19 July 2024

The song is about a spectacular event at Montreux‘s lake, where the by now
legendary Montreux Jazz Festival (actually more rock than jazz) took place.

It referred to the smoke from the fire that destroyed the city’s casino, spreading
over Lake Geneva. The members of Deep Purple who played at the festival saw it
happen from their hotel window.

Roger Glover (bassist) said at the time: “It was probably the biggest fire I’d ever seen up to that point and probably ever seen in my life. It was a huge building. I remember there was very little panic getting out, because it didn’t seem like much of a fire at first. But, when it caught, it went up like a fireworks display.”

The Swiss police named Zdeněk Špička, a Czechoslovak refugee
as a suspect in the case, but he fled Switzerland shortly after.

The band played again at this year’s 2024 edition and,
of course, performed the classic again.

We all came out to Montreux
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile, yeah
We didn’t have much time now

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,
A fire in the sky
(Smoke) on the water, you guys are great

They burned down the gambling house
It died with an awful sound
Funky Claude was running in and out
He was pulling kids out the ground now

When it all was over
Find another place
Swiss time was running out
It seemed that we would lose the race

Smoke on the water,
A fire in the sky
Smoke on the water
Burn it down