What does Light My Fire mean?

The Doors: Light My Fire Meaning

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Album cover for Light My Fire album cover

Song Released: 1967


Light My Fire Lyrics

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

Time to hesitate is...

  1. jytwj
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    Mar 10th 2007 !⃝

    This song was not written by Jim Morrison, except for a small bit of it, and so it doesn't have as much hidden depth as a typical Doors song. Think of the plays Shakespeare wrote in collaboration with others- they're always not as good as his own. If you're not familiar with any of those, think of the scene with Hecate (which was not written by Shakespeare) in his play "Macbeth." The rest is better, isn't it?

    The rest of it is a simple popular rock-and-roll song, but the stanza Morrison wrote:

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

    Turns the sexual come-on in the rest of it into something waiting to be extrapolated in the mind of the listener. The stanza converts the song from a sexual come-on to a "carpe diem" call: if you hesitate, if you wallow (wait) in the mire (the meaningless, tedious, and banal parts of your life), then your love (the things truly important) will turn into a funeral pyre (you will die, or at least lose your opportunity to enjoy the love) before you enjoy it.

  2. anonymous
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    Jan 22nd 2007 !⃝

    You know what it is about: two lovers getting stoned. Period.

  3. anonymous
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    Jan 5th 2007 !⃝

    this song is blatantly about getting "high" referring to drug use, and it can be (for the romantics out there) about love and all that other bullshit, but I don't think it is.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  4. anonymous
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    Jun 18th 2006 !⃝

    Being that this song was written by the guitar player, I think its just good poetry.

  5. anonymous
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    Apr 25th 2006 !⃝

    I think that this song is about a love that is fading away and he's trying to say bring that love back because the lyrics say "come on baby light my fire, try to set the night on fire" and you know thaat it would untrue, you know that I would be a liar, if I was to say to you girl we couldn't get much higher" meaning that he would be lying if he said that they were at the top of the relationship...

  6. anonymous
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    Apr 25th 2006 !⃝

    I think that this song is about a love that is fading away and he's trying to say bring that love back because the lyrics say "come on baby light my fire, try to set the night on fire" and you know thaat it would untrue, you know that I would be a liar, if I was to say to you girl we couldn't get much higher" meaning that he would be lying if he said that they were at the top of the relationship...

  7. anonymous
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    Nov 10th 2005 !⃝

    Somebody requested this one... Well, this song is rather clearly implied to be about making love.

    Possibly while doing drugs... but probably when he says "if I was to say to you... Girl we couldn't get much higher" he's talking about the high produced by what they're doing together.

    Of course, you could also say it's about dancing the night away or love in general or whatever, but knowing the Doors this song was probably about sensuality, passion, and sex.

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