World on Fire

"'World on Fire' is a series that shows us just what humanity is capable of — both good and evil — and reminds us that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

(Jace Lacob / www.pbs.org, September 17, 2023)

80 years after the start of World War II, BBC One premiered the successful 7-part series World on Fire in the autumn of 2019. It shows the impact on ordinary people from a world plunging into chaos and follows their fate across Europe to Manchester, Warsaw, Paris and Berlin. Or as CNN wrote: "War stories have always provided fertile backdrops for romance, and this one is no exception. 'World on Fire' isn't always a picnic to watch, but like the British audience that became hooked on it last fall, once you’ve been sucked in, it’s awfully hard to look away."

Its' success led to Season 2 of World on Fire starting some 4 years later, after a pandemic had been overcome, in the autumn of 2023. It picks up in the second year of the war in 1940. Which is also the year since the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), whose mission is to provide reliable information about the past, present and future climate in Europe and the rest of the world, keeps records.

As a result, C3S, just like the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), lists the past year as one the world's hottest on record. A year in which forests burned worldwide with dramatic consequences for people, animals and nature. Some 80 years after World War II, the world was literally on fire again.

A nightmarish situation that newcomer Nate Smith has had to experience himself. For in 2018, he became helpless witness to a fire that destroyed around 18,000 buildings in his hometown of Paradise, California, and killed 85 people. A moment that led him to write the song 'One of These Days'. And it may not be a surprise that the first song Nate Smith released after moving to Nashville was titled 'Wild Fire'.

A catchphrase that would continue to accompany him. For when Nate Smith released his debut album of the same name on Arista Nashville, slightly delayed on April 28, 2023, he had already introduced a new song on social media that was not included on the album. After all, it already contained 20 songs. "[But Fans] were almost venomous. They were asking for this song so much! So they've been wanting [me] to get it out there," ABC Radio quote the artist.

But since the album had already been finalized and changes were no longer possible, the decision was taken for a highly unusual step: namely, to release two albums on the same day. Therefore debut album "Nate Smith" was released on April 28th with 20 songs and at the same time a deluxe version with a changed cover photo and another 6 new songs. Including the highly requested song 'World on Fire'!

Written by Nate Smith, along with Ashley Gorley, Lindsay Rimes and Taylor Phillips, the song is about a relationship that started out burning with passion, but led to nothing but burned down ashes:

You set my world on fire,
yeah, it's all long gone.
I'm watching flames get higher
and I can't move on.
I just gotta let it burn, burn, burn on down.

(World on Fire / Nate Smith, Ashley Gorley, Lindsay Rimes, Taylor Phillips)

 

At the beginning of June 2023, the song with the rock beat and the raspy, passionate voice of Nate Smith was released as the second single of his career. On December 23, 2023, 'World on Fire', just like his first single 'Whiskey On You', reached the top of the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart. And on January 6th, 2024, it's been there for 3 weeks in a row!

For anyone who has had enough of the original version by now, there is also an acoustic Bonfire version, as well as an EDM/Dance Remix-Version from DJ/producer duo VAVO (consisting of Canadian Jesse Fischer and Brit Alden Martin).

Already in May of 2023, the by then 77-year-old Dolly Parton presented the first song from her upcoming first (and last) rock album ("Rockstar"), which was later released in November of 2023 attracting a lot of attention worldwide. On it she covers 21 of some of the most famous songs in music history with highly prominent collaborations and contributs 9 original songs as a songwriter or co-songwriter herself.

Among them, the above mentioned, which she presented live for the first fime at the 58th annual Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards in May of 2023 and which is curiously also titled 'World On Fire'. It is the song with which Dolly Parton, quite unexpectedly, spoke about politics for the first time in one of her songs - albeit in her inimitable way:

Don't get me started on politics.
Now how are we to live in a world like this?
Greedy politicians, present and past,
they wouldn't know the truth if it bit 'em in the ass.

(World On Fire / Dolly Parton)