Light My Fire

You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl we couldn't get much higher

Come on baby light my fire
Come on baby light my fire
Try to set the night on fire

The time hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre

Come on baby light my fire
Come on baby light my fire
Try to set the night on fire

You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl we couldn't get much higher

Come on baby light my fire
Come on baby light my fire
Try to set the night on fire




- Released June 1967

- Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, and Robbie Krieger, along with the late Jim Morrison, came together in Venice, California in 1965, as the Doors. They had varied musical backgrounds and drew from a variety of influences, including jazz, blues, classical, British psychedelic rock, and the surf music of Southern California. Light My Fire was written and recorded in 1967. The sound wasn't conventional or definable as pop or folk or jazz or rock. And it was more than seven minutes long. Many in the music industry were convinced it could never be a success at that length. By July 1967, it was number one in America. Reference

- Light My Fire = Most of the lyrics were written by Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger. He wanted to write about one of the elements: fire, air, earth, and water. Jim Morrison wrote some of the second verse, and Ray Manzarek came up with the organ intro. Reference

- The extended organ and guitar solos in the album version of the song are based on John Coltrane's Jazz cover of the song "My Favorite Things" from the motion picture The Sound of Music

John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things"



- Light My Fire = Jim Morrison indicated in his notebooks that he disliked this song and hated performing it. He also seemed to resent that the popularity of the band derived from this song, which he had just a small part writing. Reference

- There was also a radio edit that was shortened to just under five minutes with about half the instrumental portion in place, released only to radio stations. Reference

- "Light My Fire" was performed by The Doors on a famous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show September 17, 1967. In an oft-told legend, The Doors were asked to change the lyrics of the song (specifically, the line "girl, we couldn't get much higher"). The producers told Morrison to write a new lyric for the line, but he refused. The band promised to do so, but according to Jim Morrison he forgot to change the lyrics at the last minute and performed the unedited version live on-air, which he attributed to having been nervous. Years later, Ray Manzarek wrote that even after being told to change the lyrics, the band never even considered changing them. Despite applause from the crowd, Ed Sullivan was so upset that he refused to shake Morrison's hand as he left the stage. Backstage, the band was told that, despite being on the verge of signing a seven-episode deal to continue appearing on the program, they would never be on the Sullivan show again. Reportedly, Morrison's cavalier response was: "Hey, man, so what, we just did the Sullivan show!"

- John Densmore recalls that when Buick wanted to buy the piece for use in a 1968 TV commercial ("Come on, Buick, light my fire") and Morrison, who had been out of town, learned that other group members agreed, Morrison called Buick and threatened to have a Buick smashed with a sledgehammer on a TV show should the (presumably ready) commercial be aired.

- Jim Morrison indicated in his notebooks that he disliked this song and hated performing it. He also seemed to resent that the popularity of the band derived from this song, which he had just a small part writing. Reference

Author's Note: If the above statement is in fact true that Jim Morrison had just a small part in the lyrics, then I am to believe that Jim wrote the following stanza, and only this part of the song:

The time hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre

This stanza is merely a confirmation of his style of writing and his tone that is subjective in all of his songs.