"The End" isn't about literal murder. There are multiple things happening in it, little bits of poetry about beginnings and endings, but it basically boils down to a very '60s concept of getting rid of the old ways and embracing your own way of doing things. According to Jim, it originally started out to be a breakup song but then evolved and could be seen as a kind of goodbye to childhood. That section at the end, with the killer walking down the hall to the room of his family, wanting to kill his father and (even though he yells it unintelligibly on the album) F the mother is a reference to "Oedipus Rex," a Greek tragedy by Sophocles that was originally performed in 429 BC and which plays with ideas of Fate vs Free Will and the dramatic irony that the main character's strengths - self-confidence, intelligence, and strong will - are also the tragic flaws that lead to his downfall because he doesn't listen to people, makes assumptions, and thereby accidentally fulfills the prophecy he's trying to avoid. In the play, Oedipus hears a rumor that the people raising him are not his real parents. He goes to the Oracle to ask who his real mother and father are. The Oracle seemingly ignores the question and instead tells him that he's destined to kill his father and F his mother. Desperate to avoid this prophecy coming true and still believing the people who raised him are his actual parents, he leaves the city and his parents forever and travels to Thebes. On the road, he gets into an argument with an old man traveling with his servants, they fight, and he accidentally kills the man. When he arrives in Thebes, the city is in trouble. The legendary beast, the Sphinx, is eating townsfolk and travelers on the road who can't answer her riddles. Oedipus faces her, solves the riddle, and frees the city from her terror. As a reward, he's made the king of the city and given the hand of the widowed Queen in marriage. Later, a messenger arrives in the city and tells Oedipus that the man who raised him has died. Oedipus is happy about this because it means he can't kill his father and therefore the Oracle's prophecy has to be wrong. He's still concerned about the F-ing the mother part but the messenger tells him not to worry about it because the woman who raised him isn't his real mother and the messenger knows this because he's the one who delivered baby Oedipus to his new parents. After a short investigation - during which the Queen suddenly realizes the truth and begs Oedipus to stop asking questions - Oedipus discovers that his real mother and father, the King and Queen of Thebes, had given him away as an infant because of a prophecy they'd received saying he'd grow up to kill his father (because his father had been cursed by someone years earlier for a social faux-pas). His real father, of course, turns out to be the man he killed on the road and his real mother is the widowed Queen he's now married to. He asks his servant for a sword and runs into the palace to kill the Queen, his wife/mother, but finds that she's hanged herself in their bedroom. He takes her body down and, in despair, gouges out his own eyes with long gold pins he takes from her dress. During these final scenes, the Greek chorus laments how even a great man can be felled by fate and finishes the play with the common Greek saying that "No man should be considered fortunate until he is dead." Also, during the time "The End" was recorded, there was a lot of talk about a concept in Freudian psychology called the Oedipus Complex, a supposed phase in the life of a young boy in which he unconsciously wishes to have sex with his own mother and disdains his father for being the one who does that. It was, obvs, named after Sophocles's play. But, as far as how/why Jim used that reference in the song, the Doors' drummer, John Densmore, said that he and Jim had a long discussion about the meaning of the song while recording it. In his autobiography, Densmore says: "At one point Jim said to me during the recording session, and he was tearful, and he shouted in the studio, 'Does anybody understand me?' And I said yes, I do, and right then and there we got into a long discussion and Jim just kept saying over and over 'kill the father, fuck the mother,' and it essentially boils down to this: kill all those things in yourself which are instilled in you and are not of yourself, they are alien concepts which are not yours, they must die. 'Fuck the mother' is very basic, and it means 'get back to essence, what is reality, what is. 'Fuck the mother' is very basically mother, mother-birth, real, you can touch it, it's nature, it can't lie to you. So what Jim says at the end of the Oedipus section, which is essentially the same thing that the classic says, is 'kill the alien concepts, get back to reality, the end of alien concepts, the beginning of personal concepts.'" The counterculture revolution of the 60s was very much about getting rid of the old ways of doing things/tossing aside rules and traditions of the authorities ("kill the father") and embracing new ways/getting back to nature ("fuck the Mother"). The song, "The End," touches on this idea as well as personal beginnings and endings through all the bits of poetry full of themes of things going away, new starts, life, death, etc.
Good info… I think it also extends into long arc cycles of the West wh/ dovetails to your points about Oedipes… Morrison was heavy into Blake. The father of symbolist poetry. Many people fail to get Morrison’s lyrics b/c they don’t understand symbolist structure. This song and its poetic lyrics are some of Morrison’s best at using this. It’s the use of phrase put together into a moving narrative. The key phrases act not only as joiners but also theme scaling. In this song wh/ starts as a breakup (probably Mary werbelow) introduces trauma & its impact. The narrator (morrison) must seek either implode or seek his own foot forward. He examines the arc of the culture and his place in it to define his freedom. A time of strife (mid ‘60s) & upheaval, violence & confusion. A world thought that has been shaped from its antecedents of Ancient Rome. As In book of danial, Rome still alive in practice and appetite. He traces that culture, its creation & its manifestation to the present in LA via the metaphor of the snake. The ancient lake, the pacific. The kings hwy western expansion. Gold mine, lure to the west. That is all important context set up to create the power of the moment morrison is in, in ‘66 Calif when this was penned in total that summer and performed at the whisky… the parts you brought up imo are spot on to that moment and purpose. A birthing period for him and the culture, but one, like birth, that comes w/ pain. What I wanted to add earlier was in symbolist form he traces that culture back to Rome and shows its manifestation in cyclical poetic form to the present. Hence, lost in a Roman wilderness of pain… indeed perfect use by Copolla (who went to school w/ morrison) in apocalypse now. & relevant now as we are still on that precipice. Morrison was inconsistent, but when on his A game, truly a great lyricist and performer of his time. This may be his most pure form of his vision. Though riders is quite a coda for many of the same reasons.
Thanks for your comment!! Saved me a lot of typing! 😊 there is so much more to Jim ! Was introduced to the Doors by my mother in approximately 1973 I was 6. She had me reading Neitche,Frued and much more ! Anyway love your comments!
Beautiful and concise synopsis, "johnplaysgames". Most people don't know that Jim was a massive reader and studied most of the classics in-depth in his youth. The essence of "The End" you have elucidated; Jim was first in his mind a poet, and here, with "The End" you get the full Monty, so to speak. :)
hard to rank them all , but i agree. RIder of the storm Unknown soldier ofc The doors had manybeautifully dark ones. Don't fear the reaper by Blue Oyster cult Nights in white satin The Who :) Pink Floyd Black Sabbath
That was 1967. Morrison was a poet, Manzarek a classically trained pianist, Kreiger was a flamenco guitarist and Densmore a jazz drummer. What a combo!
"This sounds like a Creed song" Creed only wishes they could inhabit the same universe as the Doors. As many others have stated, the use of this song made the opening sequence of Apocolypse Now incredibly powerful. I can't think of another tune that could have done a better job to express how unsettling and confusing the situation Captain Willard was in as he was introduced to the audience.
This was used brilliantly in the movie Apocalypse Now in both the begining and in the climax. Initially Coppola used the song as a joke when he was editing the movie out of boredom - begin8ng the movie with a song called The End, see? - but then he and his editors quickly realised the song matched the imagery and mood of the film perfectly and so it stuck. The movie helped made The Doors popular again in the late 80s/early 90s.
This group changed my life. When The Doors movie came out my mom brought me. She said you are going to like them. She knew I loved music. Jim Morrison is a poet that happened to be a rock star. 💫
My Wild Love, Waiting For The Sun, People Are Strange, Crystal Ship, L.A. Woman, 5 to 1, Riders On the Storm (sure y'all know Snoop's version), Light My Fire, Touch Me, Love Her Madly, When The Musical Over, Love Me Two Times, etc........
They recorded this whole album in 6 days, their 1st album. The End was a 3 minute breakup song that transformed to include a Greek poem about Oedipal tragedy(killing dad, sex with mom), but it’s tongue in cheek..great song gents!!!!
According to Doors drummer, John Densmore, it wasn't tongue in cheek. Jim was very serious about the "kill the father, F the mother" bit of the song, to the point that he was shouting tearfully in the studio during the recording session, "Does anybody understand me?" Densmore said he did and they got into a long discussion about the meaning of the song and, in particular, the Oedipus section. Here's how Densmore described their conversation during the recording session in his autobiography: "Jim just kept saying over and over 'kill the father, fuck the mother,' and it essentially boils down to this: kill all those things in yourself which are instilled in you and are not of yourself, they are alien concepts which are not yours, they must die. 'Fuck the mother' is very basic, and it means 'get back to essence, what is reality, what is. 'Fuck the mother' is very basically mother, mother-birth, real, you can touch it, it's nature, it can't lie to you. So what Jim says at the end of the Oedipus section, which is essentially the same thing that the classic says, is 'kill the alien concepts, get back to reality, the end of alien concepts, the beginning of personal concepts.'" And, of course, that all makes sense in the context of the culture war of the '60s, with the younger generation looking to throw out all the old ways, rules, social mores, etc. of their parents' generation and instead center society on what they considered to be natural and free. The song is basically a poem about beginnings and endings, "a goodbye to childhood" as Jim described it in an interview, featuring a dramatic bit that poetically espouses the idea of "Forget the traditional way of doing things ("kill the father," the authority, the old guard) and embrace a more natural, honest way of being ("F the mother," embrace Nature, embrace Self, forge a new path).
The End" is an epic song by the American rock band the Doors. Lead singer Jim Morrison initially wrote the lyrics about his break up with an old girlfriend, Mary Werbelow,[7] but it evolved through months of performances at the Whisky a Go Go into a much longer song. The Doors recorded a nearly 12-minute version for their self-titled debut album, which was released on January 4, 1967
Great reaction! The story that I heard on The End is that it started out being played on stage as a freestyle jam with Morrison improvising lyrics. At one show, he started singing about walking down the hall to brother's room, and then sister's room. The other band members started looking around at each other wondering where he was going with it and just playing along with it. They were as surprised as everyone else at what happened in father's room.
Ray Manzarek has mentioned that Jim was involved with a production of "Oedipus Rex" in school and he thinks that may have inspired Jim to bring it into the song. In an interview, Jim mentions that "The End" started out as a breakup song (as you mentioned) but that it evolved into what he called a "goodbye to childhood" song. Doors drummer, John Densmore, apparently had a long discussion with Jim about the meaning of the song during the recording session. In his autobiography, he describes it this way: "At one point Jim said to me during the recording session, and he was tearful, and he shouted in the studio, 'Does anybody understand me?' And I said yes, I do, and right then and there we got into a long discussion and Jim just kept saying over and over 'kill the father, fuck the mother,' and it essentially boils down to this: kill all those things in yourself which are instilled in you and are not of yourself, they are alien concepts which are not yours, they must die. 'Fuck the mother' is very basic, and it means 'get back to essence, what is reality, what is. 'Fuck the mother' is very basically mother, mother-birth, real, you can touch it, it's nature, it can't lie to you. So what Jim says at the end of the Oedipus section, which is essentially the same thing that the classic says, is 'kill the alien concepts, get back to reality, the end of alien concepts, the beginning of personal concepts."
Every time I hear this song I picture the beginning of "Apcolypse Now" and Martin Sheen's drunken rage in his hotel room, and the Napalm and helicopters. The song "When the Music's Over" is also great and the crystal ship.
The doors to me is one of those bands you can close your eyes to and let your mind wander. Perfect for sitting in a dark room or a basement chill session.
My favorite band of all time - born early 70’s but have been listening to them since I found them in the late 70’s! I’ve read Jim’s books of poetry have several old and new Doors T-shirts and the boxed cd set. This song is one of my ringtones. ❤️
Not a journey I expected from y’all! Off camera for sure, but this is a long one! Props! 🔥🌳🌬️💨 Another great Doors journey is from Absolutely Live… “The Celebration of the Lizard” is 14 1/2 mins of art. Check it out at your leisure. 🤛👊😎
I remember my dad telling me and my sister ,that it took Jim Morrison a long time to write The End and he never kept it the same when The Doors preformed this masterpiece live RIP JIM MORRISON , RAY MANZAREK AND YOU DADDY 😘😘😘
There's definitely a lot of that in there. I think the Doors had such an interesting mix of influences and the combo of those influences gave the band that very particular sound. You had Ray's Chicago blues, Robbie's Spanish/flamenco guitar, Densmore's jazz drums, and Jim's "Rimbaud as an old blues man who's also a shaman" vocals, lyrics, and personality. Smash 'em all together and you get a band that sounds like no one else and whom no one else has ever sounded like. And, yeah, "LA Woman" would be a good one for them to react to. It's fairly accessible and has a bit of that bluesy "Roadhouse Blues" grit to it. Tbh, I wish more people would react to "Not To Touch The Earth" but, sadly, while I think it features a lot of what was unique and cool about the Doors, it's not one of the big hits so most reactors won't bother with it.
I grew up on the Doors, my favourite band as a teen even though Jim Morrison was long before dead. I moved from the Doors to Tool and Muse as I got older so I've been enjoying your reactions to all my favs!! I am now a huge Ren fan and I don't think you guys have done How to be me (live) yet with chinchilla... you won't regret it, it's stunning!
Depending on your PG situation for the channel, try out Gloria - dirty version. You mention his story telling how good it is, he was in film school before taking on music full time, which explains alot of the way the 'picture is painted' during a song, in a way on The Doors can do Also try Break on through as another song suggestion
I love the Doors! My mama introduced me to them as well as others from the 60's and the Doors have been a fixture in my music world since. You really should give LA Woman, Light My Fire, Riders on the Storm, Break on Through and Love Me Two Times a listen all by the Doors also. The movie The Doors is definitely worth a watch. Jim Morrison also wrote poetry and has some published books out of his poetry.
Kinda shocked y’all haven’t heard this one before. Have you not watched The Doors movie? That’s a must, gentlemen. And maybe a shallow dive into their music. 😉So many cool elements in The Doors music. Always love the keyboards. Jim’s poetry is eclectic. 😆 and the rest of the band is just as cool as Jim. Watch that movie! Trust me. Smokey, they just caught the alleged Long Island Serial Killer. Love true crime even though sometimes I get crazy nightmares. Happy Sunday everyone!
These guys were a large part of kicking "the doors" open in regards to what was sonically and socially acceptable in a top ten single, truly a revolutionary band
You're right about the beatnik influence. Their name "The Doors" comes from Aldous Huxley's autobiographical book called "The Doors of Perception" about a psychedelic experience on mescaline he had in 1953.
In case no one has commented this, as was said by a person with experience with psychedelics: “Eventually everyone who keeps doing psychedelics goes to the Garden. And we know who is in the Garden. The snake. “ The blue bus 🚎 is another metaphor. For when you are doing heroin or speedballs and you stop breathing. It has been said that Jim never sang the lyrics the same way twice. But the snake verse and the part about the killer seem to be word for word in the versions I have heard. Only the phrases in the beginning and end differ in the versions I have heard. Great job guys! I enjoyed watching you take all of this in. You are warriors to take this song on. It definitely is a classic and is forever entwined with Apocalypse Now! with Martin Sheen in my mind. And the water Buffalo. The horror. The horror. .
My favorite songs at the Doors are: "Light my fire" and "touch me", a versatile band that continues to be popular for 50 years, half a century, wow... 😮🧐
When the Music's Over, Waiting for the Sun, LA Woman, Break on Through, Crystal Ship, Soft Parade, Five to One, Rider's on the Storm.... there's so many its hard for me to choose!
The next song from The Doors to listen to is "When The Music`s Over" I think. That fits if you have already commented on "Riders On The Storm". The best way to hear The Doors in my opinion is to hear them live from the vinyl LP "Absolutely Live", thats a masterpiece ! Thanks for sharing and all the best from HH (germany)
The WASP is one of my favorite Doors songs. Kind of a rap song actually. The Doors were the house band at The Whiskey a Go-Go on Sunset Boulevard. They got fired for playing The End.
My older brother went to high school with Jim Morrison, Albuquerque NM. The Doors had a lot of airplay on the radio and I grew up listening to these songs, but I had no clue what the songs were about at age 4 and 5. I love the music from this era. Thanks for the great reaction. 👍❤
This was from 1967, during the Vietnam War. Morrison's Father was the Admiral in command of the ships during the Gulf of Tonkin incident, where it was claimed that American Ships we're attacked by North Vietnam, giving President Johnson the pretext to launch Operation Rolling Thunder, the bombing of North Vietnam and to send Combat Troops, not just "Advisors" . It never happened, they made up the attack to start a War. As a young boy, Jim and the Family were on vacation driving through Arizona and they came upon an accident where a Native American family were all killed and were laying on the highway. Jim always swore that the Spirit of one of the Dead took possession of him. Just some background on "The Lizard King" Mr Mojo Risin'
His father want an admiral by that point. He was in the vicinity, but not on or leading the ship that relayed the info. Go back to legit sources and records.
Leave it to Jim Morrison. Who else could sing this? I'm a huge Doors fan from way back in 1967 when they formed the Band. They are so different and can play many different styles of music. Thanks guys.
The Doors was peak psychedelic era dark alternative-ish psychedelic rock/blues. I feel like the genre that has the most "The Doors" in it is Grunge. The Doors has been very influential on alternative dark and sombre rock in general.
Morning fellas! Yes!! Love the doors! When i was like 13 my mom bought me a bunch of doors cds. I was in love! Love jim Morrison..R.I.P.. great choice!( Fun trying to figure out this song lol!) Loved hearing your takes on what the songs about...🤓😁💯
The part at the end going "f*ck f*ck f*ck" had the vocals edited out on the version of this we all grew up with back in the day. That's a newer mix. Crazy song, always worth seeing someone react to it!
After you guys listen to "The End", y'all need to watch the Francis Ford Coppola film "Apocalypse Now", a movie about the Vietnam War. It stars Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, Robert Duvall, and very young early appearances by Harrison Ford and Lawrence Fishburne. This song starts the movie, with helicopter sounds and Martin Sheen in a drunken rage in a Saigon hotel room. MUST be seen by both of you.
Such intricate drum work here, and that beautiful guitar line really stands out. Remember this was not long after the Manson murders and this really represented the feeling of mayhem and social strife in the good old usa
Agree… there was a real darkness to the summer of love era. Morrison examined it poetically and certainly observed it closely. It didn’t embrace it though as life style, rather artistic reflection. But there is no doubt he was willing, like velvet undergrd to examine the violence and greed in the culture. Their last album has elements of what mansions actions did to the culture. Their music was more honest about the total pic of that era.
The blue bus is the color of the army bus which takes the recruit for Vietnan war. The man Morrison is speaking about kills every memories he could be pull down with (family, parents, ...) for being a good painted face warrior (jungle war camouflage). At the point, The only link for staying in fair human nature is love, a woman he'sdesperatly call for for in the blue bus a last time before becoming something else, darker. It's just my interpretation.
Saying Jim outgrew, or almost outgrew, the Doors is something of a disservice to how talented the whole band was. The Doors were not Jim, they were Jim, Ray, Robbie and John, you needed all the parts to make the magic.
YESSIR groove!!!! It wasn't the first time I heard the song , but I definitely did it while trippin' on some dynamite 4-way orange sunshine, circa 1969. I tied it to 'Nam even then, long before the movie 'Apocalypse Now'. Saw these guys in '67 at SUCO Oswego freshman orientation(front row in Lee Hall) CUDOS DUDE for yer hook 'bout trippin' to it!
Hey Guys. If I had to describe The Doors music I would call it "atmospheric". It always had a vibe but it didn't stay in the same style in every song. What is most important was that it was always good music. Shout out to you fellas for reacting to this one. Peace.
"Atmospheric" is a great way to describe lots of Doors music, but especially "The End." The actual sound of the Doors was an odd combo of their various influences - Ray's Chicago blues + Robbie's Spanish guitar + Densmore's jazz drums + Jim's poetry and Dionysus nature - but the vibe was definitely "atmospheric." In fact, on another channel where the reactors were talking about how much they loved the way Pink Floyd songs take you on a trip inside your head, I suggested "The End" to them as another song that almost entrances you and takes you to another place for the duration of the song. Some Doors songs were a little more poppy, some were more acid rock-ish, but songs like "The End" are atmospheric with a capital A.
Ray and Jim used their Gil backgrounds well. Plus morrison wrote in a symbolist format that many times scaled the macro view. An epic, David lean (film Director) vision put to music. He was much more talented than given credit for but has been lampooned as the tragic sex god of rock. Part If that was frankly his own fault, but it doesn’t take away from his talent if you understand what he was staking for. .. all3 musicians were excellent improv and scale players. Subtle but powerful. Jazz and classical influences. More consistent than Jim. But Jim was the diamond and the weaver of the concept to art. When it was right the doors were lethal. So much so, many didn’t know how to take them. Hence the fear and shots they took from peers in the indust and media also. Doesn’t matter though, this song will be listened to 100 years from now for the ages…. Ck out my other reply on your other post re Oedipal.
No no no. You have to have a wild long hellofa night and then drive home at 5am just before sunrise with the windows down and this blasting on the radio.
Songs from ' The Doors ': - L.A. Woman - Break on Through, ( to the Other Side) - Crystal Ship - Alabama Man, ( Whiskey Bar) - Back Door Man - People are Strange - Hello I Love You... - Light My Fire - Riders of the Storm - Roadhouse Blues - Strange Days - The Unknown Soldier - The WASP, ( Texas Radio & the Big Beat) - Touch Me - Twentieth Century Fox - When the Music's Over My favorite: - Waiting for the Sun " DEUCES! " ✌🏻😸✌🏻
The Doors are psychedelic rock. Best description imo...anyway, a couple songs by them seldom mentioned but are awesome songs are " The Alabama Song" "The Crystal Ship", "Five to One", "Spanish Caravan" and my fav "Hello I Love You"...I was obsessed with The Doors for a few years in high school and immediately after. I graduated in 1990, so the movie came out a year later, so the timing was perfect! Fascinating band for sure...and Morrison being in the 27 club is fitting....
Yep, I agree - graduated in 91 but I’ve been obsessed with the Doors and Jim since around 79. Read all of Jim’s books of poetry, watched every interview, live performance, and movie. The Crystal Ship, Hello I Love You, and Five to One are my top 3 but I also love Peace Frogs.
Same. And, yeah, there are so many great Doors songs that, sadly, most reactors won't react to bc they aren't "the big hits." I did see someone react to "The Alabama Song" recently, but getting reactors to check out "Five To One" is def difficult. Even harder is one of my favorites from the Doors (and a song which I think encapsulates so much of what was cool and unique about the Doors): "Not To Touch The Earth." That being said, I always find it hard to suggest Doors songs to reactors because, as a person who was obsessed with them for years as you were, there are SO MANY great Doors songs and, honestly, I love them all.
Not your everyday happy hippie stuff by any stretch. In fact this song infuriated many in our audience and they were booed off the stage repeatedly but they would never turn it down, Sex and Death Sex and Death. Morrison was deriving inspiration from Greek tragedy here, classic literature where the hero's journey involves replacing his own father in the marriage bed after slaying said father. It was pretty revolutionary lyrical themes then and it still packs a pretty good punch. The doors are definitely one-of-a-kind and their music has endured because it was in fact Fearless. This album was recorded in 1966 and released in 67 I think. It's pretty mind-blowing when you consider what was happening musically in the world of the time. The doors have endured and even prospered with every year they get a new crop of young fans who can really appreciate the intensity of what they're doing. I think you gentlemen would be exactly the right kind of cats to do a doors deep-dive cuz there is an awful lot there to stir up the vital sauce below the belt and in the brain. Cheers.
Well said. Amazing this was ‘66. The subtle tones and accenting also by the band is amazing. Morrison was an inconsistent shooting star. But he could bottle lightening when the stars were right. Lethal power indeed.
Nobody did more in less. 4 years to be remembered trough the eternity. Jim Morrison and his guys are out of time. So talented. Very chamanic. Full of metaphoras and poetry. Pure rock and blues. So wilderness...from Spain, Madrid. Jim knowed the secrets of human being.
'He took a face from the ancient gallery'....that face is the ancient Greek Oedipus Rex, who in legend killed his father and slept with his mother. Jim Morrison had a major Freudian 'Oedipus complex' as reflected in those lyrics.
Lifelong Doors fan here, this music hit me like a freight train when I was 15 and changed my life. Morrison said this song was about Sex, Death and Travel. The story in the middle is an ancient Greek myth about a guy who murders his father so he can sleep with his mother, hence the buildup and musical orgasm toward the end. It's called the Oedipus myth. The blue bus was the color of the buses they took people out on day trips from psychiatric institutes back in LA in the 60s. There was a lot of LSD use around the time, and the song is heavily influenced by tripping. He used to imagine the whole universe as a giant snake. But, yeah, the song is ultimately about mystery, mood and what it means to you personally. Anyway, was awesome to watch you guys discover what's been my favourite song for 25 years.
Come on now don't disrespect The Doors like that comparing them to Creed. Jim Morrison just turned over in his grave if he is in one? 😉 Loved the reaction I have no clue how to even help you try and figure out Jim's meanings he was huge into poetry and mind altering drugs back in those days you can only imagine the trips
He said he took a face from the ancient gallery which obviously was Oedipus, the Greek character who killed his father and married his mother. Jim had a bad relationship with his father who was a US Navy Admiral in Coronado, CA (suburb of San Diego) where I was also stationed in the 80s. I tried to find all of Jim's old haunts in San Diego and LA while I was there.
Jim Morrison was a weird very artistic poet and a lot of his songs were improvised. If you watch The Doors move you'll understand him a little bit better (Val Kilmer played Jim ridiculously well). There are some songs the remaining 3 members(John Densmore, Ray Manzarek, and Robbie Krieger) did with Scott Wieland from Stone Temple Pilots that was actually pretty good, you should check out five to one.
Just so you know, the part about the 'killer' and his family is loosely based on the Ancient Greek tragedy of Oedipus. He killed his father and married his mother causing his kingdom to fall into ruin. There are more explicit versions out there.
Good point. No one, other than velvet undergrd in this zip code in ‘66… and this was a different and more broad view of the culture. The doors were on a blonde on blonde level in ‘66. Groundbreaking.
I can't listen to the opening of this song without thinking about the movie Apocolypse Now..a Vietam war movie. A very existential song and movie, it fit right in.
Sort of. I mean, it's poetic and has various pieces... but they're all centered on a theme of "beginnings and endings" and there's definitely a meaning to the song as a whole. Though Jim said in an interview that it started out as a breakup song, he went on to say that it evolved into what he called a "goodbye to childhood" song. And in Doors drummer John Densmore's autobiography, he talks about how he and Jim had a long discussion about the meaning of the song during the recording session. In his words: "At one point Jim said to me during the recording session, and he was tearful, and he shouted in the studio, 'Does anybody understand me?' And I said yes, I do, and right then and there we got into a long discussion and Jim just kept saying over and over 'kill the father, fuck the mother,' and it essentially boils down to this: kill all those things in yourself which are instilled in you and are not of yourself, they are alien concepts which are not yours, they must die. 'Fuck the mother' is very basic, and it means 'get back to essence, what is reality, what is. 'Fuck the mother' is very basically mother, mother-birth, real, you can touch it, it's nature, it can't lie to you. So what Jim says at the end of the Oedipus section, which is essentially the same thing that the classic says, is 'kill the alien concepts, get back to reality, the end of alien concepts, the beginning of personal concepts.'" This obviously ties into the vibe of the '60s counterculture movement which was very upfront about wanting to throw out the rules, traditions, social mores, and models of the previous generation(s) ("kill the father"/authority/the old ways) and instead embracing a new, more natural, more honest way of doing things ("F the mother" or, really, "embrace the natural").
It does uses many symbolic archetypes and myths but it’s weaving a narrative. On one level a break up and central to his present time. Yet he crafts it w/ symbolist images and the placement thereof that allows the narrative to scale up yet dovetail to broader themes that overlap yet still connect. Blake influenced and actually a brilliant t arrangement lyrically, let alone sung. It scales out to not only the culture but its antecedent seeds in Ancient Rome. It also shows how it connects to the present by using the snake, hwy, gold mine and lake as points in that journey wh/ grew the culture from Rome to modern LA. That sets a broader context wh/ weaves into the narrator in his present moment at a fork in the rd after a traumatic breakup and decision on his own destiny. Probably Jim himself after Mary breakup in ‘66.
This song is an amazing piece of musical art. I don't know if this is accurate, but have heard the "blue bus" is a reference to dying and going up in the blue sky to heaven. (The blue bus is calling us; Driver, where are you taking us?)
Morrison was an intelligent kid who was more into movies and poetry than music. His father was in the military and was one who partly started the Vietnam War. A lot of bands in the 60's and 70's sang against war. That's what this song sounded like it was about to me. It was supposed to be about his ex, but Morrison said later he realized it could be about anything.
His fathers ship wasn’t a flagship nor the one that relayed gulf Of Tonkin info. He was in that region but not a main actor even though that’s touted on the net by many.
Ok, having read ALL 4 books by band members, this was a series of poems Jim cobbled together, as well as improv happening during live performances, to make this song. It started out as a 3 minute love song for a former girlfriend, it eventually evolved onstage as Jim added pieces of poetry he had written into the extended live performances, including the Oedipus section (Kill the dad, fuck the mom). While living on the roof of a hotel in Venice Beach, Jim would see a blue bus come everyday to pick people up. He saw this bus every morning and just jotted it down. No significance. The original 1967 pressing of this album removed the whole "fuck" section. It was put back in later remasters.
"The End" isn't about literal murder. There are multiple things happening in it, little bits of poetry about beginnings and endings, but it basically boils down to a very '60s concept of getting rid of the old ways and embracing your own way of doing things. According to Jim, it originally started out to be a breakup song but then evolved and could be seen as a kind of goodbye to childhood. That section at the end, with the killer walking down the hall to the room of his family, wanting to kill his father and (even though he yells it unintelligibly on the album) F the mother is a reference to "Oedipus Rex," a Greek tragedy by Sophocles that was originally performed in 429 BC and which plays with ideas of Fate vs Free Will and the dramatic irony that the main character's strengths - self-confidence, intelligence, and strong will - are also the tragic flaws that lead to his downfall because he doesn't listen to people, makes assumptions, and thereby accidentally fulfills the prophecy he's trying to avoid.
In the play, Oedipus hears a rumor that the people raising him are not his real parents. He goes to the Oracle to ask who his real mother and father are. The Oracle seemingly ignores the question and instead tells him that he's destined to kill his father and F his mother. Desperate to avoid this prophecy coming true and still believing the people who raised him are his actual parents, he leaves the city and his parents forever and travels to Thebes. On the road, he gets into an argument with an old man traveling with his servants, they fight, and he accidentally kills the man. When he arrives in Thebes, the city is in trouble. The legendary beast, the Sphinx, is eating townsfolk and travelers on the road who can't answer her riddles. Oedipus faces her, solves the riddle, and frees the city from her terror. As a reward, he's made the king of the city and given the hand of the widowed Queen in marriage. Later, a messenger arrives in the city and tells Oedipus that the man who raised him has died. Oedipus is happy about this because it means he can't kill his father and therefore the Oracle's prophecy has to be wrong. He's still concerned about the F-ing the mother part but the messenger tells him not to worry about it because the woman who raised him isn't his real mother and the messenger knows this because he's the one who delivered baby Oedipus to his new parents. After a short investigation - during which the Queen suddenly realizes the truth and begs Oedipus to stop asking questions - Oedipus discovers that his real mother and father, the King and Queen of Thebes, had given him away as an infant because of a prophecy they'd received saying he'd grow up to kill his father (because his father had been cursed by someone years earlier for a social faux-pas). His real father, of course, turns out to be the man he killed on the road and his real mother is the widowed Queen he's now married to. He asks his servant for a sword and runs into the palace to kill the Queen, his wife/mother, but finds that she's hanged herself in their bedroom. He takes her body down and, in despair, gouges out his own eyes with long gold pins he takes from her dress. During these final scenes, the Greek chorus laments how even a great man can be felled by fate and finishes the play with the common Greek saying that "No man should be considered fortunate until he is dead."
Also, during the time "The End" was recorded, there was a lot of talk about a concept in Freudian psychology called the Oedipus Complex, a supposed phase in the life of a young boy in which he unconsciously wishes to have sex with his own mother and disdains his father for being the one who does that. It was, obvs, named after Sophocles's play.
But, as far as how/why Jim used that reference in the song, the Doors' drummer, John Densmore, said that he and Jim had a long discussion about the meaning of the song while recording it. In his autobiography, Densmore says: "At one point Jim said to me during the recording session, and he was tearful, and he shouted in the studio, 'Does anybody understand me?' And I said yes, I do, and right then and there we got into a long discussion and Jim just kept saying over and over 'kill the father, fuck the mother,' and it essentially boils down to this: kill all those things in yourself which are instilled in you and are not of yourself, they are alien concepts which are not yours, they must die. 'Fuck the mother' is very basic, and it means 'get back to essence, what is reality, what is. 'Fuck the mother' is very basically mother, mother-birth, real, you can touch it, it's nature, it can't lie to you. So what Jim says at the end of the Oedipus section, which is essentially the same thing that the classic says, is 'kill the alien concepts, get back to reality, the end of alien concepts, the beginning of personal concepts.'"
The counterculture revolution of the 60s was very much about getting rid of the old ways of doing things/tossing aside rules and traditions of the authorities ("kill the father") and embracing new ways/getting back to nature ("fuck the Mother"). The song, "The End," touches on this idea as well as personal beginnings and endings through all the bits of poetry full of themes of things going away, new starts, life, death, etc.
Great explanation
I was going to reply to this reaction, but I don't need to after this post. Good summation
Good info… I think it also extends into long arc cycles of the West wh/ dovetails to your points about Oedipes… Morrison was heavy into Blake. The father of symbolist poetry. Many people fail to get Morrison’s lyrics b/c they don’t understand symbolist structure. This song and its poetic lyrics are some of Morrison’s best at using this. It’s the use of phrase put together into a moving narrative. The key phrases act not only as joiners but also theme scaling. In this song wh/ starts as a breakup (probably Mary werbelow) introduces trauma & its impact. The narrator (morrison) must seek either implode or seek his own foot forward. He examines the arc of the culture and his place in it to define his freedom. A time of strife (mid ‘60s) & upheaval, violence & confusion. A world thought that has been shaped from its antecedents of Ancient Rome.
As In book of danial, Rome still alive in practice and appetite. He traces that culture, its creation & its manifestation to the present in LA via the metaphor of the snake. The ancient lake, the pacific. The kings hwy western expansion. Gold mine, lure to the west. That is all important context set up to create the power of the moment morrison is in, in ‘66 Calif when this was penned in total that summer and performed at the whisky… the parts you brought up imo are spot on to that moment and purpose. A birthing period for him and the culture, but one, like birth, that comes w/ pain. What I wanted to add earlier was in symbolist form he traces that culture back to Rome and shows its manifestation in cyclical poetic form to the present. Hence, lost in a Roman wilderness of pain… indeed perfect use by Copolla (who went to school w/ morrison) in apocalypse now. & relevant now as we are still on that precipice. Morrison was inconsistent, but when on his A game, truly a great lyricist and performer of his time. This may be his most pure form of his vision. Though riders is quite a coda for many of the same reasons.
Thanks for your comment!! Saved me a lot of typing! 😊 there is so much more to Jim ! Was introduced to the Doors by my mother in approximately 1973 I was 6. She had me reading Neitche,Frued and much more ! Anyway love your comments!
Beautiful and concise synopsis, "johnplaysgames". Most people don't know that Jim was a massive reader and studied most of the classics in-depth in his youth. The essence of "The End" you have elucidated; Jim was first in his mind a poet, and here, with "The End" you get the full Monty, so to speak. :)
This was a perfect song for the scene it was picked for in “Apocalypse Now”
I was just going to say that. It was PERFECT.
Yep 👍🏻
& STILL loved THAT movie
young Laurence Fishbourne
This song immediately reminds me of that poor ox. That scarred me for awhile. Definitely too young that first time.
Brilliant
If these guys saw Apacolypse Now , they would understand this song more.
The whole band was insanely talented. I like songs that sound really sinister and this is in the top five.
hard to rank them all , but i agree.
RIder of the storm
Unknown soldier
ofc The doors had manybeautifully dark ones.
Don't fear the reaper by Blue Oyster cult
Nights in white satin
The Who :)
Pink Floyd
Black Sabbath
That was 1967. Morrison was a poet, Manzarek a classically trained pianist, Kreiger was a flamenco guitarist and Densmore a jazz drummer. What a combo!
This is a masterpiece, my favorite Doors song by far.
"This sounds like a Creed song"
Creed only wishes they could inhabit the same universe as the Doors.
As many others have stated, the use of this song made the opening sequence of Apocolypse Now incredibly powerful. I can't think of another tune that could have done a better job to express how unsettling and confusing the situation Captain Willard was in as he was introduced to the audience.
Creed covered Riders on The Storm
This song will be played at my funeral. I love the Doors and this song is one of their best🤘🏼
This was used brilliantly in the movie Apocalypse Now in both the begining and in the climax. Initially Coppola used the song as a joke when he was editing the movie out of boredom - begin8ng the movie with a song called The End, see? - but then he and his editors quickly realised the song matched the imagery and mood of the film perfectly and so it stuck. The movie helped made The Doors popular again in the late 80s/early 90s.
A very deep and trippy song. Imagine listening to this while tripping on acid.
I don't have to imagine it. 😀
Imagine? lol
u mean you aint done acid to this yet?
I have
Many times.
i am so happy there wasn't any stopping of the song, you would have felt my fist coming through the laptop screen if you had
I love with how much respect you listen every song. No matter what music style. You're real musicians.
This group changed my life. When The Doors movie came out my mom brought me. She said you are going to like them. She knew I loved music. Jim Morrison is a poet that happened to be a rock star. 💫
You need to do "LA Woman", "Roadhouse Blues ", and many more.
They've done Roadhouse Blues
Mr. Mojo Risin' ❤️
My Wild Love, Waiting For The Sun, People Are Strange, Crystal Ship, L.A. Woman, 5 to 1, Riders On the Storm (sure y'all know Snoop's version), Light My Fire, Touch Me, Love Her Madly, When The Musical Over, Love Me Two Times, etc........
LA Woman next please.
They recorded this whole album in 6 days, their 1st album. The End was a 3 minute breakup song that transformed to include a Greek poem about Oedipal tragedy(killing dad, sex with mom), but it’s tongue in cheek..great song gents!!!!
According to Doors drummer, John Densmore, it wasn't tongue in cheek. Jim was very serious about the "kill the father, F the mother" bit of the song, to the point that he was shouting tearfully in the studio during the recording session, "Does anybody understand me?" Densmore said he did and they got into a long discussion about the meaning of the song and, in particular, the Oedipus section. Here's how Densmore described their conversation during the recording session in his autobiography: "Jim just kept saying over and over 'kill the father, fuck the mother,' and it essentially boils down to this: kill all those things in yourself which are instilled in you and are not of yourself, they are alien concepts which are not yours, they must die. 'Fuck the mother' is very basic, and it means 'get back to essence, what is reality, what is. 'Fuck the mother' is very basically mother, mother-birth, real, you can touch it, it's nature, it can't lie to you. So what Jim says at the end of the Oedipus section, which is essentially the same thing that the classic says, is 'kill the alien concepts, get back to reality, the end of alien concepts, the beginning of personal concepts.'"
And, of course, that all makes sense in the context of the culture war of the '60s, with the younger generation looking to throw out all the old ways, rules, social mores, etc. of their parents' generation and instead center society on what they considered to be natural and free. The song is basically a poem about beginnings and endings, "a goodbye to childhood" as Jim described it in an interview, featuring a dramatic bit that poetically espouses the idea of "Forget the traditional way of doing things ("kill the father," the authority, the old guard) and embrace a more natural, honest way of being ("F the mother," embrace Nature, embrace Self, forge a new path).
Read my reply to your other comment on this thread.
The End was on the second album.
@@kenlieberman4215 First album.
Known as Oedipus Rex
The End" is an epic song by the American rock band the Doors. Lead singer Jim Morrison initially wrote the lyrics about his break up with an old girlfriend, Mary Werbelow,[7] but it evolved through months of performances at the Whisky a Go Go into a much longer song. The Doors recorded a nearly 12-minute version for their self-titled debut album, which was released on January 4, 1967
Masterpiece...i also suggest The Soft Parade... another masterpiece
this song was in Apocalypse Now (1979)
Yep 👍🏻
& STILL love THAT movie
young Laurence Fishbourne ...
Great reaction! The story that I heard on The End is that it started out being played on stage as a freestyle jam with Morrison improvising lyrics. At one show, he started singing about walking down the hall to brother's room, and then sister's room. The other band members started looking around at each other wondering where he was going with it and just playing along with it. They were as surprised as everyone else at what happened in father's room.
Ray Manzarek has mentioned that Jim was involved with a production of "Oedipus Rex" in school and he thinks that may have inspired Jim to bring it into the song. In an interview, Jim mentions that "The End" started out as a breakup song (as you mentioned) but that it evolved into what he called a "goodbye to childhood" song. Doors drummer, John Densmore, apparently had a long discussion with Jim about the meaning of the song during the recording session. In his autobiography, he describes it this way: "At one point Jim said to me during the recording session, and he was tearful, and he shouted in the studio, 'Does anybody understand me?' And I said yes, I do, and right then and there we got into a long discussion and Jim just kept saying over and over 'kill the father, fuck the mother,' and it essentially boils down to this: kill all those things in yourself which are instilled in you and are not of yourself, they are alien concepts which are not yours, they must die. 'Fuck the mother' is very basic, and it means 'get back to essence, what is reality, what is. 'Fuck the mother' is very basically mother, mother-birth, real, you can touch it, it's nature, it can't lie to you. So what Jim says at the end of the Oedipus section, which is essentially the same thing that the classic says, is 'kill the alien concepts, get back to reality, the end of alien concepts, the beginning of personal concepts."
Every time I hear this song I picture the beginning of "Apcolypse Now" and Martin Sheen's drunken rage in his hotel room, and the Napalm and helicopters. The song "When the Music's Over" is also great and the crystal ship.
The Doors are my all time fav band
The doors to me is one of those bands you can close your eyes to and let your mind wander. Perfect for sitting in a dark room or a basement chill session.
My favorite band of all time - born early 70’s but have been listening to them since I found them in the late 70’s! I’ve read Jim’s books of poetry have several old and new Doors T-shirts and the boxed cd set. This song is one of my ringtones. ❤️
(in Marlin Brando voice) "you're a messenger boy sent by grossery clerks". (Wispering) "the horror the horror the horror"
Great reaction guys. The Doors are definitely a band you can explore further. Check out another 10 plus minute masterpiece, "When The Music's Over".
This is now my favorite song so peaceful and so soft thank you guys 🙏 you guys are kings 👑
Not a journey I expected from y’all! Off camera for sure, but this is a long one! Props! 🔥🌳🌬️💨
Another great Doors journey is from Absolutely Live… “The Celebration of the Lizard” is 14 1/2 mins of art. Check it out at your leisure. 🤛👊😎
I remember my dad telling me and my sister ,that it took Jim Morrison a long time to write The End and he never kept it the same when The Doors preformed this masterpiece live
RIP JIM MORRISON , RAY MANZAREK AND YOU DADDY 😘😘😘
Tripping music. I was there. Peace ✌️
me too 🙉
No you are not
When you add a classical pianist and a flamenco guitarist and a jazz drummer to a lizard king you get the Doors.
Lounge/jazz is spot on.
I am smiling ear to ear waiting for certain parts.
LA Woman must be next.
There's definitely a lot of that in there. I think the Doors had such an interesting mix of influences and the combo of those influences gave the band that very particular sound. You had Ray's Chicago blues, Robbie's Spanish/flamenco guitar, Densmore's jazz drums, and Jim's "Rimbaud as an old blues man who's also a shaman" vocals, lyrics, and personality. Smash 'em all together and you get a band that sounds like no one else and whom no one else has ever sounded like.
And, yeah, "LA Woman" would be a good one for them to react to. It's fairly accessible and has a bit of that bluesy "Roadhouse Blues" grit to it.
Tbh, I wish more people would react to "Not To Touch The Earth" but, sadly, while I think it features a lot of what was unique and cool about the Doors, it's not one of the big hits so most reactors won't bother with it.
I grew up on the Doors, my favourite band as a teen even though Jim Morrison was long before dead. I moved from the Doors to Tool and Muse as I got older so I've been enjoying your reactions to all my favs!! I am now a huge Ren fan and I don't think you guys have done How to be me (live) yet with chinchilla... you won't regret it, it's stunning!
Depending on your PG situation for the channel, try out Gloria - dirty version. You mention his story telling how good it is, he was in film school before taking on music full time, which explains alot of the way the 'picture is painted' during a song, in a way on The Doors can do Also try Break on through as another song suggestion
I love the Doors! My mama introduced me to them as well as others from the 60's and the Doors have been a fixture in my music world since.
You really should give LA Woman, Light My Fire, Riders on the Storm, Break on Through and Love Me Two Times a listen all by the Doors also.
The movie The Doors is definitely worth a watch. Jim Morrison also wrote poetry and has some published books out of his poetry.
Kinda shocked y’all haven’t heard this one before. Have you not watched The Doors movie? That’s a must, gentlemen. And maybe a shallow dive into their music. 😉So many cool elements in The Doors music. Always love the keyboards. Jim’s poetry is eclectic. 😆 and the rest of the band is just as cool as Jim. Watch that movie! Trust me.
Smokey, they just caught the alleged Long Island Serial Killer. Love true crime even though sometimes I get crazy nightmares.
Happy Sunday everyone!
Great idea! They should watch the doors movie for sure!
The Changeling is a SICK Doors song. I recommend it for a reaction. Love.
These guys were a large part of kicking "the doors" open in regards to what was sonically and socially acceptable in a top ten single, truly a revolutionary band
This is my all time favorite Doors song...Epic! Jim Morrison is a fantastic poet and Ray Manzarek is a phenominal keyboardist.
you two are friggin awesome. Love all the reactions, thanks for the entertainment while I'm working late.
Love this song . I will always think of apocalypse now as soon as it starts . Probably my favourite movie opening.
1st Rule of Doors listening (or most similar -genre late-60s music): Don't be literal. 👍
You're right about the beatnik influence. Their name "The Doors" comes from Aldous Huxley's autobiographical book called "The Doors of Perception" about a psychedelic experience on mescaline he had in 1953.
In case no one has commented this, as was said by a person with experience with psychedelics:
“Eventually everyone who keeps doing psychedelics goes to the Garden. And we know who is in the Garden. The snake. “
The blue bus 🚎 is another metaphor. For when you are doing heroin or speedballs and you stop breathing.
It has been said that Jim never sang the lyrics the same way twice. But the snake verse and the part about the killer seem to be word for word in the versions I have heard. Only the phrases in the beginning and end differ in the versions I have heard.
Great job guys! I enjoyed watching you take all of this in. You are warriors to take this song on. It definitely is a classic and is forever entwined with Apocalypse Now! with Martin Sheen in my mind. And the water Buffalo. The horror. The horror. .
My favorite songs at the Doors are: "Light my fire" and "touch me", a versatile band that continues to be popular for 50 years, half a century, wow... 😮🧐
When the Music's Over, Waiting for the Sun, LA Woman, Break on Through, Crystal Ship, Soft Parade, Five to One, Rider's on the Storm.... there's so many its hard for me to choose!
@@helmet8925Crystal Ship is one of my faves for sure!
The next song from The Doors to listen to is "When The Music`s Over" I think. That fits if you have already commented on "Riders On The Storm". The best way to hear The Doors in my opinion is to hear them live from the vinyl LP "Absolutely Live", thats a masterpiece ! Thanks for sharing and all the best from HH (germany)
loved it fellas nice reaction.
Not To Touch The Earth is great as well
I can see why most if not all Classic Rock radio stations will not play this song - but for me it is the most underrated Rock Epic of all time
The WASP is one of my favorite Doors songs. Kind of a rap song actually. The Doors were the house band at The Whiskey a Go-Go on Sunset Boulevard. They got fired for playing The End.
My older brother went to high school with Jim Morrison, Albuquerque NM. The Doors had a lot of airplay on the radio and I grew up listening to these songs, but I had no clue what the songs were about at age 4 and 5. I love the music from this era. Thanks for the great reaction. 👍❤
NM influenced Jim love of the desert and canyons and bottom of Rockies… had a lot to do w/ him wanting back out west at age 20.
This was from 1967, during the Vietnam War. Morrison's Father was the Admiral in command of the ships during the Gulf of Tonkin incident, where it was claimed that American Ships we're attacked by North Vietnam, giving President Johnson the pretext to launch Operation Rolling Thunder, the bombing of North Vietnam and to send Combat Troops, not just "Advisors" . It never happened, they made up the attack to start a War. As a young boy, Jim and the Family were on vacation driving through Arizona and they came upon an accident where a Native American family were all killed and were laying on the highway. Jim always swore that the Spirit of one of the Dead took possession of him. Just some background on "The Lizard King" Mr Mojo Risin'
His father want an admiral by that point. He was in the vicinity, but not on or leading the ship that relayed the info. Go back to legit sources and records.
*wasnt
Leave it to Jim Morrison. Who else could sing this? I'm a huge Doors fan from way back in 1967 when they formed the Band. They are so different and can play many different styles of music.
Thanks guys.
This is my fav band and Jim is my fav singer of all time.
The Doors was peak psychedelic era dark alternative-ish psychedelic rock/blues. I feel like the genre that has the most "The Doors" in it is Grunge. The Doors has been very influential on alternative dark and sombre rock in general.
Agree… punk to a lesser degree. Both and college radio.
I've never heard that version before. Great reaction gentlemen 👍
This was the song that highlighted and affirmed the weird artistry of Jim's lyrics.
Listening to their music is about as close to high you can get without the actual getting high.
Morning fellas! Yes!! Love the doors! When i was like 13 my mom bought me a bunch of doors cds. I was in love! Love jim Morrison..R.I.P.. great choice!( Fun trying to figure out this song lol!) Loved hearing your takes on what the songs about...🤓😁💯
One of the greatest songs ever written.
Today is Jim Morrison’s 80th birthday🎉 The DOORS pioneers of psychedelic rock
The part at the end going "f*ck f*ck f*ck" had the vocals edited out on the version of this we all grew up with back in the day. That's a newer mix. Crazy song, always worth seeing someone react to it!
You're reaction is perfect eyes closed and let the music take you on a journey
After you guys listen to "The End", y'all need to watch the Francis Ford Coppola film "Apocalypse Now", a movie about the Vietnam War. It stars Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, Robert Duvall, and very young early appearances by Harrison Ford and Lawrence Fishburne. This song starts the movie, with helicopter sounds and Martin Sheen in a drunken rage in a Saigon hotel room. MUST be seen by both of you.
Such intricate drum work here, and that beautiful guitar line really stands out. Remember this was not long after the Manson murders and this really represented the feeling of mayhem and social strife in the good old usa
Actually, this came out more than two years before the Manson murders. It wouldn't surprise me that they all listened to this on an endless loop.
Agree… there was a real darkness to the summer of love era. Morrison examined it poetically and certainly observed it closely. It didn’t embrace it though as life style, rather artistic reflection. But there is no doubt he was willing, like velvet undergrd to examine the violence and greed in the culture. Their last album has elements of what mansions actions did to the culture. Their music was more honest about the total pic of that era.
I think he was near the end of the psychedelic era and on the cusp of rock. Plus he was a brilliant poet.
"This sounds like the anthem for a serial killer.." Perhaps the best comment from a reaction I've ever heard.
The blue bus is the color of the army bus which takes the recruit for Vietnan war. The man Morrison is speaking about kills every memories he could be pull down with (family, parents, ...) for being a good painted face warrior (jungle war camouflage). At the point, The only link for staying in fair human nature is love, a woman he'sdesperatly call for for in the blue bus a last time before becoming something else, darker. It's just my interpretation.
Never knew about the blue bus. Thank you
If you watch the movie Forrest Gump, he and Bubba get on a blue bus as they 're going off to Vietnam.
Smokey's got that strong memory! I must be smokin the wrong stuff.
Man I haven’t listened to the doors in a long time. Now I need to binge some doors.
Saying Jim outgrew, or almost outgrew, the Doors is something of a disservice to how talented the whole band was. The Doors were not Jim, they were Jim, Ray, Robbie and John, you needed all the parts to make the magic.
And Jim would have been the first to say that.
First time I heard this song I was on LSD and someone put it on. It changed my life.
YESSIR groove!!!! It wasn't the first time I heard the song , but I definitely did it while trippin' on some dynamite 4-way orange sunshine, circa 1969. I tied it to 'Nam even then, long before the movie 'Apocalypse Now'. Saw these guys in '67 at SUCO Oswego freshman orientation(front row in Lee Hall) CUDOS DUDE for yer hook 'bout trippin' to it!
Its time to take a deep dive into The Doors.
Hey Guys. If I had to describe The Doors music I would call it "atmospheric". It always had a vibe but it didn't stay in the same style in every song. What is most important was that it was always good music. Shout out to you fellas for reacting to this one. Peace.
"Atmospheric" is a great way to describe lots of Doors music, but especially "The End." The actual sound of the Doors was an odd combo of their various influences - Ray's Chicago blues + Robbie's Spanish guitar + Densmore's jazz drums + Jim's poetry and Dionysus nature - but the vibe was definitely "atmospheric." In fact, on another channel where the reactors were talking about how much they loved the way Pink Floyd songs take you on a trip inside your head, I suggested "The End" to them as another song that almost entrances you and takes you to another place for the duration of the song. Some Doors songs were a little more poppy, some were more acid rock-ish, but songs like "The End" are atmospheric with a capital A.
Ray and Jim used their Gil backgrounds well. Plus morrison wrote in a symbolist format that many times scaled the macro view. An epic, David lean (film
Director) vision put to music. He was much more talented than given credit for but has been lampooned as the tragic sex god of rock. Part If that was frankly his own fault, but it doesn’t take away from his talent if you understand what he was staking for. .. all3 musicians were excellent improv and scale players. Subtle but powerful. Jazz and classical influences. More consistent than Jim. But Jim was the diamond and the weaver of the concept to art. When it was right the doors were lethal. So much so, many didn’t know how to take them. Hence the fear and shots they took from peers in the indust and media also. Doesn’t matter though, this song will be listened to 100 years from now for the ages…. Ck out my other reply on your other post re Oedipal.
*their film backgrounds as students at ucla (ray and Jim)
This song is such a journey into the dark side.. cathartic and powerful
This DOORS song was features in the ACADEMY AWARD WINNING, Francis Ford Coppola film, "APOCOLYPSE NOW"!
There's nothing more to do to both the choice of song and reaction then this 👍👍👍
No no no. You have to have a wild long hellofa night and then drive home at 5am just before sunrise with the windows down and this blasting on the radio.
Songs from ' The Doors ':
- L.A. Woman
- Break on Through, ( to the Other Side)
- Crystal Ship
- Alabama Man, ( Whiskey Bar)
- Back Door Man
- People are Strange
- Hello I Love You...
- Light My Fire
- Riders of the Storm
- Roadhouse Blues
- Strange Days
- The Unknown Soldier
- The WASP, ( Texas Radio & the Big Beat)
- Touch Me
- Twentieth Century Fox
- When the Music's Over
My favorite:
- Waiting for the Sun
" DEUCES! "
✌🏻😸✌🏻
The Doors are psychedelic rock. Best description imo...anyway, a couple songs by them seldom mentioned but are awesome songs are " The Alabama Song" "The Crystal Ship", "Five to One", "Spanish Caravan" and my fav "Hello I Love You"...I was obsessed with The Doors for a few years in high school and immediately after. I graduated in 1990, so the movie came out a year later, so the timing was perfect! Fascinating band for sure...and Morrison being in the 27 club is fitting....
Yep, I agree - graduated in 91 but I’ve been obsessed with the Doors and Jim since around 79. Read all of Jim’s books of poetry, watched every interview, live performance, and movie. The Crystal Ship, Hello I Love You, and Five to One are my top 3 but I also love Peace Frogs.
Same. And, yeah, there are so many great Doors songs that, sadly, most reactors won't react to bc they aren't "the big hits." I did see someone react to "The Alabama Song" recently, but getting reactors to check out "Five To One" is def difficult. Even harder is one of my favorites from the Doors (and a song which I think encapsulates so much of what was cool and unique about the Doors): "Not To Touch The Earth."
That being said, I always find it hard to suggest Doors songs to reactors because, as a person who was obsessed with them for years as you were, there are SO MANY great Doors songs and, honestly, I love them all.
Not your everyday happy hippie stuff by any stretch. In fact this song infuriated many in our audience and they were booed off the stage repeatedly but they would never turn it down, Sex and Death Sex and Death. Morrison was deriving inspiration from Greek tragedy here, classic literature where the hero's journey involves replacing his own father in the marriage bed after slaying said father. It was pretty revolutionary lyrical themes then and it still packs a pretty good punch. The doors are definitely one-of-a-kind and their music has endured because it was in fact Fearless. This album was recorded in 1966 and released in 67 I think. It's pretty mind-blowing when you consider what was happening musically in the world of the time. The doors have endured and even prospered with every year they get a new crop of young fans who can really appreciate the intensity of what they're doing. I think you gentlemen would be exactly the right kind of cats to do a doors deep-dive cuz there is an awful lot there to stir up the vital sauce below the belt and in the brain. Cheers.
Well said. Amazing this was ‘66. The subtle tones and accenting also by the band is amazing. Morrison was an inconsistent shooting star. But he could bottle lightening when the stars were right. Lethal power indeed.
"This is the anthem for a serial killer"
"Yeah"
LOL
“The snake is long, seven miles”
Kundalini reference
Nobody did more in less. 4 years to be remembered trough the eternity. Jim Morrison and his guys are out of time. So talented. Very chamanic. Full of metaphoras and poetry. Pure rock and blues. So wilderness...from Spain, Madrid. Jim knowed the secrets of human being.
'He took a face from the ancient gallery'....that face is the ancient Greek Oedipus Rex, who in legend killed his father and slept with his mother. Jim Morrison had a major Freudian 'Oedipus complex' as reflected in those lyrics.
The DOORS movie was great Val Kilmer played Jim he looked and sung just like him epic movie.
Lifelong Doors fan here, this music hit me like a freight train when I was 15 and changed my life. Morrison said this song was about Sex, Death and Travel. The story in the middle is an ancient Greek myth about a guy who murders his father so he can sleep with his mother, hence the buildup and musical orgasm toward the end. It's called the Oedipus myth. The blue bus was the color of the buses they took people out on day trips from psychiatric institutes back in LA in the 60s. There was a lot of LSD use around the time, and the song is heavily influenced by tripping. He used to imagine the whole universe as a giant snake. But, yeah, the song is ultimately about mystery, mood and what it means to you personally. Anyway, was awesome to watch you guys discover what's been my favourite song for 25 years.
This is from Apocalypse now..my fav war movie of all time. The opening scene sets the tempo for the entire movie
In his prime (1966-1968) Morrison was easily one of the most edge-of-your-seat front men in Rock.
Come on now don't disrespect The Doors like that comparing them to Creed. Jim Morrison just turned over in his grave if he is in one? 😉 Loved the reaction I have no clue how to even help you try and figure out Jim's meanings he was huge into poetry and mind altering drugs back in those days you can only imagine the trips
He said he took a face from the ancient gallery which obviously was Oedipus, the Greek character who killed his father and married his mother. Jim had a bad relationship with his father who was a US Navy Admiral in Coronado, CA (suburb of San Diego) where I was also stationed in the 80s. I tried to find all of Jim's old haunts in San Diego and LA while I was there.
Loved the reaction!!
Jim Morrison was a weird very artistic poet and a lot of his songs were improvised. If you watch The Doors move you'll understand him a little bit better (Val Kilmer played Jim ridiculously well). There are some songs the remaining 3 members(John Densmore, Ray Manzarek, and Robbie Krieger) did with Scott Wieland from Stone Temple Pilots that was actually pretty good, you should check out five to one.
Just so you know, the part about the 'killer' and his family is loosely based on the Ancient Greek tragedy of Oedipus. He killed his father and married his mother causing his kingdom to fall into ruin.
There are more explicit versions out there.
Dude the song is not from the 70s it's from 1966 which makes it even more astonishing.
Good point. No one, other than velvet undergrd in this zip code in ‘66… and this was a different and more broad view of the culture. The doors were on a blonde on blonde level in ‘66. Groundbreaking.
I can't listen to the opening of this song without thinking about the movie Apocolypse Now..a Vietam war movie. A very existential song and movie, it fit right in.
This song doesn't really tell a story, it's a journey through myths and archetypes. Something to be experienced rather than understood.
Sort of. I mean, it's poetic and has various pieces... but they're all centered on a theme of "beginnings and endings" and there's definitely a meaning to the song as a whole. Though Jim said in an interview that it started out as a breakup song, he went on to say that it evolved into what he called a "goodbye to childhood" song. And in Doors drummer John Densmore's autobiography, he talks about how he and Jim had a long discussion about the meaning of the song during the recording session. In his words: "At one point Jim said to me during the recording session, and he was tearful, and he shouted in the studio, 'Does anybody understand me?' And I said yes, I do, and right then and there we got into a long discussion and Jim just kept saying over and over 'kill the father, fuck the mother,' and it essentially boils down to this: kill all those things in yourself which are instilled in you and are not of yourself, they are alien concepts which are not yours, they must die. 'Fuck the mother' is very basic, and it means 'get back to essence, what is reality, what is. 'Fuck the mother' is very basically mother, mother-birth, real, you can touch it, it's nature, it can't lie to you. So what Jim says at the end of the Oedipus section, which is essentially the same thing that the classic says, is 'kill the alien concepts, get back to reality, the end of alien concepts, the beginning of personal concepts.'"
This obviously ties into the vibe of the '60s counterculture movement which was very upfront about wanting to throw out the rules, traditions, social mores, and models of the previous generation(s) ("kill the father"/authority/the old ways) and instead embracing a new, more natural, more honest way of doing things ("F the mother" or, really, "embrace the natural").
It does uses many symbolic archetypes and myths but it’s weaving a narrative. On one level a break up and central to his present time. Yet he crafts it w/ symbolist images and the placement thereof that allows the narrative to scale up yet dovetail to broader themes that overlap yet still connect. Blake influenced and actually a brilliant t arrangement lyrically, let alone sung. It scales out to not only the culture but its antecedent seeds in Ancient Rome. It also shows how it connects to the present by using the snake, hwy, gold mine and lake as points in that journey wh/ grew the culture from Rome to modern LA. That sets a broader context wh/ weaves into the narrator in his present moment at a fork in the rd after a traumatic breakup and decision on his own destiny. Probably Jim himself after Mary breakup in ‘66.
This song is an amazing piece of musical art. I don't know if this is accurate, but have heard the "blue bus" is a reference to dying and going up in the blue sky to heaven. (The blue bus is calling us; Driver, where are you taking us?)
Also
Soldiers being taken to nam.
Morrison was an intelligent kid who was more into movies and poetry than music. His father was in the military and was one who partly started the Vietnam War.
A lot of bands in the 60's and 70's sang against war.
That's what this song sounded like it was about to me. It was supposed to be about his ex, but Morrison said later he realized it could be about anything.
His fathers ship wasn’t a flagship nor the one that relayed gulf
Of Tonkin info. He was in that region but not a main actor even though that’s touted on the net by many.
Yeah he did some shorts that nobody saw
1967 the Vietnam war , the Haight Ashbury scene, are all relevant to the lyrics.
Ok, having read ALL 4 books by band members, this was a series of poems Jim cobbled together, as well as improv happening during live performances, to make this song. It started out as a 3 minute love song for a former girlfriend, it eventually evolved onstage as Jim added pieces of poetry he had written into the extended live performances, including the Oedipus section (Kill the dad, fuck the mom). While living on the roof of a hotel in Venice Beach, Jim would see a blue bus come everyday to pick people up. He saw this bus every morning and just jotted it down. No significance. The original 1967 pressing of this album removed the whole "fuck" section. It was put back in later remasters.
Their live shit is even better. It’s crazy. Look up Pittsburg 79.
You were supposed to take a couple giant bong rips before listening to that.
This is one of those songs that feel larger than life, to me at least.