On his 50th Death Anniversary: The Underrated Gems of Jim Morrison

50 years later, his songs find fans across generations, and his vocals still inspire many young singers. In the hearts of fans, The Doors frontman Jim Morrison continues to live. Scores of people visit his grave at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris every year to pay their respect.

From 1967 to 1971, The Doors were among the most creative acts on the American rock scene. And though Morrison was recognized as one of the best frontmen, the contributions of keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore were immense too. 

Coming within 10 months of the death of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, 27-year-old Morrison’s demise came as a massive shock to the rock world. To mark his 50th death anniversary on July 3rd, we thought of compiling a list of 10 underrated Doors songs. For obvious reasons, this will not include iconic numbers like “Light My Fire,” “The End,” “LA Woman,” “Riders On The Storm” and the overplayed “Roadhouse Blues.” We shortlisted fan favorites covering the six Doors albums.

The list contains a mix of ballads and uptempo numbers, besides songs that were categorized as ‘baroque pop.’ The quality of Morrison’s vocals was taken into consideration, and in many cases, we chose songs that deserved more mileage than they got. There are many other such songs, but these 10 would be ideal to begin with.

“The Crystal Ship”/The Doors (1967)

An absolute gem from the self-titled 1967 debut album of The Doors, “The Crystal Ship” reflected the soulful side of Morrison’s singing. Though songwriting credits were shared between the four band members, it was essentially written for Morrison’s first ‘serious’ girlfriend Mary Werbelow after their relationship ended. Thus, it had the lines, “The days are bright and filled with pain, enclose me in your gentle rain, the time you ran was too insane, we’ll meet again, we’ll meet again”. Musically, the highlights were Manzarek’s steady keyboard interlude and the song’s gradual build-up.

“You’re Lost Little Girl”/Strange Days (1967)

Though the song didn’t create much impact when the album Strange Days was released, its appearance on the Doors compilation album 13 in 1970 gave it a boost. The song was said to be inspired by actress Mia Farrow’s marriage to the much older star Frank Sinatra. Morrison showed clear influences of Sinatra and Elvis Presley when he sang, “You’re lost little girl, you’re lost little girl, you’re lost, tell me who are you,” using pauses brilliantly. Krieger’s subtle guitaring added another dimension.

“Love Street”/Waiting For The Sun (1968)

Morrison wrote this piece for his girlfriend Pamela Courson, and it was about the street in Laurel Canyon, California, where they stayed. The song drifted from the conventional Doors sound, and some even described it as baroque pop because of its use of classical orchestral influences. Even Morrison’s vocals were not his usual style, when he sang, “She has wisdom and knows what to do, she has me and she has you”. He even introduced a spoken narration in the middle of the song, which was well-received by fans.

“Yes, The River Knows”/Waiting For The Sun (1968)

Though the masses never really discovered the beauty of this song, many hardcore Doors fans rated it highly. The lyrics talked of nature, and Morrison’s vocals were at their sublime best, especially when he sang, “Please believe me if you don’t need me, I’m going but I need a little time; I promised I would drown myself in mystic heated wine”. The short guitar solo was immaculate. Interestingly, Krieger did a complete instrumental version on his 2020 solo album The Ritual Begins At Sundown. It was a perfect tribute.

“Shaman’s Blues”/The Soft Parade (1969)

This was from the album The Soft Parade, which marked the first time the members took individual credit for the songs, as Morrison had differences with Krieger over lyrics on other songs. Morrison wrote this, and gave magnificent portions to Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore, besides using session musicians for trombone and bass. The lyrics began, “There will never be another one like you, there will never be another one who can do the things you do”. A highlight was the climax, which had a marvelous interchange between Morrison and Krieger.

“Wishful Sinful”/The Soft Parade (1969)

Morrison’s rendition of the lines, “Wishful, sinful, our love is beautiful to see; I know where I would like to be, right back where I came” have been considered to be a work of genius, though the Sinatra influence showed once again. Writer Krieger’s strong use of string arrangements led to descriptions of it being ‘chamber rock’ or ‘baroque pop’. The composition had many dense layers, and grew on listeners. There were different interpretations of the lyrics, ranging from the romantic to the sensuous. Since it defied the standard Doors style, it also became a subject of debate.

“Blue Sunday”/Morrison Hotel (1970)

Just over two minutes long, this was one of the two moody love ballads used in Morrison Hotel – the other one being “Indian Summer.” The story was that Morrison wrote “Blue Sunday” in 1965, but hung on to it as he thought it didn’t go with the Doors image. But while recording this album, he wanted to get back to the old sound, and hence chose this. It’s not certain who he wrote it for, but in all probability, it was for Mary Werbelow. Another theory is that he wrote it for Mary but recorded it for Pamela. He crooned, “I found my own true love was, on a blue Sunday, she looked at me and told me, I was the only, one in the world, now I have found my girl.”

“You Make Me Real”/Morrison Hotel (1970)

The vocals on the uptempo “You Make Me Real” showed Morrison at his hard-rocking best, as he sang, “You make me real, you make me feel, like lovers feel, you make me throw away mistaken misery, make me free, love, make me free.” The song began with a brisk keyboard passage, till the guitar came in. Morrison then took over, and except for Krieger’s brilliant solo in the middle, the song belonged to the vocalist all the way, with an explosive ‘Make me free’ climax.

“The Changeling”/LA Woman (1971)

The opening number of LA Woman, the sixth Doors album and the last one with Morrison, “The Changeling” was a blend of blues-rock and funk, with Krieger using the wah-wah to good effect. By this album, the members had again begun taking joint credit for songwriting, but the title was said to have been taken from one of Morrison’s notebooks, and was a reference to a human-like creature found in European folklore. Manzarek played the Hammond organ marvelously, and Morrison sparkled while singing, “I live uptown, I live downtown, I live all around”. The song has often been described as a tribute to the legendary James Brown.

“Hyacinth House”/LA Woman (1971)

One of the most underrated Doors songs, this was considered by devoted fans as among Morrison’s best vocal renditions. Morrison wrote the lyrics and Manzarek composed the music, making strong use of the Hammond organ. Though the name Hyacinth was said to be inspired by a prince in Greek mythology, the song described the upheavals in Morrison’s personal life, especially concerning his relationship with Pamela Courson. The lines “I need a brand new friend who doesn’t bother me, I need a brand new friend who doesn’t trouble me, I need someone, yeah who doesn’t need me” were charged with emotion, and were an example of Morrison’s intense side.

From the above list, it’s obvious that The Doors had a wide variety of songs besides the ones that commonly make it to most playlists. This is in fact true with most popular artists – while some songs become extremely popular, others are admired only by the true-blue fans and the collectors. The Doors too had its set of devoted followers, who probably listened to every single song they played. These were the people who would recite Morrison’s lines “When I was back there in seminary school, there was this person who put forth this proposition that you can petition the Lord with prayer’ from the outstanding “The Soft Parade,” instead of warbling ‘Well, I woke up this morning, I got myself a beer’ from “Roadhouse Blues.”

In the six albums they released when Morrison was alive, The Doors released 62 songs. Because certain songs were given more attention, a good number of their releases went unnoticed by the wider audiences, or were forgotten after a few years. Besides the ones mentioned above, there were others like “Tell All The People,” “Queen Of The Highway,” “The Spy” and “Love Her Madly.” Of course, efforts were made to revive them by releasing fresh or remastered takes, unreleased material and rare concert footage.

50 years after Morrison’s untimely death, it’s time to revive some of those masterpieces. The voice lives on, but one needs to hear a lot more, to celebrate the life of the Lizard King.