Wordless Lyricism in Ronnie Montrose’s “Open Fire”

Written by Bianca Gudiño.

A couple of months ago, I was wrapping a sandwich at work and a song began to play. My ears perked up, like a rabbit’s at the sound of a snapping twig. But this was no twig— it was a thumping bass, a yearning guitar, notes interlinking and cascading from the speakers to my ears, into my body and down to my toes. “What is this song?”

The song was “Rocky R…