Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite Doors Songs

I recently read John Densmore's autobiography about his time in The Doors. As you may or may not know, The Doors are one of my favorite bands, and I consider them greatest American rock and roll band of all-time. They were the first band that really sang about dark subject matter. To paraphrase a great line from Oliver Stone's 1991 movie The Doors, in 1965 when The Doors were making their way through the Sunset Strip club scene, most people were singing "Mrs. Brown, you've got a lovely daughter," while The Doors were singing "Father, I want to kill you / Mother, I want to fuck you."

The band was truly an eclectic mix of musicians with influences that ran the gamut. Jim Morrison was the first true rock star, as well as rock's poet – a drunken genius who brought excess, Rimbaud, and Nietzsche to rock and roll – with a primal scream that few have ever matched. Ray Manzarek was a blues-influenced Chicagoan who served as the band's bassist and keyboardist at the same time, playing a bass keyboard with one hand and a regular keyboard with the other, giving The Doors their signature sound. Robbie Krieger was a wiry guitar player who got his start playing guitar by learning flamenco. John Densmore was a jazz drummer whose style fit perfectly with Morrison's often-unpredictable stage shows.

In their short time as a band, they put out 6 studio albums between 1967 and Jim Morrison's death in 1971, two more albums as a trio without Morrison, and then, in 1978, they backed Morrison's spoken-word poetry album, An American Prayer (originally recorded in 1969 and 1970 by Morrison). It was tough for me to narrow the list down to ten songs, but even tougher to put them in any sort of order. I'm not even sure about this order.

10. "Spanish Caravan" (Waiting For The Sun, 1968)

This is admittedly kind of a weird choice, but that's what's nice about musical tastes: they're personal. This song showcases Krieger's flamenco influences. It's different. It also has a badass, fuzzed-out flamenco solo, which I love. This song barely edged out a handful of other songs for the last spot, including "Riders On The Storm," "The Soft Parade," "Five To One," "Not To Touch The Earth," and just about every other song off the debut album that's not already on this list.

9. "The End" (The Doors, 1967)

Rock and roll just didn't have enough Oedipal songs, did it? This is the last song off the band's debut album, and it's absolutely creepy, from Krieger's sitar-y guitar to Manzarek's droning keyboards to Densmore's up-and-down jazzy drumming to Morrison's demented lyrics. Check out this opening verse: "This the end / Beautiful friend / This is the end / My only friend, the end / Of all elaborate plans, the end / Of everything that stands, the end / No safety or surprise, the end / I'll never look into your eyes again." Jesus. It's no wonder this song was used in Apocalypse Now. Here are some of my favorite lyrics: "Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain / And all the children are insane." "The blue bus is calling us." What the fuck does that even mean? "Ride the snake to the lake / The ancient lake, baby / The snake is long / Seven miles / Ride the snake / He's old / And his skin is cold." That's just weird. "The killer awoke before dawn / He put his boots on / He took a face from the ancient gallery / And he walked on down the hall." He then kills his family, save for his mother, of course. Now, it was still 1966 when this was recorded, so the primal screaming after "Mother, I want to" is as close to the Oedipal drama as the virgin ears of America's youth would be allowed to hear. Still, this was some pretty dark, heavy subject matter. If you want to freak out your co-workers, play this song loudly on repeat.

8. "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" (The Doors, 1967)

The greatest first song off a debut album? That's a debate for another Tuesday Top Ten, but this would certainly be up there. "Break On Through" is a great rock song, with driving drums, a great bass line, shrieking vocals, and, of course, lyrics about drugs.

7. "Soul Kitchen" (The Doors, 1967)

This is an underrated song of the band's debut album. It starts off with a catchy organ riff that repeats throughout the song. I've always loved the chorus, which turn the song up a notch: "Let me sleep all night in your soul kitchen / Warm my mind near your gentle stove / Turn me out and I'll wander baby / Stumblin' in the neon groves."

6. "Roadhouse Blues" (Morrison Hotel, 1970)

This a great blues rock song, and, as I have mentioned before, one of the best jukebox songs ever (in the first Tuesday Top Ten ever) and one of the best karaoke songs for guys to sing. This is just a great bar song. "Well, I woke up this mornin' / And I got myself a beer." What a great line, and it was probably true.

5. "Tightrope Ride" (Other Voices, 1971)

This song is off The Doors' first album after Morrison's death, with Manzarek taking over lead vocals and doing a formidable job. The song is a solid rocker. It's about Morrison as a tragic figure. This line has always stuck in my craw: "And we're by your side / But you're all alone / Like a Rolling Stone / Like Brian Jones." Jones, of course, was the Stones' guitarist who was kicked out of the band in 1969, then died a couple months later . . . at the age of 27. Krieger has a nice solo near the end. Unfortunately, Playlist.com didn't have this, so it's not on the embedded list below, but here is a link to the song on YouTube.

4. "When The Music's Over" (Strange Days, 1967)

An eleven-minute, dark, trippy masterpiece. In my opinion, this song contains the greatest shriek in rock history. It gets kind of slow for a while, and around the 8-minute mark, Morrison says "We want the world and we want it . . . now," then just WAILS, and the song kicks back into gear. This recurring line sums up many people's love of music: "Well the music is your special friend / Dance on fire as it intends / Music is your only friend / Until the end."

3. "L.A. Woman" (L.A. Woman, 1971)

This is one of my favorite driving songs. For some reason, whenever I hear it, I imagine driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas (or vice versa) in a big old Imapala or Cadillac, with the windows rolled down and a cigarette in my mouth. And of course, there is the bridge, featuring the recurring phrase "Mr. Mojo Risin'," which, if rearranged, spells Jim Morrison. A free copy of National Lampoon's Vacation to the person who can come up with the funniest anagram of Give Me Your Handrew.

2. "Moonlight Drive" (Strange Days, 1967)

This was one of the first songs written by Jim Morrison. Legend has it, after Morrison sang a couple lines to Manzarek in 1965, they decided to form a band, and with good reason. "Moonlight Drive" is a fantastic song. They lyrics are so fluid. The song builds until Morrison is wailing near the end of the song, before the post-coital coda.

1. "Peace Frog" (Morrison Hotel, 1970)

This song has a great, catchy riff that draws you in, a bass line that makes you nod your head, and lyrics about blood in the streets of Chicago and New Haven while the rest of the band yells "she came" in the background.