About the Song
Recorded for their debut album, The Doors, released on Jac Holzman’s hip Elektra label, “Light My Fire”cast a malign shadow over the Summer of Love. It was the first song to have been composed by Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, who had the idea for a lyric that referred to the elements, and chose fire after hearing The Rolling Stones’ “Play With Fire”.
“Write about something universal, something that will last,” The Doors’ singer, Jim Morrison, had advised him. Krieger duly delivered a lyric that was a heady mix of sex and drugs, of hedonism and nihilism (“And our love become a funeral pyre”).
The Doors used the song to showcase their musical dexterity. On the full-length version – but not on the hit single, a radio-friendly edit – there were long solos, first from keyboard player Ray Manzarekand then Krieger. For this section, Krieger used chords from John Coltrane’s version of “My Favourite Things”, whose melody he “quoted” in his solo during live performances, including in the 14-minute version The Doors played at the 1970 Isle of Wight festival.
The group often performed their best-known hit straight after “Celebration of the Lizard”, a theatrical piece centred around Morrison’s poetry. Bewildered fans would throw lit matches on to the stage and call for “Light My Fire”. This infuriated Morrison, who grew to detest the song. “It stinks,” he told an interviewer in January 1969. “We’re beyond that now.”