Jim Morrison

One of the most influential singers, songwriters, and poets of all time would be the singer, Jim Morrison, of the great American rock band, The Doors. I admire Jim because he was talented, poetic, and he was a man of character. Jim generally wrote songs on three specific things: love, death, and travel. The way he expresses these topics through his songs makes him mysterious and unique. Very few bands in musical history have managed to make the same impression on both young and old listeners, as Jim Morrison and The Doors did.

In 1965, The Doors formed their band with Jim Morrison as lead singer, Ray Manzarek, keyboardist, Robbie Krieger, guitarist, and John Densmore, drummer. The music of The Doors is a mixture of blues, jazz and rock. Jim Morrison was a larger than life figure, and while he was still alive he was a living legend. His death made The Doors even more popular and richer. The Doors sell more records today than when Jim Morrison was alive.

Jim Morrison was one of the most original lyricists in the history of rock and roll. His poetic lyrics summed up his writing and were the perfect match for the bands eclectic sound. Morrison's life and music were so closely connected. His music represents the wild, rebellious attitudes that define rock. Even though he chose to drink and use drugs, he still managed to produce some of the greatest music the 60's had ever seen. His music included parts of American jazz and blues, psychedelic rock, and the guitar riffs of Southern California.

"Jim Morrison originally wrote free, though fierce patricidal lyrics, but as time went on, he was beginning to reflect more current themes and elements supporting the current anti-Vietnam message were becoming more prevalent in his thinking and in his prose. And to this his band mates added unique Eastern-influenced musical ambience, over-dub recordings of Buddhist monks offering their deep, rumbling chants, and any other form of the outlandish and as yet untried. Critic Lester Bangs when he said, "The Stones were dirty, but The Doors were dread" perhaps best summed up the band's appeal"

Although all of the Doors songs are poetic, the ones that are most recognized for being so are, "The End" and "Break on Through." In my opinion, "The End" is a spiritual piece of music that can take you on a trip to truly experience how talented the doors really are, and it will leave you mesmerized. "Break on Through," on the other hand, is more of a hit single, type of song. It was about crossing over and setting your mind free and experiencing new things. No matter how many times I listen to it, I never get tired of it.

Many people look at Jim Morrison as a no good, drunken hippie who played music and did drugs all day long. However, this stereotype is not true at all. In 1991, the Oliver Stone movie, The Doors, blew Morrison's reputation way out of proportion. For the most part, the film was making Jim look like a jerk. This depiction of Jim is not at all accurate. On