World on Fire (Nate Smith song)

"World on Fire" is a song by American country music singer Nate Smith, written by Smith, Ashley Gorley, Taylor Phillips and Lindsay Rimes. It was released on June 5, 2023, as the second single from his self-titled debut album.

History
The idea for the song "World on Fire" came during a songwriting session among Nate Smith, Ashley Gorley, Lindsay Rimes, and Taylor Phillips. Phillips, who is also a volunteer firefighter, came up with the title "world on fire" after using that phrase to recount a fire at a construction site. He then thought the idea of a narrator's world being "on fire" would convey the end of a relationship. Smith, meanwhile, was inspired to build on the idea as he remembered the Camp Fire, a wildfire that affected his hometown of Paradise, California, in 2018. Rimes then recorded the demo, which featured multiple guitar tracks from him and guitarist Sol Philcox-Littlefield; Rimes told Billboard that his inspiration for the arrangement was the work of the Foo Fighters. As Smith had already submitted the master tracks for his album to his label, he could not add the song without overriding pre-sale sales figures. As a result, the label close to issue a deluxe version with "World on Fire" and five other tracks, which would be released the same day as the regular version of the album.

Music video
Smith released a music video on July 12, 2023, directed by Chris Ashlee. The video features Smith singing the song as a fire occurs around him.

Charts
The song reached number 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became Smith's second number-one hit on the Country Airplay chart for the week of December 23, 2023, spending ten consecutive weeks there until it was dethroned by Warren Zeiders's "Pretty Little Poison" on the chart dated March 2, 2024. The song's ten-week run at the top tied a record with Morgan Wallen's 2022 single "You Proof" for the longest-running number one single in the chart's history.