What Do You Think Of the MUSIC of The Doors?

Oh yes. True.

I guess I was just saying it is projection in the sense that even if many feel Jim comes off as pretentious, that shouldn't be a negative if it's the truth.

Especially if the pretentiousness Jim portrays is in reality he just being "himself".

I do agree that he obviously comes off that way to a lot of people...if they werent to know that he is actually just being "him" (that is, truly "him" from an artistic posture or intent).

In short, I guess I mean that pretensiousness is not a bad thing if it is actually the very truth or thing that makes an artist "great" or genuine.

 

Totally agree with you Dan!

 

Like him, hate him, whatever, but this is just an ridiculous statement from a hater who is here just to thread bash.

 

Couldn't carry a tune my a**

 

Folks love to tear down Morrison's poetry, see it here all the time. I really like it. He was a protégé of Rimbaud, who I never would have read if not for following Morrison's work.

On Morrison's recommend - Just picked up a copy of Rimbaud's Complete Works translated by Wallace Fowlie - Morrison carried this book with him wherever he went. In 1968 he wrote to Fowlie, by then sixty years old, a French professor, head of the dept at Duke University, personally thanking him for the book. In the 1980s the elderly Fowlie heard the Doors for the first time and was struck by the astonishing similarity between Morrison and Rimbaud.

A casual glance at any page of Rimbaud and Morrison leaps out through it - so, if Morrison's poetry grabs you, check out Rimbaud!

Here is a random sample of Rimbaud :

Yet this is the watch by night.
Let us all accept new strength, and
real tenderness. And at dawn, armed
with glowing patience, we will enter
the cities of glory

Sound familiar?

Eternity. It is the sea mingled with the sun.

 

I like that!

Thanks for the excerpt. I am not familar with his work but I may have to check it out.

 

IMO, "pretentious" means dumb people trying to look smart.

It does not mean smart people who refuse to try to look dumb.

 

I have great memories of anticipating the next Doors album!

 

I wouldn't go so far as to say he couldn't carry a tune, but there are some songs where his singing bothers me so much that it ruins the songs for me. It isn't like I always demand a pretty (or even necessarily tuneful) vocalist. I love Patti Smith's first three albums even though I acknowledge that her vocals wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea; same with Yoko Ono. There's something about Jim Morrison's voice, though, that just rubs me the wrong way at times.

 

One of the strangest rabbit holes I ever found. Wallace Fowlie didn't hear the Doors until he was 76, then was so fascinated he wrote a book on the subject of Rimbaud and Morrison. The mystery and attraction for me is Rimbaud is a window into the Morrison enigma, that most writings only serve to further obscure.

 

It's the overdramatic quality for me. Mandy Patinkin's musical theater work annoys me in exactly the same way.

 

That's more or less my view of the term as well. And why I said that I think a lot of the critical dismissiveness of the Doors is projected. What I really should have said is that I think some of the naysayers of the group project onto the Doors a notion that the pretentiousness they get from them actually makes The Doors bad aesthetically.

In other words, pretension can only be "bad" if it is not in fact genuine. The Doors are genuine. They aren't "pretending" to write meaningful, exotic and poetic songs. They are indeed genuinely striving to do so.

More succinctly, I don't inherently view pretentiousness or "shallowness" as negative descriptors of any artist just so long as the artists are genuine about it. In other words, I think genuineness (in art) is far more important than credibility. Whether an artist gets a reputation of being dumb trash or composing mesmerizing gems, all artists should be themselves and "do what they do". That will always resonate deeper with those who actually appreciate you more than any credibility or critical acceptance.

 

I actually can understand that. I think because his voice and range of exclamation is so back and forth and sometimes jarring, it naturally will come off as either uniquely "wow" or uniquely "yikes!".

Yet I think that's also true of a lot of distinct or polarizing artists. Many will lean heavily to one opinion or the other. A middle ground or lukewarm-ness about such artists is rare.

 

To answer the Op’s question: I think it was ****ing incredible

 

And my other favorite Doors song/Jim vocal after that one and "Riders On The Storm", that illustrates just how beautifully Jim could sing.

Utterly gorgeous...

 

I think that the Doors were one of the most musically original rock bands from anywhere, full stop. I didn't like the Doors without Jim but it's a mistake to think therefore that Jim was the band. Three incredibly talented and unique musicians were needed to make Jim's little games and gambols suitable for the public. Krieger in particular was unlike any other guitarist in rock at the time that I know of.

 

Well said.

Krieger is very overlooked as a songwriter too (to the casual public).

Densmore was a great drummer and Ray might be one of the most distinct and gifted keyboardists in the history of pop music (to my ears). I actually attribute the "Doors Sound" largely to Ray (The ambience and musical backing on signature tracks like Light My Fire and Riders On The Storm).

But all four had that unique yet essential chemistry that makes any great band unique.

 

And yet, without Jim The Doors were little more than a competent garage band who possibly never would've escaped the local club circuit. For proof listen to The Doors albums with Morrison, and the two LP's the remaining members made after his death. The dropoff in quality is startling.

 

The Doors made some fantastic music. The best of it is pretty f'in amazing.

 

When I landed in LA and rented a car and began to drive towards Venice Beach back in 2017, the first album I played on the stereo was The Doors album "The Soft Parade" as the Doors to me define that city.

 

Yes!

While I can respect anyone finding any member of a band their least favorite (Lennon is actually my least favorite Beatle), it is still undeniable how critical such members are to groups where the four make something greater than any one.

The same with a Mick Jagger, or a Robert Plant or a Freddie Mercury...they can be someone's least favorite member, yet the bands they are in aren't even remotely the same without them.

 

One of a kind. A complete sum of its parts, each member irreplaceable. As a 65 year old man, it's hard for me to believe now that first album was made by men (barely) in their mid to late 20's.

 

@Brian Lux, thank you for posting that excellent book about Rimbaud & Morrison. I read that when I was about 21 or so, already into the Doors, but more because I was into Rimboud at a much earlier age, at 15, when I had seen the film Eddie and the Cruisers.

@Danby Delight & @dryjoy, then what sort of lyrics would you prefer? I appreciate your opinions; I really do, yet in an age where most rock lyrics still relied heavily on the most basic clichés of girls, parties and fast cars, Morrison's genuine desire was the elevate the game. If there was anything premeditated in Morrison's approach, he knew that in order to touch the audience you had to be the audience. By "being the audience" he gave them a voice that they didn't know they had. In fact, Morrison openly called more bullsɥᴉʇ against the establishment, where others feared to tread.

I'm not saying this as a Morrison apologist. I've recognized for a long time that there is more legend than fact to the Morrison mythos. At the same time, more in line with the OP's original intent, I just can't imagine the Doors music without the rebellious overtones...which is really what rock 'n' roll is about. The marriage between the notes and the meaning behind the notes is a major draw. Even with the saccharine horn and string arrangements that ornaments The Soft Parade, I find that there's still an underlying current of edge that makes me want to roll around in the dirt a little, where the real people live. To the Doors, the pretentiousness was in the establishment, and as hippy-drippy as that might sound today, people are still protesting the same things in 2021 as they were in 1968, only we're softer now and more forgiving, as long as we have our color TVs and drive-thru grease pits. Our protests only last as long as the nightly news allows.

They were a great band and they still are.

 

The music was fantastic. A special and creative chemistry between 3 very interesting musicians. And it fit Morrison's lyrics and style perfectly. This band is a treasure. I question anyone who dismisses them so negatively.

 

Well done. Great post.