<P> The lyrics tell a true story : on 4 December 1971 , Purple were in Montreux , Switzerland , to record an album using a mobile recording studio ( rented from the Rolling Stones and known as the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio -- referred to as the `` Rolling truck Stones thing '' and `` a mobile '' in the lyrics ) at the entertainment complex that was part of the Montreux Casino ( referred to as `` the gambling house '' in the song lyric ) . On the eve of the recording session , a Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention concert was held in the casino 's theatre . This was to be the theatre 's final concert before the casino complex closed down for its annual winter renovations , which would allow Deep Purple to record there . At the beginning of Don Preston 's synthesizer solo on `` King Kong '' , the place suddenly caught fire when somebody in the audience fired a flare gun toward the rattan covered ceiling , as mentioned in the `` some stupid with a flare gun '' line . Although there were no major injuries , the resulting fire destroyed the entire casino complex , along with all the Mothers ' equipment . The `` smoke on the water '' that became the title of the song ( credited to bass guitarist Roger Glover , who related how the title occurred to him when he woke from a dream a few days later ) referred to the smoke from the fire spreading over Lake Geneva from the burning casino as the members of Purple watched from their hotel . `` It was probably the biggest fire I 'd ever seen up to that point and probably ever seen in my life '' said Glover , `` It was a huge building . I remember there was very little panic getting out , because it did n't seem like much of a fire at first . But , when it caught , it went up like a fireworks display '' . The `` Funky Claude '' running in and out is referring to Claude Nobs , the director of the Montreux Jazz Festival who helped some of the audience escape the fire . </P>
deep purple smoke on the water lyrics meaning
referred to the smoke from the fire spreading over Lake Geneva from the burning casino