Boundaries are inherently fascinating, and the beach is the boundary between th land and the sea. Jim Morrison was fascinated with boundaries: the boundaries between good and bad taste, between art and the dark side, between life and death. How far can you go in and still come back out?
Biographer and sycophant Danny Sugerman claims that Morrison's muse lured him into his life of debauchery, and finally so far into the darkness that he could not return. Sugerman believes that a great artist must follow his muse wherever it may lead.
Whatever truth this concept may hold is expressed elegantly in "Riders in the Storm," which is among the most intensely atmospheric songs in the pop music canon.
"Riders" opens with an undertow bassline borrowed from the surf instrumental classic "Pipeline," overlaid with a sophisticated electric piano from Manzarek. Reverbed surf guitar adds to the misty atmosphere and underpins the rhythm. Storm sounds wash through, and distant thunder reverberates under the song's insistent pulse. Producer Bruce Botnick's seamless mesh of natural and musical sounds evokes the ever changing voice of the sea - a voice that changes from pain, to anger, to patience, to persistence. In the end, the sea outwaits us all.
Morrison sings "Riders" with the preternaturally calm voice of the doomed. The sea is a void that will eventually suck him in:
"Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm
Into this house we're born
Into this world were thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor all alone
Riders on the storm."
In the literal sense, the "riders" are probably white caps, like "Nights in White Satin" are probably clouds; but symbolically, we are all riders on the storm, we are all creatures of circumstance. The peculiarities of biology, chemistry and physics that place us here, now, are hopelessly random. This ramdomness annoyed Morrison and led to his rejection of God.
We are actors in an incoherent and unpredictable play. We don't know how to support each other because we don't know each other's roles. We don't even know our own role, we must create it as we go. There are no Best Supporting Actors and Acresses in real life because we are the only actor in our own lives.
"There's a killer on the road
His brain is squirming like a toad
Take a long holiday
Let your children play
If you give this man a ride
Sweet memory will die
Killer on the road."
Not only is existence random and arbitrary, it is also dangerous and violent. There is no end to the treachery. There are those who can't tolerate the uncertainty of existence. Death is the only certainty, so these people create death to create certainty. Death appeases the void for a while, but soon the sucking, restless noises of the void set the killer's brain to vibrating again. The vibrating turns to squirming, the squirming becomes so violent that it threatens the killer's skull. He kills again.
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.