"Light My Fire" by the Doors was recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967 on their debut album.  Released as an edited single on April 24, 1967, it spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Most of "Light My Fire" was written by Doors guitarist Robby Krieger.  In an interview with Uncut magazine, he recalled: "I was living with my parents in Pacific Palisades – I had my amp and Gibson SG. I asked Jim, what should I write about?  He said, 'Something universal, which won't disappear two years from now.  Something that people can interpret themselves.'  I said to myself I'd write about the four elements; earth, air, fire, water, I picked fire, as I loved the Stones song, 'Play With Fire,' and that's how that came about."

When Krieger took his initial composition to the band, drummer John Densmore suggested that it should have more of a Latin rhythm, Jim Morrison wrote the second verse and part of the chorus ("Try to set the night on fire"), while Ray Manzarek added the Bach-influenced organ intro.

Like all Doors songs of this era, the band shared composer credits.

Although the album version was just over seven minutes long, it was widely requested for radio play.  Disk jockeys and the record executives asked that a shorter version be released as a single.  Despite the band's reluctance, Producer Paul Rothchild edited a single version, cut down to under three minutes with nearly all the instrumental break removed for airplay on AM radio.

To many fans, the single edit was an abomination, and many DJs played the album version instead of the edited version.

Various Sources