Country Song ID: Burning houses, but not Cam?

November 4, 2022 4:27 AM

I'm looking for a song I used to hear at work, and I know it involves a female singer, and there's definitely something about burning houses, but I'm almost certain it's not Burning House by Cam, though it might be contemporary?

I was working in a BBQ restaurant in early 2016, and one of the managers would always set the satellite radio to a country channel, no matter how much I asked him not to. I'm not usually a fan, but there was one song in the rotation that blew me away. It was a singer talking about a relationship as if it were a house on fire (not, if I recall, a "burning house") and it was much, much more bleak than the Cam song.

It's entirely possible that time and age have messed with me here, but the Cam song is all that Google will let me find. I've tried going through top 50 country song lists from 2013-2016, but no luck. The song I remember just seemed like there was sonically more to it than Burning House, and there was a sweeping, incredible sadness to it that caught me up every time it came on. If I'm remembering things right, it was not a woman singing, wistfully about the one that got away, but more about a woman escaping from a bad situation.

Other than that, it was on pretty heavy rotation on a satellite radio station (no idea which) played in a barbecue restaurant in the winter/spring of 2016, and would come on once or twice a shift.

posted by Ghidorah to Media & Arts (20 answers total)

Much earlier, but was it Martina McBride’s Independence Day?
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:26 AM on November 4, 2022

There’s a Carrie Underwood song “Blown Away” that has a tornado pulling down a house with an abusive farther.

Ty Henderson and Bailey Zimmermann both have songs called “house on fire” with some country feel, but I don’t think there’s a female vocalist on either.
posted by adekllny at 5:32 AM on November 4, 2022

Possibly a long shot, but the Knitters version of "Burning House of Love"? There are multiple versions of this, one with more vocals by Exene I think, but can't find the link.
posted by Eriogonum at 5:35 AM on November 4, 2022

Also, Sirius XM’s Outlaw Country is a contender for the channel.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:48 AM on November 4, 2022

Maybe Wilder than Her, the Dar Williams version? It includes the "house on fire" phrase.
posted by phlox at 6:05 AM on November 4, 2022

It was very much “modern” country, the kind of thing that might have been made with an eye towards a wider audience, even if it never got there, and very definitely not an older song. Modern sound, modern production, very little twang, if that makes any sense.
posted by Ghidorah at 6:58 AM on November 4, 2022

Wild shot, R&B ballad -- Alicia Keys, "Girl on Fire" (2012)
posted by TrishaU at 7:53 AM on November 4, 2022

Not likely, but half of Kenny Chesney's "Setting the World on Fire" was sung by Pink.

Another long shot from 2016: song about escape, but only one verse mentions fire. "Evacuation"
posted by neda at 7:56 AM on November 4, 2022

The Housefire by the Turnpike Troubadours is from that time period, but has male vocals. It's about contemplating divorce contrasted with the couple's actual home burning down.

Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, and Carrie Underwood were the women who ruled country in 2016, but I don't know their material well enough to identify a sad song about fire (all the ones I found are happy).
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:00 AM on November 4, 2022

Not Bonnie Raitt's version of Burning Down the House? - 2010 I think.
posted by rongorongo at 8:52 AM on November 4, 2022

This is off on a couple axes - song probably too old since it's from the 90s, and not quite country and more folk - but it's not Sunny Came Home by Shawn Colvin, is it?
posted by sigmagalator at 9:19 AM on November 4, 2022

"Angel from Montgomery"?
posted by Ausamor at 11:27 AM on November 4, 2022

Playing With Fire by Thomas Rhett and Jordin Sparks came out in late 2015.
posted by rollick at 1:39 PM on November 4, 2022

Sunny Came Home by Shawn Colvin?
posted by annieb at 4:28 PM on November 4, 2022

House on Fire by Mimi Webb? I say that because I like it a lot and it's fairly recent. It is not at all wistful, however, so probably not.
posted by Peach at 6:27 PM on November 4, 2022

Pistol Annies, Housewife’s Prayer:

I've been thinking about
Setting my house on fire
Can't see a way out of the mess I'm in
And the bills keep getting higher
All I need is a gallon of gas
God I'm getting tired
Gonna set this house on fire
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:08 PM on November 4, 2022

They don't match every aspect of your memory, but try:

Tyler Childers - House Fire

Kasey Chambers - Campfire
posted by foursentences at 8:55 PM on November 4, 2022

Kelsea Ballerini has joined Cam to sing Burning House on a couple of different occasion, and Kelsea's voice has more of a haunting quality to me. It seems possible a version with a second singer might add some of the sonic and emotional depth you're remembering. I recall that they duetted the song on the Bobby Bones show sometime in 2015.

Here's a link to an excerpt clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uBQseJjLsw
posted by jolenex4 at 12:20 PM on November 5, 2022

Another longshot: The Mynabirds - What we gained in the fire
posted by dizziest at 12:25 PM on November 5, 2022

"Let 'Em Burn" by Emily Scott Robinson seems to fit your criteria, but I think it's too new.
posted by annieb at 3:53 PM on November 5, 2022