"Eternal Flame" is a song by The Bangles, which became a hit single in 1989, peaking at number one in the charts in six countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It was written by popular songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and the Bangles' Susanna Hoffs.

History

It was a ballad, unlike the rest of the garage-band pop songs on their album Everything. Co-writer Billy Steinberg describes it as "The Beatles meet The Byrds".

The song was inspired by two eternal flames: one for Elvis Presley that Michael Steele saw when the band was at Graceland, and one at a local synagogue in Palm Springs which Steinberg attended as a child.

It spent one week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, preceded by "The Living Years" by Mike + The Mechanics and followed by "The Look" by Roxette; spent four weeks at number one on the UK singles chart, preceded by "Like a Prayer" by Madonna and followed by "Hand on Your Heart" by Kylie Minogue; and spent seven weeks at the #1 position in the Dutch Top 40. It also topped the U.S. adult contemporary chart for two weeks.

The song was Australia's biggest selling single of '89 and was sent-up on Australian TV show Fast Forward.

Track lists

Side	Title	Length
A	"Eternal Flame"	3:56
B	"What I Meant To Say"	3:20

"What I Meant To Say" is a non-album track

Charts

Chart (1989)	Peak position
Austria Top 75	5
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	1
Dutch Top 40	1 (Platinum)
French Singles Chart	5
German Singles Chart	4
Irish Singles Chart	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart	1
Swiss Singles Chart	2
UK Singles Chart	1 (Gold)
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40	1
U.S. Hot 100 Airplay	1

Credits

• Writers: Susanna Hoffs, Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly
• Producer: Simon Cowell (Bangles version)
• Recorded by: John Beverly Jones
• Mixed by: Frank Filipetti

Cover versions

Atomic Kitten

History

A cover version by Atomic Kitten from the Right Now album was released as a single and reached number one for two weeks in the UK charts in 2001. Susanna Hoffs liked the cover version and she subsequently teamed up with Atomic Kitten and wrote "Love Doesn't Have to Hurt" for their next album Feels So Good.

Track listing

Side	Title	Length
1.	"Eternal Flame"	3:15
2.	"Album Medley"	5:30
3.	"Eternal Flame (Blacksmitch RnB Rub)"	3:54
4.	"Eternal Flame" video	3:16

Charts

Atomic Kitten made another massive success, it entered #1 in UK with over 140,000 in the first week and 70,000 in the second week. The single entered top 5 in over ten countries.

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Austria Top 75	1
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	4
Belgium Singles Chart	1
Canadian Singles Chart	9
Dutch Top 40	1
French Singles Chart	1
German Singles Chart	3
Irish Singles Chart	1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	1 (Gold)
Norway Singles Chart	5
Poland Singles Chart	1
Portugal Singles Chart	3
Spain Singles Chart	5
Sweden Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	1 (Gold)

Other covers

• The song has been covered in Japanese language in 1997 by Tomoya Nagase, the vocalist of the Japanese idol rock group Tokio, featuring 3T. This song was used as the theme song of the Nippon TV drama "DXD", which Nagase played the main role. He also wrote the Japanese lyrics of this song. This Japanese cover version was released as a single in Japan under the name of "Tomoya with 3T".
• The song has been covered in 1999 by the Australian group Human Nature on the Counting Down album.
• The song has been covered in 2000 by Rollergirl on the Now I'm Singin'... And The Party Keeps On Rollin' and released as a single which peaked at #87 in the Swiss Charts
• A cover version has been made in 2005 by the Filipino acoustic duo M.Y.M.P. on the Versions album.
• The song has been covered in 2005 by the Portuguese Power Metal band Oratory on the "Interludium" EP
• The song has been covered in 2006 by Lena Hanenberg on the Love Songs album
• The song has been covered in 2004 by Beni Arashiro on her "Infinite..." single
• The song has been covered in 2005 by Jeremy Udden on his Torchsongs album
• The song has been covered in 2006 by LISA on her LISABEST ~mission on earth 9307~ album
• The song has been covered in 2001 by the Argentine band Smitten on them Let me be album

Solo and Live Performances

• An a cappella version of this song was performed by The Night Owls as a part of Comedy Central Presents: Zach Galifianakis, which was shown on September 17, 2001
• A reggae version of "Eternal Flame" was performed by Wayne Wonder
• A jazz version of this song was performed by Laura Fygi
• A Japanese rendition of "Eternal Flame" was performed by Seiko Matsuda
• The song was performed in 2006 by one of the Canadian Idol, Ashley Coulter
• It was performed in the Star Academy by Cynthia, Elfy, and Dominique
• Comedian Jeremy Hardy, famous for his atrocious singing, 'sang' the song at the end of an episode of the BBC Radio4 series You'll have had your Tea.
• Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal's character sang an abbreviated a cappella version in the independent film Sherrybaby
• Singer-actress Kristin Chenoweth sang a humorous version of the song for the staged reading of the musical version of the film Earth Girls are Easy. It is reported that she might sing it again for an episode of Pushing Daisies.

References

Additional sources used:

• The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition)

External links

• The Bangles official website