001 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 3:17 | |||
Label | Virgin | |||
Songwriter(s) |
Susanna Hoffs Tom Kelly Billy Steinberg |
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Producer(s) | Ray Ruffin | |||
Atomic Kitten singles chronology | ||||
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"Eternal Flame" is a love song by American rock group the Bangles from their 1988 album Everything. It became a hit single, when released in 1989, peaking at number one in the charts in nine countries, including Australia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It was written by the established songwriting partnership of Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly (becoming the pair's fifth Billboard Hot 100 number one in five years) along with the Bangles' Susanna Hoffs. Having previously reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1986 with "Walk Like an Egyptian," the Bangles became only the third girl group to score multiple number-ones in the United States, after the Supremes (twelve) and the Shirelles (two).
Unlike the rest of the more uptempo songs on their album Everything, "Eternal Flame" is a ballad. Co-writer Billy Steinberg describes it as "the Beatles meet the Byrds."
The song was inspired by two eternal flames: one at the gravesite of Elvis Presley that the Bangles saw when the band visited Graceland, and one at a local synagogue in Palm Springs which Steinberg attended as a child. Steinberg recalled to Songfacts: "Susanna was talking about the Bangles having visited Graceland, and she said there was some type of shrine to Elvis that included some kind of eternal flame. As soon as those words were mentioned, I immediately thought of the synagogue in the town of Palm Springs, California where I grew up. I remember during our Sunday school class they would walk us through the sanctuary. There was one little red light and they told us it was called the eternal flame."