The Doors' Light My Fire

SPEAKER MUSIC by FERGAL KAVANAGH DANIEL FRANCIS if I was to say to you: this is You know that it would be untrue to be untrue22: is a synonym of TUNE INTO ENGLISH grammatically incorrect, it You know that I would be a liar16 ‘to be a liar’, but not so hard. Al- should be ‘if I were to say to though of course the person who If I was to say to you you’. This mistake has become tells lies of things that are untrue so common in English that it is Girl, we couldn’t get much higher is a ‘liar’. now acceptable. The second The Doors’ conditional is used for To get high is an idiomatic Come on, baby, light my fire unlikely21 situations and is Come on, baby, light my fire expression often used to mean formed by if + verb in past the effects of taking drugs. simple form + would + verb in Try to set the night on fire Light My Fire infinitive (“If I were to say to you this I would be a liar”) or The time to hesitate17 is through18 To light a fire means to start a would + verb in infinitive + if + Il primo grande successo della mitica band californiana, con riferimenti velati al sesso e No time to wallow19 in the mire20 fire, to set something on fire is to alla droga, divenne parte della colonna sonora della fine degli anni Sessanta. Insieme ad verb in past simple form (“I burn it. To ‘light someone’s fire’ would be a liar if I were to say Try now we can only lose means to ‘sexually arouse23’ or alcune metafore abbastanza esplicite, da notare l’uso del second conditional. this to you”) And our love become a funeral pyre excite them, like the phrasal verb to ‘turn someone on’24. ight My Fire was The Doors’ first four-and-a-half minute instrumental on Come on, baby, light my fire LOWER INTERMEDIATE B1 hit and the second single from the album was cut to create a radio-friendly through: although the Come on, baby, light my fire preposition ‘through’ is their 1967 eponymous debut al- three-minute single version. The opening L usually a function word of Try to set the night on fire, yeah ON CD 18 bum, spending three weeks at number verse is a perfect example of the second movement, here it is an one in the US and becoming their sig- conditional, with two ‘would’ clauses7 fol- adjective meaning ‘at the nature song1. lowed by an ‘if’ and a ‘could’ clause. point of completion’. There is GLOSSARY Although it is a group composition, gui- The Doors were invited to perform8 the no more time to hesitate. To wallow in the mire: this is 1 signature song: tarist Robby Kreiger firstcame up2 with song on CBS TV’s popular Ed Sullivan an idiom meaning ‘to remain canzone principale the idea when singer Jim Morrison asked Show, but were asked to change the words stuck25 in a negative situation’. 2 to come up: venire him to write about “something universal, ‘get much higher9’ to ‘get much better’, to fuori ‘To wallow’ means to ‘roll around 10 3 to release: pubblicare which won’t disappear two years from avoid any possible reference to drugs in something’ (like a hippopota- 4 despite: nonostante now.” He decided to write about one of (although the band insisted the meaning is mus in mud26), and a ‘mire’ is an 5 to last: durare the classical elements: fire. Kreiger was literal, the opposite of ‘lower11‘.) Although area of wet, marshy27 land. 6 over: più di inspired by the lyrics of the Rolling Stones’ Morrison conceded12 during rehears- 7 clauses: frasi 13 8 to perform: esibirsi song Play With Fire and the melody of als , he sang the original during the live 9 to get high: sballarsi Jimi Hendrix’s Hey Joe, both released3 performance and the band was banned14 10 to avoid: evitare in the previous two years. from future editions of the show. Morrison 11 lower: più basso Despite4 the original song lasting5 over6 responded by saying “Hey man, we just 12 to concede: 15 consentire seven minutes, there did the Sulli- 13 rehearsals: prove are just two van show!” 14 to ban: proibire verses —the 15 to do: scopare (figurativo) 16 liar: bugiardo 17 to hesitate: esitare 18 to be through: essere finito SCAN & 19 to wallow: WATCH crogiolarsi 20 mire: pantano 21 untrue: falso 22 unlikely: improbabili 23 to sexually arouse: eccitare Scan this QR code with your smartphone or tablet and listen sessualmente to the original song on YouTube 24 to turn someone while reading the lyrics. on: far eccitare 25 stuck: intrappolato Fergal Kavanagh runs the website 26 mud: fango www.tuneintoenglish.com, 27 marshy: paludosa the web’s largest free resource for learning English through pop music. 60 sixty.

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