As of the time this article is being written the date is December 8th, 2021; what would have been Jim Morrison’s 80th birthday. Morrison is most well known as the lead singer of the band The Doors which were a mainstream fixture from the late 60’s to the early 70’s. Jim Morrison is apart of the infamous 27 club alongside other musical artist who died at the age of 27 such as Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin.
The Doors consisting of Los Angela’s Jim Morrison as vocalist, Ray Manzarek as the keyboardist, Robby Krieger as the guitarist, and John Densmore as the drummer formed in 1965. Morrison and Manzarek would collaborate on the lyrics and titles with Morrison being the more juvenile and controversial of the two. The Doors first big hit came off their self-titled debut album. The song titled Light My Fire immediately put the doors on the map and landed them the number one spot on the billboards top 100. Other songs off the album such as Break On Through and Soul Kitchen further cemented them as a hot commodity.
Jim Morrison himself would become a hot topic of discussion after being banned from the Ed Sullivan show for singing drug related lyrics in a song after being told specifically not to. He was also arrested live on stage for exposing himself to a crowd at a Doors’ concert in Miami. This incident led to Morrison being put on trial for Indecent Exposure, which elevated his popularity even more.
Morrison’s on stage antics and unique demeanor during interviews separated himself and The Doors from other musicians of the time. Morrison was more of a poet than a singer, his literary works have been published several times and are a great way to dive into the mind of The Lizard King. The lyrics he read weren’t filler, they were snippets of poetry used to tell stories and convey the emotions Morrison was feeling. A perfect example of this is the song People Are Strange which expresses the loneliness and confusion Morrison was feeling at the time, due to his suicidal thoughts. Lines such as “people are strange when you’re a stranger” and “faces look ugly when you’re alone” will linger in the mind of the listener. Jim Morrison was never afraid to show the more vulnerable side of himself, and would turn that vulnerability into beautiful pieces of music. Music that gave some comfort to people who related to Morrison and his message. Jim Morrison would later in his career change his appearance drastically, as he grew his hair longer and let a thick beard come in. Morrison would also begin to show signs of having an eating problem, as he rapidly gained weight. This became a hot topic at the time as Morrison had been seen as a sex icon for years. In 1971 The Doors released their last studio album, L.a. Woman. After its release, Jim Morrison would move to Paris alongside his then girlfriend. Morrison would slim down and shave off his beard; now resembling the Jim Morrison of the past. After a few months Morrison was found dead in his girlfriend’s apartment, aged 27. The only thing he left behind was a journal titled Paris Journal. It contains stories and poems written by Morrison during the last few months of his life and gives an idea of his mental state at the time.
Jim Morrison’s legacy can be seen through the artists he inspired such as Eddie Vedder, Ian Curtis, and Layne Staley. They all credit Morrison as their biggest musical influence. Films like Oliver Stone’s The Doors, and books such as Jerry Hopkins’ No One Here Gets Out Alive greatly detail Morrison’s life and garnered immense support. More importantly than any adaptation of his life and person, Jim Morrison will be remembered as a trend setter. Someone who pushed the boundaries of music, whether it was singing about drugs, sex, religion, or the ways of the world, Jim Morrison was never scared to express what he believed. He shared his messages in beautiful pieces of art. Music or perhaps poetry, either way he was able to touch people with his words and rock and roll lifestyle. Even when dealt a bad hand, Jim Morrison turned his pain into passion and shared it with the world. As Morrison said in his song Roadhouse Blues, “The future’s uncertain, and the end is always near, so let it roll baby, roll.”