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- Riders On The Storm. The last track on the final Doors album recorded while their frontman was alive, Riders On The Storm could be viewed as a portent of impending doom.
- L.A. Woman. In which Mr Mojo Risin’ declares his love for all the little girls in their Hollywood bungalows and the City of Light in particular. The original handwritten lyric has some interesting doodling in blue biro, depicting a kite in a lightning flash and a stylised straw man, and credits the song, which he actually called L.A: Woman, to J.M./
- The End. The first of The Doors’ epic songs, this was worked into an 11-minute frenzy during their residency at the Whisky A Go Go, although some of the lyrics came from Morrison’s time working on a student production of Oedipus Rex at Florida State University.
- Light My Fire. Despite its familiarity, Light My Fire doesn’t smoulder. It’s a conflagration of über-cool acid rock. It’s Robby Krieger’s song in the main, but he credits Morrison for the second verse.
- Queen of The Highway
- My Eyes Have Seen You
- Tightrope Ride
- Love Street
- Waiting For The Sun
- Wild Child
- Hardwood Floor
- Tell All The People
- When The Music’s Over
- Summer’S Almost Gone
Jim Morrison frequently drew on his romantic dalliances for lyrical inspiration. Take Morrison Hotel’s raucous rocker Queen of the Highway, a song about his soon-to-be-wife, Pamela Courson, that frames their relationship as loving, if somewhat ill-fated: “He was a monster / Black dressed in leather / She was a princess / Queen of the Highway.”
Studio experimentation marked the Doors’ second album, Strange Days, as the band had access to eight-track recording for the first time. However, My Eyes Have Seen You succeeds because of its simplicity: a tango-like tempo driven by spaghetti-western rhythmic coils, a concise Robby Krieger guitar solo and Morrison sketching out the finer points of ...
The surviving members of the Doors – Krieger, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore – released three studio albums in the years after Morrison’s death. Although these efforts were hit or miss sonically, the first post-Morrison LP Other Voices produced the garage-rock barnburner Tightrope Ride, led by Manzarek’s cathartic howl.
The Doors frequently incorporated inspirations from classical and jazz, but the baroque-rock gem Love Streetwas a sonic curveball even for them. Manzarek’s delicate piano and keyboards resemble fine-spun glass or a pristine music-box theme, a fine complement to Krieger’s understated guitar and Morrison’s fanciful lyrics.
Waiting for the Sun had indeed been hanging around since the Doors’ titular third album, but wasn’t fully formed until the band’s fifth full-length, Morrison Hotel. The wait was worth it, as the buzzy, fuzzed-out musical distortion and ominous vibe suited the darker energy around the Doors as the 1970s dawned.
The Soft Parade era wasn’t exactly the happiest time for the Doors, with the recording sessions marred by discord and Morrison’s high-profile arrest in Miami for indecent exposure. However, the chaos produced the grimy, attitude-dripping Wild Child, a clear link between 60s psych-rock and the burgeoning proto-punk and heavy metal movements.
The Doors kept pushing themselves in new directions on 1972’s Full Circle, their second post-Morrison album. In fact, the sprawling, Latin-tinged jazz novelty The Mosquito, featuring session ace Leland Sklar on bass, became a surprise global hit. Sklar also adds verve on the LP’s highlight, the more straightforward, Stones-esque rocker Hardwood Flo...
Morrison reportedly didn’t like a Tell All the People lyric referring to guns, which contributed to the Soft Parade’s decision to note separate songwriting credits in the liner notes. The hint of violence contrasts with the song itself, which is a tranquil piece with full-blooming horns and plaintive piano. It’s clear Primal Scream and Spiritualize...
Strange Days’ closing song qualifies as a sonic odyssey, while demonstrating the logical cohesion underpinning the band’s wandering tendencies. An initial rush of roaring guitars and freckled organ gives way to distinct musical movements, with Manzarek’s nod to Herbie Hancock’s Watermelon Man especially adding oomph.
Few songs nail the bummer vibe of a summer fling with an uncertain future better than Summer’s Almost Gone. Morrison sounds uncharacteristically subdued as he muses about ephemeral good times, and his bandmates match this bereft mood by contributing swirling keyboards, morose piano and barely perceptible drums and guitar.
- 3 min
- Annie Zaleski
Dec 8, 2023 · The Doors' 30 most essential songs, ranked. To mark Jim Morrison's 80th birthday, we're looking back at the tracks that continue to define the Doors' lasting legacy. By. Stephen Thomas...
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine
- Michael Gallucci
- 'Light My Fire' From: 'The Doors' (1967) From its opening spare drum smack to the entire band's closing shot seven minutes later, "Light My Fire" sums up just about everything you need to know about the Doors.
- 'The End' From: 'The Doors' (1967) The Doors' epic closer to their debut album sounded monumental even before Francis Ford Coppola used it in Apocalypse Now a dozen years later.
- 'Break on Through (To the Other Side)' From: 'The Doors' (1967) The opening song on the band's classic debut album didn't chart, never making it any higher than No. 126.
- 'L.A. Woman' From: 'L.A. Woman' (1971) The title track to the band's final album became a tour de force for Morrison, who died three months after the record's release.
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- 1 min
- Graeme Ross
- Light My Fire (The Doors, 1967) A celebration of erotic ecstasy containing all their sex and death motifs, which long ago became a standard. It’s the song that introduced The Doors to the world at large when the truncated single topped the US charts in the summer of 1967.
- LA Woman (LA Woman, 1971) Hollywood bungalows, cops in cars and topless bars are vividly brought to life on LA Woman’s magnificent title track, an unofficial anthem for Los Angeles.
- The End (The Doors, 1967) Perhaps the most controversial song of its era, Morrison’s magnum opus has proven to be one of the key planks in the legend of The Doors, particularly after its use in Apocalypse Now.
- Riders on the Storm (LA Woman, 1971) With its sombre mood of impending death “Riders on the Storm” has become perhaps The Doors’ best-known song. Striking sound effects of distant thunder and falling rain, plus Morrison’s overdubbed whispered vocals, create the ominous atmosphere, while Ray Manzarek’s ethereal rain-imitating piano adds a jazzy quality.
Mar 14, 2017 · A list of the top songs by the iconic U.S. rock band, from their psychedelic classics to their raw blues. Learn about the influences, meanings and stories behind the songs, and listen to some samples.
Dec 19, 2023 · A list of the most influential and iconic songs by The Doors, the legendary rock group formed by Jim Morrison and others in 1965. From Riders on the Storm to People Are Strange, discover the stories and meanings behind the tracks that shaped a generation.
