Play with Fire (Hilary Duff song)

Infobox Single
Name = Play with Fire


Cover size =
Border =
Caption =
Artist = Hilary Duff
Album = Dignity
A-side =
B-side =
Released = Start date|2006|8|21
(see release history)
Format = Digital download, promo single
Recorded =
Genre = Urban pop, electropop, pop rock, dance pop
Length = 3:01 (album version)
3:11 (remix)
Label = Hollywood
Writer = Hilary Duff, Kara DioGuardi, will.i.am
Producer = Rhett Lawrence
Audio sample? = yes
Certification =
Last single =
This single =
Next single =
Misc = Extra chronology
Artist = Hilary Duff
Type = United States singles
Last single = "Supergirl"
(2006)
This single = "Play with Fire"
(2006)
Next single = "With Love"
(2007)Extra chronology
Artist = Hilary Duff
Type = Australian singles
Last single = "With Love"
(2007)
This single = "Play with Fire"
(2007)
Next single = "Stranger"
(2007)Extra track listing
Album = Dignity
Type = studio
prev_track = "I Wish"
prev_no = 13
this_track = "Play with Fire"
track_no = 14
next_track =
next_no = Audiosample
Upper caption = Music sample
Name = Play with Fire
Audio file= PlayWithFire.ogg"Play with Fire" is an electronic dance song performed by American singer Hilary Duff. It was written by Duff, Kara DioGuardi and will.i.am and produced by Rhett Lawrence for Duff's third studio album, "Dignity" (2007). The song is more dance-oriented than her previous work and makes use of more real instruments.

The song was released to U.S. radio as the album's lead single in August 2006Vineyard, Jennifer. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1537869/20060803/duff_hilary.jhtml?headlines=true "Hilary Duff: Psychedelic Dance Star? Singer Shoots Trippy Clip For New Single"] . MTV News. August 3 2006. Retrieved August 4 2006.] to positive reviews from "Billboard" and "The Washington Post". It reached the top forty on the U.S. club chart. The song was remixed a number of times, and its music video was nominated for Best Direction of a Female Artist at the MVPA Awards in 2007. [http://mvpaawards.com/winners/winners.asp?cat=22 "Best Direction of a Female Artist"] . MVPA. Retrieved June 28 2007.]

Recording and style

According to Duff, a music video for "Play with Fire" was filmed before the song had been completed because she wanted it to be the album's first single. On the night following the rehearsals and wardrobe fittings for the video, Duff returned to the studio and finished recording the song three hours later, before a thunderstorm knocked out some of the equipment. Producer Rhett Lawrence submitted the song to the makers of the video the next morning, less than three hours before shooting was due to begin. Duff said that the situation "kind of worked out perfectly". [Untitled [episode of "Total Request Live"] . August 15, 2006. United States: MTV.]

According to Duff, "Play with Fire" and the other songs on the album are "more dancey" than her previous efforts and make use of more real instruments. " [I] t's fun and funky and different, something new for me. It's really cool", she said. [ [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1538486/20060814/story.jhtml "For The Record: Quick News On Hilary Duff, 'American Idol,' Kate Hudson, Travis Barker, Shanna Moakler & More"] . MTV News. August 14, 2006. Retrieved August 25, 2006.] She has also described the album's sound as "a little less pop-rock and more electronic-sounding. It has a lot of dance melodies." [ [http://www.newsdaily.com/Entertainment/UPI-1-20060820-10401200-bc-us-duff.xml "New Duff album to debut this fall"] . United Press International. August 20, 2006. Retrieved December 18, 2006.] The "" release of the single in advance of the album was, as she put it, "to give listeners a chance to get into my new sound, which matches the whole dance/electronic rock sounding vibe."Widran, Jonathan. [http://www.singeruniverse.com/hilaryduff123.htm "Hilary Duff Talks About The Making Of Her New Album Dignity, And Her Songwriting"] . "SingerUniverse Magazine". Retrieved June 28 2007.]

The song is played during the first club scene in the 2006 film "Material Girls", in which Duff stars. It is not listed in the credits on the DVD release; instead, her song "Happy" is in its place. "Play with Fire" was originally "Happy", but the song's lyrics and instrumentals were changed, and "Happy" became a separate track on "Dignity".

Commercial release and critical reception

"Play with Fire" was released to U.S. radio on August 21 2006. The song was released to LAUNCHcast and Sony Connect as a digital download on October 3 and to iTunes on October 9. [ [http://musicstore.connect.com/album/330/Hilary-Duff/Play-With-Fire-Single/500000000000021209613.html?SelectedID=500000000000021209010"Play With Fire" Download] . musicstore.connect.com. Retrieved August 8, 2007.] [ [http://www.apple.com/itunes/affiliates/download/?trackName=Play+With+Fire+-+Single&artistName=Hilary+Duff&thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fa1.phobos.apple.com%2Fr10%2FMusic%2Fbc%2Fe5%2F4c%2Fmzi.upulpwym.100x100-99.jpg&itmsUrl=itms%3A%2F%2Fax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net%2FWebObjects%2FMZStore.woa%2Fwa%2FviewAlbum%3Fid%3D197146857%26s%3D143441%26ign-mscache%3D1&albumName=Play+With+Fire+-+Single "Play With Fire" Download] . apple.com. Retrieved August 8, 2007.] "Play with Fire" failed to appear on the U.S. Hot 100, but received nightclub play, peaking at number thirty-one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart in December. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:2sqag4hptv3z~T51 "Hilary Duff - Billboard Singles"] . Allmusic and "Billboard". Retrieved June 28 2007.] [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=359&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+Dance+Club+Play&ci=3081349&cdi=9157367&cid=12%2F23%2F2006 "Hot Dance Club Play - Play With Fire"] . "Billboard". December 23 2006.] It remained on the chart for ten weeks. [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=359&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+Dance+Club+Play&ci=3082025&cdi=9182442&cid=02%2F03%2F2007 "Hot Dance Club Play - Play With Fire"] . "Billboard". February 3 2007.]

"Play with Fire" was released to Australian radio in the week beginning on April 23 2007. [http://www.hilaryduff.com.au/ "Request Hilary's 2nd single 'Play With Fire'"] . hilaryduff.com.au. April 23, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2007.] It was scheduled to be released as the second single from "Dignity". [ [http://www.hilaryduff.com.au/ "'Play With Fire' - the 2nd single from Dignity" but was scapped] . hilaryduff.com.au. Retrieved August 8, 2007.]

"Billboard" magazine's Chuck Taylor described the song as being "less of the clichéd little-girl-playing-tough-pop/rocker than it is a truly intriguing exploration into darker, more experimental melodic structures that could attract a whole new crowd of late-night dancefloor minions to the Duff camp."Taylor, Chuck. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/reviews/single_review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003409281 "Play With Fire" Single Review] . "Billboard". November 21, 2006. Retrieved April 3, 2007.] Allison Stewart, in a negative review of "Dignity" for "The Washington Post", wrote that the song "boasts what may be the best kiss-off in months ("I don't have time for this, I'm off to play in Houston"), even if most of Duff's tween audience can't exactly claim it for everyday use." [Stewart, Allison. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/13/AR2007041300466.html "Avril Lavigne and Hilary Duff: You Growl, Girls"] . "The Washington Post". April 15 2007, pg. N08. Retrieved June 28 2007.]

Music video and alternate versions

The "Play with Fire" music video was directed by Alex and Martin and filmed in Toronto, Canada in July 2006. Alex and Martin have described the video as "real and surreal" and compared its visual effects to an amusement park house of mirrors. The directors said that they designed the video so that each frame is vital, writing " [f] or example, we could see a glass reflection close-up of Hilary vibrate and explode which then transitions to a completely different image behind her, then disintegrates into a new performing shot." The video was inspired by the 1948 Orson Welles film noir "The Lady from Shanghai", and Duff said that " [i] t's definitely different from what anyone had seen before". [Martin, Gloria. [http://www.oh-hilary.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=305&pos=7 "Big-Hearted Hilary Duff Proves as Generous as She Is Talented"] . "Hello!" Canada. September 7, 2006, iss. 1.]

The music video premiered on August 15, 2006 on MTV's "Total Request Live" in the United States. It reached number five on the "Total Request Live" top ten video countdown and remained on the show for nineteen days, until September 14. [ [http://www.popfusion.net/records/recaparchive/2006_08.html "The TRL Archive - August 2006"] . popfusion.net. Retrieved December 18 2006.; [http://www.popfusion.net/records/recaparchive/2006_09.html "The TRL Archive - September 2006"] . popfusion.net. Retrieved December 18 2006.] In Australia, the video premiered during the week of April 23, 2007. For the video, Alex and Martin were nominated for Best Direction of a Female Artist at the MVPA Awards, losing to Floria Sigismondi and Christina Aguilera for the video for Aguilera's "Hurt".

"Jane" magazine described the "trippy visuals" in the video as being "a million miles away from the rainy, suburban comfort and adolescent longing of the clip for [Duff's] 'Come Clean'". The magazine also noted Duff's "sexy silver dress" in the video, writing that "she seems to be announcing a new grown-up woman, one who is diving headfirst into her 20s with a mission to distance herself from her bubblegum past." Duff said, "I haven't really done the super-sexed thing. That's not really me. There's a different way, a cooler way to go about it." [Lyon, Joshua. [http://gallery.hilaryduffland.com/janemagazine.htm "The baddest good girl"] . "Jane". December 2006–January 2007, pg. 88–92.]

Richard Vission created remixes of the song, and "Billboard" called the Richard Vission radio edit "a true work of art, refashioning Duff as a potential innovator — and heaven knows there are precious few of those these days ... It will be fascinating to see if this is an enchanting fluke, or if America is destined to at last see the arrival of its own Kylie." A re-edit of the song's music video was released to accompany the Richard Vission remix. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBplVDF0Zfg]

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Play with Fire".

;U.S. promotion CD single [ [http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=397586 U.S. 5-track promotional only CD] . eil.com. Retrieved August 8, 2007.]
# "Play with Fire" (Richard Vission remix radio edit) – 3:12
# "Play with Fire" (Richard Vission Mix Show edit) – 4:55
# "Play with Fire" (Richard Vission club mix) – 6:10
# "Play with Fire" (Richard Vission dub mix) – 5:55
# "Play with Fire" (original version) – 3:01

;Official remixes
* "Play with Fire" (Vada mix) – 3:17 (featured on the Wal-Mart Edition of "Dignity") [ [http://downloads.walmart.com/swap/LoadAlbumSongList.do?itemId=5739577 "Dignity" Wal-Mart Edition] . Wal-Mart. Retrieved August 8, 2007.]
* "Play with Fire" (rock mix) – 3:00 (featured on the Best Buy Edition of "Dignity") [ [http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&MSCSProfile=3C79F0C7EA3162B21FF208C41AAB815BDB6EF6D8110F8733BEE9EABFC9437C6746BF733116E03C7719DFCCCAB0723DD27F106B3DB678CB266944F7D58D74A635B702C5845A78624291FE9E2E119C241A9C6BC6EA76EB3195BACFB4EC8D1259DB294CE2B31C16303F454C085E2A69D5277CB69AD0A7981800&sku_id=0926INGFSM2131150&catid=20991 "Dignity" Best Buy Edition] . Best Buy. Retrieved August 8, 2007.]

Charts

Release history

Notes

External links

*