I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire

"I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" is a 1941 pop song written by Bennie Benjamin, Eddie Durham, Sol Marcus and Eddie Seiler.

It was written in 1938,^[1] but was first recorded three years later by Harlan Leonard and His Rockets.^[2] It was covered by several musicians and groups, most successfully by Horace Heidt on Columbia Records, whose version reached number one on the US pop chart; and by The Ink Spots on Decca, whose version reached number 4 on the same listing. Other early versions included those by Tommy Tucker, Mitchell Ayres, and (in Britain) Vera Lynn. The song, with its lyrics starting with "I don't want to set the world on fire/ I just want to start a flame in your heart..." became especially popular after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.^[3]

The song was later recorded by Betty Carter, Frankie Laine, Anthony Newley, Suzy Bogguss and others.^[2]

In popular culture

The Ink Spots' rendition of "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" is featured prominently in Bethesda's Fallout video games, specifically in Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, and was also featured in the Academy Award-winning short film Logorama.

The song is also was used as intro in the Megadeth song "Set the World Afire" from the album So Far, So Good... So What!.

It was sampled in The Simpsons episode Treehouse of Horror XVII, the fourth episode from season 18.

The opening lines were sung by the Doctor in Doctor Who 1963 - Season 8, Episode 01: Terror of the Autons: Episode One, the fourth episode from season 18, as he walked out of the Tardis.

References