The Bangles - Eternal Flame

"Eternal Flame" is a song recorded by American pop rock group the Bangles for their 1988 album, Everything, written by group member Susanna Hoffs with the established hit songwriting team of Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. Upon its 1989 single release, "Eternal Flame" became a number-one hit in nine countries, including Australia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Since its release, it has been covered by many musical artists, including Australian boy band Human Nature, who reached the Australian top 10 with their version, and British girl group Atomic Kitten, who topped four national charts with their rendition. Considered by Billy Steinberg to be a stylistic fusion of the Byrds and the Beatles, especially evoking the latter group's "For No One", "Mother Nature's Son" (the bridge part) and "Here There & Everywhere", "Eternal Flame" elicited different points of comparison from contemporary music critics, among them: "a backhanded tribute to every sappy string-drenched ballad—from Lulu's 'To Sir With Love' to Merrilee Rush's 'Angel of the Morning'—that ever overstayed its welcome on the radio"; "[a] fluffy romantic fantasy [that] resembled the Carpenters a lot more than the Beatles"; "a cloying ballad that Andrew Lloyd Webber could have written for Sarah Brightman"; "[On] 'Eternal Flame' Hoffs does her best inspired reading of Kate Bush". Music & Media commented that "this is a very sweet and conventional gospel-tinged ballad with the emphasis on close harmonies." In 2000, Vicki Peterson of the Bangles would describe "Eternal Flame" as "a beautiful song [which] at the time I didn't think essentially Bangles. Anyone could've taken the song and made it a hit". The retrospective AllMusic critique by Matthew Greenwald assessed "Eternal Flame" as "somewhat removed from the Bangles' sound and vibe...[its] gentle, lilting melody...seems ready-made for an artist such as Anita Baker or Whitney Houston... The song features a dramatic bridge that takes the song to a wonderfully emotional place, and adds to the overall dynamics of the piece. In the end, ['Eternal Flame'] doesn't fit the Bangles' catalog well, but it remains a minor pop standard."