Bruce Springsteen’s 1985 single “I’m On Fire” is the sort of song that people love to cover. There are plenty of reasons for that. “I’m On Fire” is a great song and a popular one; it peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 during Springsteen’s run of Born In The USA dominance. And it’s also a skeletal pulse of a track that leaves different musicians plenty of room to play around, to project their own personalities. In 2014, our own Ryan Leas wrote a whole column about all the different variations on “I’m On Fire.” Since then, there have been even more covers, from people like Lorde and Soccer Mommy. Last night, we got another one.

While in quarantine, Héloïse Adelaïde Letissier, known to most of us as Christine And The Queens, has occasionally jumped on Twitter to post videos of her self singing passionate and stripped down songs both old (Neil Young’s “Heart Of Gold“) and new (Travis Scott’s “Highest In The Room“). Last night, she sat down at a piano and sang the hell out of “I’m On Fire.”

Letissier’s skeletal take on “I’m On Fire” is only two minutes long, and it seems to end mid-song. Her version picks up in power and confidence as it goes on. She leans hard into the horny, wordless yelps, and she distills the original’s synth-rockabilly twinkle-shuffle to a few minimal notes on the piano. Watch her cover and the video for the Springsteen original below.

I miss you all. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/4ln08mWdc5

— Chris (@QueensChristine) October 5, 2020