The Crazy History Behind "The Alabama Song"

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  • Опубликовано: 21 ноя 2024

Комментарии • 544

  • @noahwellington1729
    @noahwellington1729 Год назад +768

    More doors content please, love this stuff

    • @brickwallace1122
      @brickwallace1122 Год назад +34

      100% Agreed. It’s my favorite band and I love to suck it all up

    • @mirec14
      @mirec14 Год назад +5

      For sure

    • @hugostiglitz491
      @hugostiglitz491 Год назад +3

      Agreed 💯

    • @pozitivepaul
      @pozitivepaul Год назад +4

      YES

    • @joshuaadams8240
      @joshuaadams8240 Год назад +5

      I would absolutely love to learn more about their debauchery. I enjoy their music, I appreciate their psychedelia, and I heard that they were a bunch of poetry majors, but I didn't know about their debauchery.

  • @joshhale9355
    @joshhale9355 Год назад +414

    Dude, your editing is insane! Your videos are some of my favorites to watch because it’s straight eye candy for me.

    • @maaauel
      @maaauel Год назад +3

      can confirm

    • @fujithegreat6069
      @fujithegreat6069 Год назад +1

      I've noticed that other video essay channels use this format that Vox may have directly or indirectly influenced. It's neat.

    • @Kaderlid13
      @Kaderlid13 Год назад

      Same here! ❤❤❤

    • @strawberryfields253
      @strawberryfields253 Год назад +1

      it legit looks like a documentary its fantastic

  • @georgelacatus1495
    @georgelacatus1495 Год назад +158

    Ray Manzarek was a GOAT. Always loved that his keyboard work on Hyacinth House was inspired by Chopin's Polonaise in Ab Major 🎹

    • @rocknroll_jezus9233
      @rocknroll_jezus9233 Год назад +4

      Such a standout on L.A. Woman but I love it all

    • @EmperorNerox
      @EmperorNerox Год назад +6

      Jim Morrison pointed at Ray manzerek once and said see that guy he IS the doors

    • @dylanhealy8126
      @dylanhealy8126 Год назад +1

      IIRC he was classically trained and was a big Chopin fan.
      And Densmore was a jazz drummer, which was a key component of The Doors style

    • @chriscoughlin9289
      @chriscoughlin9289 Год назад +1

      @@EmperorNerox And - no small thing - he was also indisputably the fifth member of X a decade later.

    • @EmperorNerox
      @EmperorNerox Год назад

      @@chriscoughlin9289 I recall he produced them but did he play in the band too??

  • @retroecho
    @retroecho Год назад +9

    From Ray’s autobiography. It was all totally Dorothy’s idea.
    “Dorothy had a record of Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weill’s ‘Threepenny Opera’ with a couple of cuts from ‘Mahagonny’ at the end of the disc. It was an original cast recording from 1932. It was her kind of music. … … one day Dorothy said, “why don’t you guys do ‘The Whiskey Bar’? As long as you’re doing other people’s material, you might as well do Brecht and Weill too. “
    Early in Chapter 7
    So Dorothy is the MVP.

  • @jacktowers7533
    @jacktowers7533 Год назад +79

    The moment in "The World's End" when they're all heading around town avoiding the evil robots with a Drunken Paranoid Uniform March to Alabama Song is my favourite use of this song ever

  • @trentc7329
    @trentc7329 Год назад +73

    Weird thing is this wasn't just a deep cut on an album. They played this live a lot. Usually like the second or third song of the show. I always wondered if it was kind of their warm up, get in synch and set a mood song. They obviously enjoyed playing it or they would have dropped it out of the set list in later years. It wasn't a hit the people expected.

    • @damotheman4196
      @damotheman4196 Год назад +4

      Now that I've read that and thought on it, I think you're right. I mean it'd be a good one for everyone to warm up their instruments.. (Jim's voice included) good comment bud. 👍

  • @tme3305
    @tme3305 Год назад +8

    alabama song is one of my favorite doors tracks, this was a super fun video for me
    also can we talk about how the city of mahogany is literally just las vegas

  • @bartonprice2993
    @bartonprice2993 Год назад +38

    Great video. Plan to use it in class. It's important to keep in mind that Morrison and Manzarek were film school students, and were likely versed in avant garde theatre of the 20th century (similarly, the Living Theatre in NYC at the same time was inspired by Arnaud's Theatre of Cruelty). One slight correction is that Brecht couldn't have been subject to scrutiny by Sen. McCarthy if Brecht left the U.S. in 1949. McCarthy rose to prominence in 1950. It's more likely that Brecht encountered opposition from the self-censorship by Hollywood due to the Hays Code.

    • @dirkturtle3354
      @dirkturtle3354 Год назад +7

      Brecht testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee (which, obviously, no Senator was part of). This is governmental body that led to the blacklisting of Hollywood writers.
      The recording of his testimony is terrific as he slyly dunks on the questioners while they don't even realize he's running up the score on them. All while he had a ticket to Berlin in his pocket.

    • @bartonprice2993
      @bartonprice2993 Год назад

      @@dirkturtle3354 You are correct.

  • @noahwellington1729
    @noahwellington1729 Год назад +82

    8:49 minor mistake, Jim died in 71 not 70.

    • @Polyphonic
      @Polyphonic  Год назад +27

      Whoops. Good catch!

    • @noahwellington1729
      @noahwellington1729 Год назад +8

      @@Polyphonic all good! Loved the video otherwise

    • @_ratherBursadboi
      @_ratherBursadboi Год назад +4

      I am still alive

    • @fbicappuccino
      @fbicappuccino Год назад +4

      @@_ratherBursadboi iiiim whooaa im still alive yeeah iii whoooaa im still alive (pearl jam)

    • @jayskywalker5049
      @jayskywalker5049 Год назад +3

      @Summitelse hey Jim 👋 we miss you man

  • @neugey
    @neugey Год назад +99

    I love the duality in this song, how different the verses are than the chorus. It sounds like a medley, but it's not. Bowie doing this song live is probably the best version.

    • @rickwilliams967
      @rickwilliams967 Год назад +1

      Can you explain how the verse and chorus are different? That's a pretty common change in this style.

    • @CorbCorbin
      @CorbCorbin Год назад +2

      @@rickwilliams967
      If one has never heard that style of music, or even known of that era of musical theater, and where it originated, they usually associate the song with the Doors, and other rock acts, who covered it.
      In the first half of that Doors album, it’s a pretty odd departure from 20th Century Fox, into it.
      So, too many it sounds like polka, during the verse, into a near country thing, with the chorus.

    • @kjelleriksson2793
      @kjelleriksson2793 Год назад

      The Doors didn't do the first verse (little boy) on record but they did it on stage.

    • @rickwilliams967
      @rickwilliams967 Год назад

      @@CorbCorbin but they did it correctly, so how did they make it different. They just used different instruments.

    • @bootyshortsband
      @bootyshortsband Год назад

      ​@@rickwilliams967 it changes from minor to major?

  • @janhanchenmichelsen2627
    @janhanchenmichelsen2627 Год назад +84

    So many great artists have played Weill/Brecht. Such an important part of modern music. "Lotte Lenya Singt Kurt Weill" (1955) is a favourite of mine. In German, of course.

    • @onthewattle
      @onthewattle Год назад +4

      Same mate love it. Her best rendition of Mack the Knife

    • @karlkarlos3545
      @karlkarlos3545 Год назад +1

      Speaking of Brecht. Tom Waits did an interesting version of What Keeps Mankind Alive? Also from The Threepenny Opera.

    • @stefstaf
      @stefstaf 7 месяцев назад

      The original libretto of the opera "Rise and Fall of the city of Mahagonny" is in German except from the Alabama song which was written in English by Brecht.
      It is a delight to listen to Lotte Lenya (or better yet Ute Lemper) sing "for vee must find the next Viskey bar..."

  • @andrewmurphy9601
    @andrewmurphy9601 Год назад +35

    This album is a masterpiece

  • @mykeadelic
    @mykeadelic Год назад +31

    morrison died in 71 not 70 but other than that this is on point!!! haha
    love the doors. so much to talk about with them as a microcosm of the psychedelic era

  • @jackorion7157
    @jackorion7157 Год назад +70

    This song turned me on to the Doors and made me listen to them which quickly made them my favorite band. I never heard chord changes like that before

  • @oliverpiers6603
    @oliverpiers6603 Год назад +27

    When I was a kid I used to get night terrors so my mum bought me a Bowie singles CD collection, which I played every night in order to get to sleep. I have vivid memories of listening to Alabama Song again and again on loop, it was on that fine line between enthralling and terrifying.

    • @victorwright5358
      @victorwright5358 Год назад +2

      that sounds awesome! Bowie’s version is definitely my favorite rendition of the song

    • @Carbon8edmilk
      @Carbon8edmilk Год назад

      Ditto

  • @jimmorrison8021
    @jimmorrison8021 Год назад +12

    The doors Music is intellectual, charismatic, mesmerizing and able to grab your spine and shake it.

  • @aoisejadore4
    @aoisejadore4 Год назад +10

    I can't wait until more people get interested in classic rock and roll. Your channel is a great resource, thank you!

  • @Sevetamryn
    @Sevetamryn Год назад +4

    Great Video and Greetings from Berlin, in walking distance to the "Volksbühne", the place where Bertholt Brecht plays performed back then, around 100 years ago.

  • @avachristiansen7703
    @avachristiansen7703 Год назад +19

    You truly have the best music history videos out there, I really look forward to your uploads. Your editing is insane, you are a great storyteller, and I am always intrigued

  • @ListieShadows
    @ListieShadows Год назад +6

    Man, imagine my surprised to find out that Bertolt Brecht wrote "Mack The Knife". Like, I didn't come into this video expecting to think about Mac Tonight-which, I mean, it's entirely my fault that I did, but y'know.

  • @mgeorge487able
    @mgeorge487able Год назад +5

    As children in the late 80’s, my sister and I had made up a dance to this song and loved to perform it. The carnival-like sound appealed to us although we had no idea what it was about. Same with the Beatles’ Maxwell’s Silver Hammer and a few Cheech and Chong songs. Fun times

  • @The_real_Y2
    @The_real_Y2 Месяц назад +1

    "The Alabama Song," also known as "Whisky Bar" or "Moon of Alabama," got its name from its appearance in the 1927 German opera *Mahagonny-Songspiel* by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Despite its title referencing the U.S. state of Alabama, the song is not specifically about Alabama but rather about themes of hedonism, alienation, and escape.
    Brecht and Weill frequently used American-sounding names and themes in their works to evoke a sense of detachment or to critique modern capitalist society. The name "Alabama" likely adds to this exotic and foreign atmosphere, playing into the opera's overall satirical nature.

  • @OuterGalaxyLounge
    @OuterGalaxyLounge Год назад +2

    1920s kids were already hip to this.

  • @rebekahm6672
    @rebekahm6672 9 дней назад

    The doors is my mom’s favorite band and after these videos I’ve gained a lot more appreciation for them and feel closer to her.

  • @riveraf.b
    @riveraf.b Год назад +3

    This was the first song, by chance, that I heard of the Doors. I immediately fell in love with the keyboard and guitar tone. And I heard for the first time that rare but exquisite sound that seemed to be made with bells... a marxophone. Together with the subtle touch on the drums and Jim's vocals, they make this song a psychedelic carnival.

  • @edpowers9865
    @edpowers9865 Год назад +1

    Fantastic video essay. I had no idea the connection with Mack the Knife.

  • @GamesWithBrainz
    @GamesWithBrainz Год назад +6

    i absolutely love these well edited obscure and interesting stories from musical history.

  • @andresmarticanta
    @andresmarticanta Год назад +17

    Love your content! About Mack the Knife, it even made its way to salsa. There is a masterpiece by Rubén Blades called Pedro Navajas, that builds on Mack the Knife with a jazzy experimental salsa vibe. I think it's crazy how you can trace a line between Weill and Brecht and salsa. It goes to show how far-reaching their influence is.

  • @hugostiglitz491
    @hugostiglitz491 Год назад +5

    I love the visuals in your videos, this is straight eye candy

  • @sticky-fingers
    @sticky-fingers Год назад +16

    The Doors'first album is one of the best 1st record, and one of the best of rock history.
    The first time i listened it, i listened it over and over the entire night.
    I don't thank you, my "The Doors period" will start again 😀

    • @DaniboyBR2
      @DaniboyBR2 Год назад

      Nirvana's first album is also their best though.

    • @smucklehead89
      @smucklehead89 Год назад

      ​@Dan 123 bleach is a great album but I have to disagree, in utero is an incredible album

    • @chriscoughlin9289
      @chriscoughlin9289 Год назад

      There are countless legendary candidates for that 'best 1st category' - a few of them STILL revolutionary today in ways even Morrison and Co. couldn't touch.
      Off the top of my head:
      Televosion - Marquee Moon
      Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man
      Ramones - Self titled debut
      X - Los Angeles (Manzarek - Producer)
      And Ray and Jim would've been the first to tell you about the debt they owed to Elektra Records label mates Love for their sharp eyed take on the LA street scene circa 1965-66.

    • @DaniboyBR2
      @DaniboyBR2 Год назад

      @@smucklehead89 I have both, I like their first better, both are great though I agree on this, then they just started to suck, Kurt got really sick and too fucked on heroin and lost focus.

  • @bobjones-sf7bn
    @bobjones-sf7bn Год назад +1

    great job.. I've been a big doors fan since the 70s ..and got to work on a community theater of 3 penny opera.. thank you

  • @Jack_all
    @Jack_all Год назад +1

    I had no idea the Alabama song was a cover song.. Fascinating.. Side note : The City of Mohogany sounds just like Las Vegas.

  • @Asmallcorneroftheinternet
    @Asmallcorneroftheinternet Год назад +5

    My favorite use of the song is in The World's End from 2013. I won't spoil the plot, but when the 5 main characters realize that they're in massive danger. They have to pretend that to pretend that they're still doing their bar crawl to survive. Cue the Alabama Song, the perfect song to sum up 5 gentlemen who are trying to pretend that they're not in danger. Yet it's clear as day that they know what's going on.

    • @jacktowers7533
      @jacktowers7533 Год назад +1

      I forever associate this song with the scene now, Edgar just knows the best song for any given scene

  • @marivg8948
    @marivg8948 Год назад +3

    I was just watching The Doors' PBS show and then this pops up. Great! Thanks, Polyphonic!

  • @Austin-31557
    @Austin-31557 Год назад +7

    This song was the first song by the doors I heard and it got me into the doors, I remember when I first heard ray’s keyboard I was instantly in love, 5+ years later and I am still in love

    • @geraldtanderson9044
      @geraldtanderson9044 Год назад

      From a 50 year fan of the Doors...I love that you love the doors!

    • @Emersonlakeorpalmer
      @Emersonlakeorpalmer Год назад +1

      Same here I was listening to the album and the catchy melody of Alabama song caught my attention for the doors. Ray’s organ and the marxophone with Jim’s haunting voice. Doors and Ray Manzarek inspired me to pick up the organ. Wish I was alive during their era but I’m just a 17 year old doors fan

  • @AlexRaesYouTubeChannel
    @AlexRaesYouTubeChannel Год назад +3

    It’s no coincidence that the Alabama song was also used in the movie “the worlds end” which is about accomplishing a bar run!

  • @EphemeraEssays
    @EphemeraEssays Год назад +4

    I never even knew it was a cover! Fantastic video

  • @victorwright5358
    @victorwright5358 Год назад +10

    great video, as always! i absolutely LOVE that you included shoutouts to David Bowie and Nina Simone!

  • @Purplenpinkk
    @Purplenpinkk Год назад +4

    One of my favorite Doors songs - I've been a fan since '80. I did not know this. Thank you.

  • @macronencer
    @macronencer Год назад +3

    This was a connection and a topic of which I was pretty much entirely ignorant. I'd heard the Doors version of the song, of course - and I believe I'd heard Bowie's too. But I had no idea whatsoever of the whole Weil/Brecht background. Astonishing! Thank you for the lesson.

  • @taplaos
    @taplaos Год назад +7

    Ohhh wow! I didn't know the origin of this song! Just gives you a deeper appreciation for it. My Mother and Father loves this song. Enough to see them super drunk singing along with it as they dance through the night. For sure, I'll be showing this video to them.

  • @gabriellegilbert4872
    @gabriellegilbert4872 Год назад +4

    Beautifully done, appreciate you Polyphonic

  • @mikegim9954
    @mikegim9954 Год назад +33

    "Mahogany: A place of wealth and debauchery built by criminals in the middle of the desert"... So basically Las Vegas

    • @The1trueDave
      @The1trueDave Год назад +2

      That's the first thing I thought but it seems that Las Vegas didn't really get going until after WWII. Maybe Buggsy Siegel was a fan of Bertholt Brecht too? :-)

    • @hmlee5264
      @hmlee5264 Год назад

      @@The1trueDave or Mahogany is more Kapitalismus than "Las Vegas itself"

  • @GaryT1952
    @GaryT1952 Год назад +3

    So well done...thank you

  • @TahoeNevada
    @TahoeNevada Год назад +23

    As a moody teen in the 80’s, I absolutely *loved* The Doors!

    • @steveclapper5424
      @steveclapper5424 Год назад +5

      As a moody teen in the sixties so did I.

    • @markokecman1177
      @markokecman1177 Год назад +2

      As a 30 year old guy I still love The Doors.

    • @lakrids-pibe
      @lakrids-pibe Год назад +1

      You must have been the perfect age when the biopic came out in 1991, with Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison. The music was everywhere! Haha!

    • @HankBukowski
      @HankBukowski Год назад

      Same but 90s.

    • @EmperorNerox
      @EmperorNerox Год назад +2

      @@lakrids-pibe manzerek called the movie an assassination of Jim Morrison. It was really really bad . Stone had no clue of what Morrison was about and val kilmer walked around and spoke in riddles like Jim talked like that ,lol was so bad. Music wass good though

  • @EmperorNerox
    @EmperorNerox Год назад +1

    Jim Morrison pointed at Ray manzerek once and said see that guy, he IS the doors. Ray was a genius and every bit the intellect Jim was. He was the one guy who knew Jim's trip...freedom was all jim about plain and simple

  • @SuperStarr817
    @SuperStarr817 Год назад +4

    I loved learning more about this song now I think I need to look into this man's plays.

    • @Kaderlid13
      @Kaderlid13 Год назад +1

      You’ll not be disappointed! ❤

  • @hugostiglitz491
    @hugostiglitz491 Год назад +7

    Clicked as soon as I saw Jim Morrison in the thumbnail

  • @marquamfurniture
    @marquamfurniture Год назад +1

    Thank you for super well done graphics that accompany story.

  • @andrewkruszka1674
    @andrewkruszka1674 Год назад +13

    This song is so good. So is your video quality and editing. Keep it up! Can't wait for more Doors music!

  • @unovox
    @unovox Год назад +2

    I grew up in Alabama!!!!! Loving it!

  • @giddyaunt9953
    @giddyaunt9953 Год назад +9

    Thanks for this video - I've been intrigued by this song since first hearing the Bowie version - a minor hit in the UK oddly - I never really knew what it was about (and assumed - it seems wrongly - that the english lyrics were a much later translation). From there I discovered songs like Mack the Knife and foiund out the lady with the deadly pointy shoe in that Bond film was part of this world. Somehow discovered Jacques Brel along the way too.

  • @EmperorNerox
    @EmperorNerox Год назад +1

    Brilliant video man. Absolutely brilliant

  • @happyron
    @happyron Год назад +6

    Always wondered about this song after hearing it a zillion times in the 1980s due to my friend being a hardcore Doors person, thanks for the context.

  • @bigfootandthebunny
    @bigfootandthebunny Год назад +2

    Very cool, I know a stupid amount of rock trivia and did NOT know this. Thank you!

  • @Thathorrorguy12FU
    @Thathorrorguy12FU Год назад +9

    Probably the best record out of all their albums. This says a very lot and it's because all their albums are excellent. Now that I look back, not realizing it at a younger age, and The Doors are definitely before my time. But in the amount of time they were together making albums and it wasn't a very long time, between 67-71? Right, six years. And The Doors, Strange Days, Waiting for the Sun, The Soft Parade, Morrison Hotel, and LA Woman. These were all great albums that you could listen to from front to back and enjoy every song. So every album was good! So to say that their debut album was the best imo says a hell of a lot! And looking back, they were definitely one of the best bands to ever come out of America hands down! They were very consistent, and with great material every time. Doing in a matter of 5 years what most bands still have never achieved.

    • @chriscoughlin9289
      @chriscoughlin9289 Год назад

      The Byrds had every bit of that track record over their first six albums.
      They all but invented folk rock, psych rock, country rock and brought the arrival of the singer-songwriter(Gene Clark, David Crosby and Gram Parsons) in that time period.
      Even had the Beatles lifting their riffs (listen to McGuinn's arrangement of 'Bells of Rhymney' and 'If I Needed Someone' back to back.)
      Easily the most influential American band of the mid 60's - as Petty, REM, Television, Eagles, U2, and countless others have been telling their audiences for decades.

    • @frankfrank7921
      @frankfrank7921 Год назад

      @@chriscoughlin9289 "Even had the Beatles lifting their riffs (listen to McGuinn's arrangement of 'Bells of Rhymney' and 'If I Needed Someone' back to back.". That's George Harrison though, who hadn't really developed as a songwriter yet. Lennon, though was infatuated with Roger McGuinn for awhile even adopting the granny glasses Roger favored.

    • @chriscoughlin9289
      @chriscoughlin9289 Год назад

      @@frankfrank7921 It's all speculation on my part, but Lennon almost certainly had to be more than a little impressed that Dylan had given McGuinn, Clark and Crosby his standing stamp of approval for so many of their now legendary arrangements - Tambourine Man, Chimes of Freedom, My Back Pages, Spanish Harlem Incident, He Was A Friend of Mine, You Ain't Goin' Nowhere,...
      Every one of these can be stood alongside ANY of the most indelible Dylan covers in the history books - including 'All Along The Watchtower by Hendrix or I Shall Be Released by The Band.
      I believe that the rising fortunes of the Byrds were helped along greatly by Dylan's simultaneous understanding that the folkie troubadour era was passing - even if he himself was still in the process of deciding what might replace it.
      For about 4-5 years there, the Byrds were just untouchable on the American scene - at least until the advent of CCR, The Band and eventually Eagles.

    • @frankfrank7921
      @frankfrank7921 Год назад

      @@chriscoughlin9289 I will add that the Beatles and the Doors did not need to use "Wrecking Crew" musicians on their albums.

    • @chriscoughlin9289
      @chriscoughlin9289 Год назад

      @frankfrank7921
      The Byrds have their detractors on the basis of their use of the Crew during Tambourine Man.
      Unfortunately almost none of them are honest enough to acknowledge that the rest of their catalog is theirs alone (apart from acknowledged ringers on Sweetheart.)
      To me? Perpetuating that myth after 60 years is just as fraudulent as the thing they’re decrying.
      Most of them are too wet behind the ears to have had the good fortune to have seen a reunited McGuinn, Clark and Hillman (and occasionally Crosby) in the late 70’s to know any better.
      But that still doesn’t excuse their lie.

  • @Papparratzi
    @Papparratzi 10 месяцев назад

    The irony of this song starting off as a poem, and Jim Morrison, starting off as a poet has not escaped me. It seems destiny that they were determined to meet each other to tell the story for generations to come. Thank you.

  • @SomniRespiratoryFlux
    @SomniRespiratoryFlux Год назад +1

    Classic Polyphonic move right here, bring people/the algorithm in with a title and thumbnail about a classic rock band, then use that as a segue to something overtly political and lesser known. Great video, Noah!

  • @mudcatz3564
    @mudcatz3564 Год назад +2

    A terific essay! One note tho: Morrison died in '71, not '70. That being said, a great effort! As a Doors fan for 40 years, you gave an education!

  • @slothDAMN
    @slothDAMN Год назад +3

    Dagmar Krause's versions of Brecht/Weill (and Hanns Eisler) are some of my favourite recordings ever.

  • @petederek7174
    @petederek7174 Год назад +9

    Another great and informative vid from you on one of my favorite bands (also a big fan of Kurt Weil's music). One small note, Morrison died in '71 not '70 but, that aside, nice work my man. Keep em coming!

  • @paulnolan4971
    @paulnolan4971 Год назад +1

    Brecht's Mack the Knife too from the threepenny opera which they prolly covered only once in Stockholm 68 and the boot is FIRE !!!!!! lol there it is

  • @MultiPetercool
    @MultiPetercool Год назад +1

    Check out a rare Hal Willner produced album called “Lost In The Stars - A Tribute to Kurt Weill”. It includes performances of Weill’s music by artists including Sting, Tom Waits, Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs, Marianne Faithfull, Todd, Rundgren, and a host of others. If you were serious music collector, grab a copy, you can also find it on iTunes.

  • @angryyordle4640
    @angryyordle4640 Год назад +9

    thank you for covering Berthold Brecht. He was a genious

    • @jayskywalker5049
      @jayskywalker5049 Год назад +2

      Never heard of him but definitely knew some of his material via Satchmo and Nina and of course THE 🚪s

    • @angryyordle4640
      @angryyordle4640 Год назад

      @@jayskywalker5049 He's very well known in germany, one of the most well known modern german playwrites I'd say. He also wrote the lyrics to several worker's songs and generally was an important figure in the socialist movement of his time.

  • @Newton-Reuther
    @Newton-Reuther Год назад

    I love how you cover the context and history I didn't know about the music I love but also introduce me to new music. Keep it up!!

  • @anthonycrumb5753
    @anthonycrumb5753 Год назад +1

    I have listerned to The Doors since they first came out in the 1960s - love em - I had absolutley no idea of the connection between The Doors and Kurt Wiel, Brect et al. Thanks for that - you live and learn.
    PS - IF you are interested in the Weimar Vibe check out Philip Kerr's Bernnie Gunter books - the Sam Spade of the 3rd Riech, VERY atmospheric and full of obscure details like the Sing Sing Nightclub/ Caberet with its own electric chair to give the patrons a 'bit of a shock'. Strange but true.

  • @bjsvec
    @bjsvec Год назад +10

    More about “the end” please. That song is so interesting.

    • @Polyphonic
      @Polyphonic  Год назад +9

      ruclips.net/video/gJLeek0Bjc4/видео.html

  • @c.d.dailey8013
    @c.d.dailey8013 Год назад +2

    Oh I know that album. I listened to it plenty of times. The big highlight for me is "End of the Night". It is one of my favorite Doors songs. It is a fine example of creepy but beautiful. I just listened to it shortly before watching the video. It is on a RUclips playlist of songs by various artists. The song has a great scene in the Oliver Stone movie. It is where Jim has an affair with Patricia. Lets just say that scene and similar scenes got me excited. This movie is R rated for a reason. The Alabama song is great too. It is one of my mom's favorite Doors songs. It is so catchy. I didn't know Doors were psychedelic. I would describe the music as weird, creepy, beautiful and shamanic. Interestingly Pink Floyd had its origins in psychedelic music. Then it move one into being the main band for prog rock. The Doors and Pink Floyd are two of my favorite bands. They even go together in my mind. Both bands are very weird, but they are very good. They go off and do their own thing. Being so different really makes these bands stand out from their contemporaries. My biggest musical guilty pleasure is Lady Gaga. She is a more modern musician. She works the same way. Oh my gosh! Those outfits. The sixties is the best decade for music. There was so many varieties, and the music overall was so amazing. Psychedelic was around during that time. I didn't think it was one of the better musical styles at the time. It was a bit too weird and funky. My top favorite band was the Beatles. They were the top famous band of the sixties. They did a variety of music. Personally I thought they did their best music right before their psychedelic phase. Three of my favorite albums are from the time. There is Beatles For Sale, Help! and Rubber Soul. I think the band jumped the shark after Revolver. After that the psychedelic phase started. The later music was good but not as good. I will give it this. Another one of my favorite albums is Magical Mystery Tour, and that was psycadelic. I also like the movie a whole lot. It is my biggest guilty pleasure of movies. I just had a whole new appreciation for psychedelic music. The Doors and Pink Floyd were awesome bands. They had thier connection to psychadelic music. So I can appreciate that two good things happened from that kind of music. There is also a fun fact. The Beatles had Sgt. Pepper as thier first psychadelic album. They made lenty of album before. Pink Floyd had their debut album called Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This new band started out with a psychadelic phase of their own. Interestingly both psychadelic albums were produced in the same music studio at the same time. That is cool that there is such a connection.
    Alabama Song is so goofy. I had no idea there was so much history and meaning behind it. The story about the German musicians and playwrights is interesting. In America, hippies were getting all upset about the Vietnam War. So they had protests. Part of that became protest music. Oh I just come up with a more modern example. I was a teenager back during the W. Bush presidency. There was the war in the Middle East. There was protesting against that. I personally was against it too. Funny enough, I was more in tune with the music that was popular with my peers. I still enjoyed some oldies though. One contemporary album I enjoyed was American Idiot by Green Day. I used to play that CD a lot, especially when doing housework. My favorite song was "Wake Me Up When September Ends". That album plus the use of CDs makes me feel old. I am so ancient. That album was a protest against the war in the Middle East. So there are two cases where a war sparked protest music or just protest art in general. The Nazis of WWII is perhaps the most notorious regime of history. So if anything will provoke protest, it is this one. There are examples of movies where the bad guys are either Nazis or thinly veiled parallels of Nazis. That kind of story is protesting against such a regime. Such movies are things like Indiana Jones, Capitan America, Star Wars and Harry Potter. It is nice to know that not all Germans are bad fascists. After the fall of the Nazis, Germany has made strides with suppressing such activities. It has laws against things like displaying the swastika and denying the Holocaust. There is also a Germain movie with thinly veiled Nazi bad guys. This movie is called Felidae. It is great that there were other Germain artists that protested the Nazis in their art. When I thought of this, I got a brilliant idea. There is a Doors song that fits the Nazis perfectly. It may even fit better than the original meaning. The new meaning is not exactly literal but it is close. It refers to the killing that the Nazis did. I did Google things to look up lyrics and find major German cities that Nazis were involved in. I tweak the lyrics a little to be about Nazis. The lyrics are violent and gruesome. So I do give a warning. This video briefly showed Martian Luther. That is another German guy. He protested against the Catholic Church. More specifically he criticized the greed and hypocrisy of the pope and other high ranking priests. There was a weird practice where priests can grant a better afterlife if they get paid. It seems like a bribe to me. That does go along with the Alabama Song being about debauchery. In more recent times there are scandals where clergy members commit child abuse. I am putting "child abuse" very lightly. Catholic clergy is especially plagued by such scandals. So I thought there was a way to tweak the lyrics of Alabama song to be about crooked Catholic priests. The lyrics may sound like swearing, but they aren't. There is a literal Hell as in the realm of the Christian afterlife.

    • @c.d.dailey8013
      @c.d.dailey8013 Год назад

      Here are my song ideas.
      The Vatican Song
      (The Catholic Song)
      Oh show me the way to the next tithing box.
      Oh don't ask why.
      Oh don't ask why.
      For If we don't find the next tithing box.
      I tell you go to Hell.
      I tell you go to Hell.
      Oh show me the way to the next little boy...
      Peace Camp
      (The Nazi Song)
      WARNING- Explicit lyrics. Reader discretion is advised.
      Disclaimer- This song is meant to protest the Nazis, not glorify them. They are bad in all the horrendous killing they did.
      Blood in the streets in the town of Munich.
      Blood in the streets in the town of Hamburg.
      Blood in the streets in the town of Berlin.
      Blood in the streets in the state of the Third Reich.
      Blood stains the stoves and the chambers of Auschwitz.
      Blood in the hate in the barbaric murder.
      Bloody red sun of the swastika Nazi.

  • @davidbanan.
    @davidbanan. Год назад +6

    I had absolutely no clue that this was a cover

  • @geraldtanderson9044
    @geraldtanderson9044 Год назад +1

    One of my many favorite songs by the Doors. I had no idea of the history of it. When I was still singing, it was a part of my Karaoke List. It wasn't exactly a crowd pleaser, but I didn't care, it was fun to sing. I was aware of the Doors and "Hello I Love You" from the 60's, but never listened to a full Doors album until 1973. Wow...50 years ago this year.

  • @PtyYouTube
    @PtyYouTube Год назад +1

    Same with Spanish Caravan, the guitar intro is a classic arpegio. Same with Riders in The Storm is a take from Ghost Riders in the Sky. A lot of Doors music was way for Morrison to release his poetry.

  • @Riz2336
    @Riz2336 Год назад +3

    I had no idea this song was so old. Great album and their cover is classic

  • @mutantryeff
    @mutantryeff Год назад +5

    Check out the cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "On The Hunt" by "The Obsessed". Scott Weinrich nailed it.

  • @dotdot1743
    @dotdot1743 Год назад +4

    I love your videos, and it’s so crazy to see you almost at 1 million!! Been watching some 100k, so this is an unbelievable milestone! You deserve it all, awesome stuff man

  • @provincialfish
    @provincialfish Год назад +3

    There's a really interesting version by Georgia Brown on her album "Georgia Brown sings Kurt Weill" from 1962. It's got a weird early 60's orchestration and strange vocal timing in parts. I'm not really musically literate enough to describe properly, but it's worth checking out at least to hear the difference in interpretation between 62 and 67.
    I found the album while looking through used vinyl and knew nothing about it, but it looked interesting enough and was worth getting.
    I love that Bowie "Baal" ep as well. It sounds really great, really cranked up.

  • @FinnJGiese
    @FinnJGiese Год назад +16

    I'm German, and I did not know this! Thanks for reaching out to non-Anglo cultures and back to other periods of time ♥
    EDIT: You should really credit Elisabeth Hauptmann for this. She has been behind a lot of Brecht's supposed genius, never grabbing attention, instead being taken advantage of by Brecht sexually and artistically. An experience women all too often share up to the present day. We should at least honour her memory. Still, a great video!

    • @wochenendsonnenschein5853
      @wochenendsonnenschein5853 Год назад +1

      Traurig. Nie was von Brecht gehört? Ich hab´s in der Schule gelernt. 60er jahre.

    • @FinnJGiese
      @FinnJGiese Год назад +1

      @@wochenendsonnenschein5853 nie was von Brecht gehört und nie was von den Ursprüngen des Alabama Song gehört sind zwei unterschiedliche Dinge ;) habe drei Bücher von ihm gelesen, ein bisschen mehr als man in der Schule macht

    • @c2e.7877
      @c2e.7877 Год назад

      Hätte echt nie gedacht das Alabama Song von Brecht geschrieben wurde, garnicht.

  • @nevar23
    @nevar23 Год назад +1

    I have a fun compilation of Weill songs called "September Songs" that includes a David Johansen cover of this song, but I do love the Doors version best.

  • @ImMilkthedog
    @ImMilkthedog Год назад +1

    I love the doors never really agreed or seen them as a “psychedelic” band more classic rock with some blues influences and jazz

  • @rayc4244
    @rayc4244 Год назад +1

    Remember that Jim & Ray were film students. I'm sure they know all about the derivation of the song. Cool video!

  • @richardking3206
    @richardking3206 Год назад +1

    As so often, an excellent post from Polyphonic. No music posts are better made, offer more depth and an interesting take on their subject. The Alabama Song (did I miss the explanation of the title?) has a good history which is well told here.
    Bertholt Brecht was a true genius who was always going to be too much for the US due to his personal politics. He must really have felt harassed from pillar to post by the time he left for Europe again. It would have been great to have gone into more depth about him in this post instead of the brush across the surface. I’m a fan of the Doors, but this song isn’t typical of their style at all. I shall look out the Nina Simone track if I can, though. The Threepenny Opera is of its time, but is still excellent work if you can find a version to see.

  • @canadaclaret
    @canadaclaret Год назад

    Mack the Knife was already a huge hit in USA, both as a jazz piece and as a pop song.

  • @redbannerradio
    @redbannerradio Год назад +2

    One tiny little correction: Jim died in 71, not 70, as you briefly said in the video. Other than that, fantastic video as a lifelong Doors fan myself.

  • @ShyDethKittenOfficial
    @ShyDethKittenOfficial Год назад +1

    My first experience with this song was the Manson cover, but man there is so much more than i first thought!

  • @jimmyjawbone
    @jimmyjawbone Год назад +1

    As a DJ in the Eighties and early Nineties at a University town dance bar, I closed every night with Alabama Song. Never knowing it’s true background. Thanks for the memories of my own personal age of hedonism.

    • @Rob-dp3vr
      @Rob-dp3vr Год назад

      Sounds like you were a horrible DJ.

  • @analogue_microwave
    @analogue_microwave Год назад +2

    YES. Love the doors so much. They deserve way more recognition and this video will definitely help with that

    • @frankez99
      @frankez99 Год назад

      The Doors are recognized as one of the best bands ever, it’s not like they are obscure or anything 😂

  • @petsounds3612
    @petsounds3612 Год назад +3

    Awesome vid. Would love a minidoc on LA Woman and the Doors getting back to their roots as a band after the drug-induced tumult of Jim's addiction

  • @Kaderlid13
    @Kaderlid13 Год назад +1

    You’re simply insanely good at what you do! Thanks so much and warm greetings from 🇩🇪! ❤

  • @GizzyDillespee
    @GizzyDillespee Год назад +1

    Excellent choice and background. Thank you for doing this.

  • @matthewdowney5471
    @matthewdowney5471 Год назад +1

    More about Weill please. Fascinating figure in 20th century music.

  • @FlightRiskWizard
    @FlightRiskWizard Год назад +1

    I get so happy when people post about the Doors! This is a wonderful video! :D You always make the coolest videos!

  • @gabrielvasconcelos9484
    @gabrielvasconcelos9484 Год назад

    The doors is my all time favourite band and your videos on them are just the best. Hoping to see one about The Soft Parade

  • @seraphinasullivan4849
    @seraphinasullivan4849 7 месяцев назад

    Someone showed me the Doors version, saying it always creeped him out and I immediately went "that's Brecht and Weill!" despite only being familiar with a handful of songs from Threepenny Opera. Did some digging and the Lotte Lenya recording i found was significantly creepier. Showed that one to my brother and he couldn't even sit through the whole song

  • @BrandonYusufToropov
    @BrandonYusufToropov Год назад +2

    Great start. Morrison and Manzarek were heavily influenced by the ideas of Grotowski and Artaud. The "Lizard King" persona was part of a frontal assault on audience preconceptions that parallels Brecht's. They saw rock concerts as a new theatrical form, and they were quite consciously following in the footsteps of these theatrical innovators.

  • @R.A.D.G59
    @R.A.D.G59 Год назад +1

    You are incredible at what you do! Love you work! Thank you.

  • @Carbon8edmilk
    @Carbon8edmilk Год назад

    Wonderful production, as always, Polyphonic!

  • @CoasterMan13Official
    @CoasterMan13Official Год назад +6

    I don't think anyone has ever reviewed this song called broken arrow by Buffalo Springfield. It was on their 2nd album. It sounds like it has a hidden meaning behind it, and it'd be cool if you guys could do a video about it.

  • @nicktaylor2657
    @nicktaylor2657 Год назад +3

    Strange Alabama Song was on the Doors debut album Most bands would include something so experimental on a later album after getting their career in motion But not The Doors They did what they wanted and the hell with what others thought 🤔

    • @ingvarhallstrom2306
      @ingvarhallstrom2306 Год назад

      They had so much stuff inside of them they just couldn't wait for it to happen. Remember they released their first two albums within the same year, and with their first album still on the number one spot on the selling list.

  • @jayskywalker5049
    @jayskywalker5049 Год назад +2

    I LOVE THE DOORS HAUNTING TWIST ON THERE VERSION OF THE TUNE I LOVE THIS SONG!!! VILE WAS A TRUE ARTIST OF HIS TIME AND WE SEE ONLY TRUE!!!!ARTIST WILL IMPACT THE FUTURE!!!!!!!!

  • @rongreen8962
    @rongreen8962 Год назад

    Dave Van Ronk’s is my favorite recording of this song.

  • @sohamroy5234
    @sohamroy5234 Год назад +3

    Amazing video! Please make one on "Desolation Row" by Bob Dylan