Jim Morrison, singer for The Doors died on this day, July 3rd, 1971. The music of The Doors is like that of Pink Floyd: timeless. While hailing from the sixties, their music in no way sounds dated. The Doors are another of those bands I like to say "bridges the generation gap of music," as my kids and many of their friends have them on their ipods.
The song "The Soft Parade" from the band’s fourth album of the same title includes these lyrics:
Can you give me sanctuary I must find a place to hide A place for me to hideCan you find me soft asylum I can’t make it anymore The Man is at the door
Peppermint, miniskirts, chocolate candy
Champion sax and a girl named Sandy
There’s only four ways to get unraveled
One is to sleep and the other is travel, da da One is a bandit up in the hills One is to love your neighbor ’till His wife gets homeCatacombs Nursery bones Winter women
Growing stones Carrying babies To the riverStreets and shoes Avenues Leather riders
Selling news The monk bought lunchHa ha, he bought a little Yes, he did
Woo! This is the best part of the trip
This is the trip, the best part I really like
Yeah- the lyrics, poetry by Jim Morrison, seem somewhat bizzare- but the songs and the music are, well, good regardless. I never really put much meaning in lyrics, anyway. For me, it’s the music- the voice included- but simply as one more "instrument" contributing to the sum total of a song. It’s too bad Jim Morrison had to join many other "greats" who stupidly wasted away God’s given talents through self-destructive habits…
I had the opportunity to see two original members of The Doors, Ray Manzarak and Robbie Kreiger, with The Cult’s Ian Astbury singing and performing in Jim Morrison’s place. Ian is eerily similar in sound and looks- except he wasn’t drunk.
