Entertainment
1967 Classic Hit Song Was Ranked as One of the Greatest Songs of All Time
When it comes to classic rock, there are a few names that rank as particularly legendary, with an influence that has endured through the decades. Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and the Rolling Stones are among those names, along with early trailblazers like Big Mama Thornton, Fats Domino, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. But within the realm of mid-century counterculture, one band stands out: The Doors.
Formed in Los Angeles in 1965, The Doors became synonymous with psychedelic rock. Their unique melding of electronic elements with blues instrumentals set them apart from their contemporaries, influencing future rock acts such as Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. And while, as with any band, it’s impossible to distill The Doors’ legacy into a single song, one track epitomizes their influence more than any other: “Light My Fire,” the second single off their first album.
“Light My Fire” Is an Anthem for Its Era
The Doors recorded their eponymous debut album in 1966, just a year after they formed, but it wasn’t released until 1967. With it came three singles that remain among the band’s most popular songs: “Break On Through (To the Other Side),” “Light My Fire,” and “People Are Strange.” The first, a hard rock track with mambo influences, was a moderate hit in the United States and United Kingdom. “Light My Fire,” however, truly put the band on the map, spending three weeks at number one on the United States’ Billboard Hot 100.
The Doors’ entire discography is original, departing from the conventions of hard rock, blues, and folk that previously dominated the industry. Throughout their brief career (cut short by lead singer Jim Morrison’s untimely 1971 death), they infused their work with literary, poetic, and philosophical themes, even taking their name from Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception, a title that was, in turn, borrowed from the poetry of William Blake. In terms of their sound, The Doors borrowed from jazz, hard rock, blues, classical, flamenco, mambo, and more. In songs such as “Light My Fire,” they also experimented with the organ and snare drum, crafting a wholly unique sound that came to define psychedelic rock and acid rock.
But the musical composition of “Light My Fire” isn’t the only element that made the song so groundbreaking upon its release. Its lyrics are overtly sexual, with its insistent chorus of, “Come on, baby, light my fire/ Try to set the night on fire.” Furthermore, lines such as “the time to hesitate is through” and “out love become a funeral pyre” infuse the song with a desperate longing that was both taboo in its time and dripping with existentialist dread. Thus, in both its rebelliousness and its depth, “Light My Fire” became an anthem for the counterculture movement of the late 1960s.
The Influence of “Light My Fire” Transcends Time and Genre
“Light My Fire” also transcended genre in its influence. Puerto Rican musician José Feliciano covered the track in 1968, transforming the anthem into a seductive acoustic ballad infused with Spanish flamenco guitar and subtle Caribbean rhythms. The cover earned Feliciano Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best New Artist, and the original version of “Light My Fire” re-entered the Hot 100, peaking at number 87.
In “Light My Fire,” one can also hear how The Doors’ distinctive sound led to the development of newer rock subgenres. In addition to ushering in the psychedelic and acid rock genres that are still going strong, the band helped inspire the punk, goth, and grunge genres that blossomed in the decades that followed. Punk icon Patti Smith, for instance, wrote in her memoir Just Kids that Morrison’s poetic nihilism had a profound effect on her own work. Decades later, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain would compare himself to Morrison as a “rock and roll poet” in a 1991 interview with music journalist Roy Trakin.
“Light My Fire” is more than just The Doors’ defining track, although it can arguably be called just that. It’s also considered one of the greatest songs of all time for its singular sound—one that’s still considered groundbreaking—and its impact on music as a whole. In crooning those iconic lyrics over and over, Morrison truly did light a fire, though it was far from the one he expected.
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