# St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)

"St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" is a song by British singer John Parr from the 1985 film St. Elmo's Fire. It hit No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on 7 September 1985, remaining there for two weeks. It was the main theme for Joel Schumacher's film, and first single from the soundtrack. The song was created and edited within 24 hours.
The record peaked at No. 6 in the United Kingdom, Parr's home country, and became a No. 1 hit for him around the world, and provided many awards and a Grammy nomination.
The song did not initially feature on Parr's studio albums, only appearing on the London Records re-release of his self-titled debut album in the United Kingdom.
Members of the bands Toto, REO Speedwagon and Mr. Mister appear on the recording.

## Background and writing

David Foster and John Parr were contracted to write a song for the film, but Parr struggled with inspiration for the lyrics. Foster showed Parr a news clip about the Canadian athlete Rick Hansen, who at the time was going around the world in his wheelchair to raise awareness for spinal cord injuries. His journey was called the "Man in Motion Tour". Parr decided to help the campaign by writing words that would fit vaguely with the film, but which directly referenced Hansen's efforts.

## Personnel

* John Parr – guitar, vocals
* David Foster, Steve Porcaro, David Paich – keyboards
* Steve Lukather – guitar
* Carlos Vega – drums
* Jerry Hey – trumpet
* Bill Reichenbach Jr. – trombone
* David Amato, Richard Page – backing vocals

## In popular culture

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Ford played the song in advertisements for its Mustang Pony car.
In 2012, John Parr re-recorded the song with new lyrics, dubbed "Tim Tebow's Fire", to honor Tim Tebow of the Denver Broncos. Parr stated to Denver FOX affiliate KDVR, "I was inspired by Tim Tebow so I wanted to modify the lyrics...in his honor of the way that he lives his life as being a great example."
In 2017, it was heard on the short film Deadpool: No Good Deed. It was also used in the 2018 animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and in the 2024 film MaXXXine.
In 2020–21, during Conan's stint at the Largo Theater, the song was part of a running gag, with different lyrics set to the tune of the chorus, while Conan O'Brien looked at a different camera often with a fan blowing wind in his face.
The song re-entered the UK Singles Chart in 2023 when it was featured on an advert for Virgin Media.

## Music video

The music video features all seven of the main cast of the film St. Elmo's Fire looking sadly through the foggy windows of a run-down and fire-damaged version of the St. Elmo's Bar set. The video was directed by Kort Falkenberg III, who devised the concept with the film's director, Joel Schumacher. The production company only had Parr for a single day before he had to go back to England, so the shoot had to be done in exactly 24 hours.
The Canadian version of the video intersperses images of Rick Hansen's trek with those of the film.
The ending of the video shows Parr singing to each individual cast member from the film before he disappears into the night, and the cast follows him.

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Canada (Music Canada) | Gold | 50,000$^^$ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | Silver | 250,000$^^$ |
| $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |||

## Release history

| Country | Date |
| United States | June 1985 |
| United Kingdom | August 1985 |