Esta canción no solo contiene el riff más conocido en la historia del rock, sino que narra una tragedia igual de famosa: el incendio durante el Festival de Jazz de Montreux, mientras tocaba Frank Zappa. La gente empezó a salir desesperada del lugar, al mismo tiempo que Zappa pedía que conserven la calma.
We all came out to montreux On the lake geneva shoreline To make records with a mobile We didn’t have much time Frank zappa and the mothers Were at the best place around But some stupid with a flare gun Burned the place to the ground Smoke on the water, fire in the sky They burned down the gambling house It died with an awful sound Funky claude was running in and out Pulling kids out the ground When it all was over We had to find another place But swiss time was running out It seemed that we would lose the race Smoke on the water, fire in the sky We ended up at the grand hotel It was empty cold and bare But with the rolling truck stones thing just outside Making our music there With a few red lights and a few old beds We make a place to sweat No matter what we get out of this I know we’ll never forget Smoke on the water, fire in the sky