Why can't it all mean nothing? Like a Doors song?
Simmer down - just joshing, you know.
Show me the way to the next whiskey bar! My calliope needs tuning! Har har.
Still kidding.
Okay. I finally took the bait. It was the fine print that lit my fire. ;)
To any who are not a Doors' fan, skip this thread, as you will be bored out of your fucking mind; and, also if you're 27, as you may croak upon reading. Like Jim, Jimi, Janis, Brian Jones, "Pigpen," and Pamela Morrison (common-law is recognized at BUKnet, right?).
Let's start by saying the halcyon days of dissing The Doors are over. Or should I say, "Your ballroom days are over, baby, night is drawing near...shadows of the evening, crawl across the years..."
As you and I are chronological contemporaries, I find your subtle barbs good-natured and amusing (you must be a closet Doors' fan). I'm sure you listened to The Doors on AM radio, much like I did, back in the day. Hell, even my father listened to The Doors (what was on radio in the old Buick station wagon). I'll never forget driving passed (past) Woodstock just after the event, seeing all the garbage strewn everywhere, and a Doors' song coming on the radio. If I only had my camcorder back then...
Now before I put the meat on the table, let me first state that I am not a fan of all Doors' songs. Some are silly and meaningless. Sure. And some are purely pop tunes that, while at a party, I can listen to; but to said song, have no real emotional attachment. But it makes for easy listening; geesh, who really wants to listen to the song, "The Soft Parade?" To me, that's where Mojo does about the worst Lennon writing imitation ever. YUK!
But let's identify some of the gems.
Break On Through (To The Other Side)
Crystal Ship
LA Woman
Maggie M'Gill
Moonlight Drive
When The Music's Over
Riders On The Storm
Roadhouse Blues
Soul Kitchen
Spanish Caravan
The Changling
The End
While The Doors don't spin on my cd as much as they used to, I still find time to listen the some of these amazing tunes. And, I could argue if some of these should or shouldn't be on a Doors' list like the one stated above, for lotsa reasons. The End, written about a bad relationship in high school "” and being written about by writers as some metaphysical breakthrough in lyrics...; stop, I get it. But it's a great fucking song, and defines an era. At least Francis Ford Coppala thought so "” and the remix with the helicopter blades is fucking haunting. Era-defining like, "All Along The Watchtower" by Jimi, sorry Bob, if you're reading "” but you said it.
On that note, let me sidebar for one second. Because I like what Willard said; and no, it's not the rat:
"Saigon... shit; I'm still only in Saigon... Every time I think I'm gonna wake up back in the jungle. When I was home after my first tour, it was worse. I'd wake up and there'd be nothing. I hardly said a word to my wife, until I said "yes" to a divorce. When I was here, I wanted to be there; when I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle. I'm here a week now... waiting for a mission... getting softer; every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker, and every minute Charlie squats in the bush, he gets stronger. Each time I looked around, the walls moved in a little tighter."
Back to the perception of the Doors:
So while in a previous post you did give Manzarek kudos, I believe, for ditching a bass player for his Fender Rhodes keyboard "” I'm assuming you know in studio it was much different, as The Doors did record many of their studio albums with bass players, notables, including: Jerry Scheff, Doug Lubahn (who also played with Clear Light), Harvey Brooks, Kerry Magness, Lonnie Mack, Larry Knechtel, Leroy Vinnegar, and Ray Neapolitan.
So please, let's give Mojo and the band some props.
They were the first American band to record six straight gold albums, I believe.
And weren't named, as is the common misconception, after Aldous Huxley's, "The Doors of Perception," but rather after William Blake's line: "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infininte..."
Just a tombstone of thought; as reflected by my avatar...
Pax
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