Jim Morrison was obsessed with the dark side; this obsession contributed to some great music and to his early demise. Jim Morrison's exploration of the dark side was his excuse for a life of almost incomprehensible dissipation. There is power and beauty in the dark side. The question is: Are the revelations worth the consequences?
If one subscribes to traditional religious values, such as those of the Christian, Jewish or Islamic faiths, the answer is clearly no. The conflicts that bedeviled Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley were conflicts of those steeped in the Christian tradition, yet drawn to the liberation of the dark side. This conflict killed Elvis and drove Little Richard and Jerry Lee to drastic artistic and personality flip-flops.
Jim Morrison renounced the strictures of religious morality entirely. Not that Morrison didn't have conflicts: a person who drinks himself to death at age 27 is running from more than the confines of Christian ethics. But Morrison was an artist and he took his exploration of the forbidden seriously. This is evident from the pretention of his most ambitious projects, including poems like "The Celebration of the Lizard."
Morrison's poetic sorties were not successful because they were not conducted in his primary voice of artistic expression: the rock 'n' roll song. Morrison's soulmates Baudelaire and Rimbaud were steeped in the poetic tradition, and expression in it came naturally to them. Morrison's poetic expressions sound amateurish, stunted, stilted and self-parodic in comparison with his song lyrics. Morrison played at poetry, but he expressed himself through his music.
"Roadhouse Blues" is the Doors at their most bluesy and raunchy, and the closest thing they have to a dance song. The song kicks off with a dirty blues-rock guitar riff, and is soon joined by Ray Manzarek's boogie woogie piano and Morrison's bluesy harmonica. Morrison sings at his most spirited and full throated. This is logical because "Roadhouse" is an ode to Morrison's best friend: alcohol.
Morrison's first task is to reach the Roadhouse. He must arrive safely before he can indulge in his passion:
"Keep your eyes on the road
Your hands upon the wheel
Keep your eyes on the road
Your hands upon the wheel
Yeah, we're going to the Roadhouse
We're gonna have areal - good time."
Morrison isn't giving himself driving tips because he fears for his life. He's giving himself driving tips so that he can get to the Roadhouse to avoid his life. The Roadhouse is the headquarters of the Party, the place where reality has its weakest grip.
Within the Roadhouse the only rules that count are the rules of the Party: put as much distance as possible between reality and yourself. The irony would be just too cruel were you to die ON THE WAY to the Roadhouse: on the way to the place where you become someone else. It is much more proper to die after you leave the Roadhouse.
Article comments
1 - Denyse Gattorna
I'd like to hear an analysis of "The End", specifically regarding the intense imagery and graphic symbolism he used (i.e.: Roman wilderness of pain, weird scenes inside the gold mine, riding the blue bus, the 7 mile long snake, the ancient lake and the reference to the Oedipus complex).
2 - Shark
yea, c'mon.
huah.
Great music and nice analysis, Eric.
It sounds ridiculous, but Morrison was probably the biggest influence in my young life. Sent me off on a trail of exploration that wound through Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Maldoror, Breton, Tzara, Dali, Duchamp, the Beats, writing, filmmaking, art, performance, theatre, music, oh--- and sex drugs and rock and roll.
I probably owe the first step on that long literary and art-strewn path to a song I heard in the summer of 67: Break on Through. Heady times.
I'm lucky I survived, too.
Oh, and I saw the Doors live three times. Pre fame, height of fame, and post-fame. Whew.
3 - JR
The Doors didn't have anywhere near the impact on me that The Monkees did. It was their TV show that got me into music, sending me off on a trail of... uh, listening to more music.
4 - Shark
JR, I knew I'd be mocked for that. As I typed it, a voice in my head said, "Please don't tell, please, please."
Like a fool, I ignored it. Wonder if I can get BB to petition management to delete that comment?
re: Monkees trail - I heard it leads directly to Menudo. And don't step in the Medoodoo.
5 - Josh
An analysis of "The End" would indeed be interesting. I happen to know that Greek legend is used throughout the song, first describing the ancient gallery of masks ("He took a face from the ancient gallery...") and then in the legendary Oedipus section. As far as the 'Roman wilderness of pain' and things like that are concerned, I'm almost positive that it had something to do with literature and/or philosophy, since Jim was such a devoted intellectual and an absolute EXPERT on these things.
Anyway, The Doors are the best and Morrison is the man. Nobody had more charisma, charm or uniqueness. Nobody.
6 - JR
Actually Shark, I didn't mean to mock you. I was more making a reference to a little controversy somewhere else around here. You'll never guess who started it.
And seeing The Doors live is very impressive. On another post around here was a thread on first concerts. You'd rank pretty high, but the woman who saw the Stones in '65 probably has you beat.
7 - Eric Olsen
Denyse, I don't talk a whole lot about "The End" specifically, but I do talk a lot about thefirst album in general here.
Thanks Shark, and I'd love to see a discussion those shows - I never saw them live, was a little too young. I can't imagine what you would be ashemed on in that comment.
And Josh, I agree, as we have seen here where JR links and elsewhere, Morrison and the Doors are still underrated.
8 - Shark
JR, re. Mocking - hey, I deserved it! Feel free to mock anytime ya want.
Thanks for the link to "The Great Monkees Controversy" -- Big Al sure knows how to hurt,don't he!?
I don't think music history will have much to say about the Monkees, but their film, "HEAD" is a treasured part of my DVD library.
re: Stones 65 -
I can't top that, but my wife can: Beatles in 1964.
She couldn't hear them, but she did get a good look.
*Better yet, she kept her Beatle dolls in the unopened boxes. (our retirement, post-Enron)
9 - Steph
Best article/review I've read on that complex, beautiful, crazy, disturbed man. I will be looking into more of your writing!
10 - Eric Berlin
Great stuff, EO, glad I came across this classic from BC's past.
Growing up I was immensely attracted to dark, romantic, self-destructive creative forces such as Morrison and Jack Kerouac and Kurt Cobain.
Weird anecdote: For the entire three hours that I spent taking the SATs in the 11th grade, the "Woke up this morning / got myself a beer" verse blared and taunted in my head. Perhaps it was my own self-conscious trying to drive me into some kind of unknown and vaguely perceived future.
I love your description of existentialism and where Morrison himself sat in terms of morality. I think many of The Doors' best known songs play with this theme of boundaries, of escaping morality and hurling through the darkness to explode in a cacophony of life force, destructive force: Break On Through, End of the Night, Light My Fire, The End, and Roadhouse and Riders as you've illustrated here.
As I've gotten older I've become more attracted to lesser known Doors' tracks, where a more wistful (wiser?) Morrison at times emerges. Soul Kitchen is certainly a powerhouse, perhaps because the poetry is set to imagery set in the real.
Lighting another cigarette in the soul's kitchen, learning to forget, yearning to forget, is for me a much more powerful image than some kind of fool's journey to the fatalistic beyond, you know?
11 - Angela
Jim Morrison is a rock ledgend that will live with people today and many more to come. he has inspired me and made me think about alot. thank you Jim Morrison!
12 - rider
I can't believe that I read this.
As I was reading, I kept saying "yes, that's right".
Until now I thought that I am the only one that is depressed, disturbed, violent, and intelligent enough to understand the lyrics of "Riders on the storm".
So it seems I was wrong.
And the analysis of "Roadhouse blues" - wow!
Thanks, Eric
13 - steven ufkes
Very impressive, this gave me a lot of understanding about some of the strange things that Jim Morrison wrote.