"Rooms on Fire" is a song by the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks

Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...

. Released in May 1989, it was the first single to be taken from Nicks' fourth solo album, The Other Side of the Mirror.

The song was quite successful on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching #16 in both the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 (Nicks' first ever UK Top 40 solo hit and her highest chart position there to date) and the U.S. Billboard Chart

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, and also topped the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

"Rooms on Fire" was performed sporadically at Nicks' live concerts up until New Year's Eve of 1999, though has yet to be played live again.

In a 1989 interview, Nicks gave personal insight as to the meaning of "Rooms on Fire":

"Rooms on Fire is about a girl who goes through a life like I have gone through, where she finally accepts the idea that there never will be those other things in her life. She will never be married, she will never have children, she will never do those [that] part of life."

In the music video, Nicks is seen holding a baby dressed in white, played by her goddaughter.

The song, according to the liner notes of Timespace - The Best of Stevie Nicks

Timespace - The Best of Stevie Nicks

Timespace – The Best of Stevie Nicks is a 1991 compilation album featuring songs from the solo career of American singer/songwriter and Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks...

, was inspired by Stevie's brief relationship with Rupert Hine

Rupert Hine

Rupert Neville Hine is an English musician, songwriter and prolific record producer, having produced albums for artists including Kevin Ayers, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Saga, The Fixx, Bob Geldof, Thompson Twins, Stevie Nicks, Chris de Burgh, Suzanne Vega, Rush, Underworld, Duncan Sheik, and ...

.

"The night I met Rupert Hine was a dangerous one. He was different from anyone else I had ever known...He was older, and he was smarter, and we both knew it. I hired him to do the album before we even started talking about music. It seemed that we had made a spiritual agreement to do a magic album...in a fabulous Dutch castle, at the top of the mountain. We recorded it in the formal dining room...where, upon the walls hung all these very old and expensive pieces of art...looking at us...we were never alone."

"It always seemed to me that whenever Rupert walked into one of these old, dark castle rooms, that the rooms were on fire. There was a connection between us that everyone around us instantly picked up on, and everyone was very careful to respect our space...our TIMESPACE, so we all lived at the castle for about four-and-a-half months. I went home with him to England to mix the album at his studio...he left in December. I joined him there in London in January. We left immediately for his studio, Farmyard Studios, somewhere outside London. It was like being in a cottage in Wales, it was a little spooky...the atmosphere was like nothing I had ever experienced. Then something happened to him that simply made it impossible for us to ever be together again. I left him there...the rooms were still burning, but the fire had been stolen from us. It wasn't over love, in fact...it had nothing to do with love. It was just a bad situation. I came back to Los Angeles, a very changed woman. And now, long nets of white...cloud my memory...Now I remember the rooms, the music, and how truly magic the whole thing was..."

"Alright," said Alice, "I'm going back...
To the other side of the mirror."

~Stevie Nicks, Timespace - The Best of Stevie Nicks

Timespace - The Best of Stevie Nicks

Timespace – The Best of Stevie Nicks is a 1991 compilation album featuring songs from the solo career of American singer/songwriter and Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks...

liner notes (1991)

The 12" single was released in a limited edition poster sleeve in certain territories.

Charts

Chart (1989)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Album Rock Tracks	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	16
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Single's	16
Australian Singles Chart	23
German Singles Chart	46
UK Singles Chart	16