Burning House

This article is about the song. For the concept, see Structure fire. For the song by the Lottery Winners, see Anxiety Replacement Therapy.

"Burning House" is a song recorded by American country music singer Cam. It was released on June 16, 2015, as the second single from her second album Untamed. Co-written by Cam along with Tyler Johnson and Jeff Bhasker, the song was inspired by a dream that she had about attempting to rescue her boyfriend from a house that was on fire.

"Burning House"
Single by Cam
from the album Untamed
Released	June 16, 2015 (2015-06-16)
Recorded	2015
Genre	Country
Length	3:51
Label	Arista Nashville
Songwriter(s)	Camaron Ochs Jeff Bhasker Tyler Johnson^[1]
Producer(s)	Jeff Bhasker Tyler Johnson^[2]
Cam singles chronology
"My Mistake" (2015) "Burning House" (2015) "Mayday" (2016)

"Burning House" peaked at No. 2 on both the Billboard Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs charts respectively. The song also charted on the Hot 100, peaking at No. 29. The song was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold 1,125,000 copies in the United States as of November 2016. It received similar chart success in Canada, peaking at No. 2 on the Country chart and No. 46 on the Canadian Hot 100. It was also certified Gold by Music Canada, denoting sales of over 40,000 units in that country. The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Trey Fanjoy.

History and content

According to Billboard, the idea for the song came when Cam learned that an ex-boyfriend of hers would be at a party that she was attending, and that night, she had a dream that she was trying to rescue him from a burning house. She recounted the dream to producer Tyler Johnson via Skype, and he offered a guitar riff inspired by Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" while she came up with "two off-the-cuff opening lines that alternate between standard 4/4 time and 3/4 bars".^[3] When they recorded the song with producer Jeff Bhasker, Johnson played acoustic guitar on the recording, with a few notes spliced in from Cam's touring guitarist Doug Showalter due to Johnson having difficulty playing the last four notes of the riff. The song also features a piano, a muted bass, and a small string section arranged by Hamilton Ulmer.^[3]

The song has a play length of 3 minutes and 51 seconds. It is composed in the key of A minor, and alternates between 4/4 and 3/4 time signatures. Cam's vocal ranges just over an octave, from G₃ to A₄.^[4]

Reception

Critical

Billy Dukes of Taste of Country praised Cam’s voice and the musical arrangement, saying “The newcomer’s performance is stark and personal. Her production team does a great job of not getting in the way.” He also said that “Cam is the one who wronged her man, not vice-versa. The other way around is an over-told story, but there’s nothing unoriginal” about "Burning House".^[5]

Billboard ranked "Burning House" at No. 24 on its year-end list for 2015: "In one four-minute track, Cam manages to pack in frustration, despair, anguish, and torment. But what makes it beautiful is the wounded vocal melody set against gentle guitar strumming and understated strings. This is the rare quiet breakout hit of 2015."^[6] At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, "Burning House" was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance but lost to Chris Stapleton's "Traveller".^[7]

Commercial

The song was released after Cam performed it twice on The Bobby Bones Show, and the song entered the Hot Country Songs chart at No. 43 on the song release (chart date June 27, 2015), selling 13,000 copies.^[8] It debuted at No. 48 on the Country Airplay chart dated for July 11, 2015.^[3] It then entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 94 on the chart date of August 1, 2015. The song later went on to peak at No. 2. on both Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay in January 2016.

The song was certified Gold by the RIAA on October 14, 2015, Platinum on December 16, 2015, and double Platinum on August 28, 2018.^[9] The song reached over a million in sales in the US in March 2016.^[10] The song has sold 1,231,000 copies as of November 2019.^[11]

Music video

The music video was directed by Trey Fanjoy and premiered in October 2015.^[12]

Personnel

From Untamed liner notes.^[2]

Musical

• Jeff Bhasker – piano, background vocals
• Connie Ellisor – violin
• Carl Gorodetzky – string contractor
• Jim Grosjean – violin
• Tyler Johnson – acoustic guitar, background vocals
• Tony Lucido – bass guitar
• Anders Mouridsen – electric guitar
• Cam (as Camaron Ochs) – lead vocals, background vocals
• Carole Rabinowitz – cello
• Douglas Charles Showalter – acoustic guitar
• Hamilton Ulmer – string arrangements

Technical

• Jeff Bhasker – production
• Jon Castelli – mixing
• Tyler Johnson – production, engineering
• Lindsey Marias – vocal production
• Melissa Mattey – string engineering
• Ryan Nasci – mixing engineer
• Ernesto Olivera – engineering
• Alex Salibian – engineering

Chart and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2015–2016) Peak position Canada (Canadian Hot 100)^[13] 46 Canada Country (Billboard)^[14] 2 US Billboard Hot 100^[15] 29 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)^[16] 21 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)^[17] 39 US Country Airplay (Billboard)^[18] 2 US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[19] 2 Year-end charts Chart (2015) Position US Country Airplay (Billboard)^[20] 58 US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[21] 19 Chart (2016) Position US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[22] 53 Certifications and sales Region Certification Certified units/sales Canada (Music Canada)^[23] Platinum 80,000^‡ United States (RIAA)^[24] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^‡ / 1,231,000^[11] ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Burning House". Roughstock. 16 June 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
2. Untamed (CD insert). Cam. Arista Nashville/RCA. 2015. 88875-07049-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
3. Roland, Tom (July 15, 2015). "Country Singer Cam Dreams Up a Smoldering Ballad With 'Burning House'". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
4. "'Burning House' sheet music". MusicNotes.com. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
5. Dukes, Billy (June 17, 2015). "ToC Critic's Pick: Cam, 'Burning House' [Listen]". Taste of Country. Taste of Country Network. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
6. "Billboard 25 Best Songs of 2015: Critics' Picks". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 17, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
7. "58th Annual Grammy Awards Winners". Country Weekly. American Media. February 15, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
8. Bjorke, Matt (June 17, 2015). "Country Music's Top 30 Digital Singles: Week of June 17, 2015". Roughstock.
9. "American single certifications – Cam – Burning House". Recording Industry Association of America.
10. Bjorke, Matt (March 12, 2016). "Top 30 Digital Singles Report: March 14, 2016". Roughstock.
11. Bjorke, Matt (November 6, 2019). "Top 30 Digital Country Downloads Chart". RoughStock. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
12. Schillaci, Sophie (October 14, 2015). "EXCLUSIVE: Cam Literally Burns a House to the Ground in Stunning 'Burning House'. It begins with Cam standing outside of the burning house and which she decided to step inside where she looks around and there she sees a group of people while her boyfriend is standing right in front of her. Then, she walks up the stairs into a bedroom where Cam sees her boyfriend from earlier and hugs him ending the video with the look at the burning house. Video". Entertainment Tonight. CBS Studios Inc. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
13. "Cam Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
14. "Cam Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard.
15. "Cam Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
16. "Cam Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
17. "Cam Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard.
18. "Cam Chart History (Country Airplay)". Billboard.
19. "Cam Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
20. "Best of 2015: Country Airplay". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
21. "Best of 2015: Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
22. "Hot Country Songs – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
23. "Canadian single certifications – Cam – Burning House". Music Canada. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
24. "American single certifications – Cam – Burning House". Recording Industry Association of America.