Of all the classic rock bands from the 1960s and 1970s, the Los Angeles-born group The Doors might be the most polarizing. The Jim Morrison-fronted projects boasts myriad hits but still, the band endures negative attention and derision for some reason. Perhaps it’s Morrison’s psychedelic lyrics or his flamboyant nonchalant style.
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But whatever it is, we wanted to compile a list of tracks here below that showcase the band’s skill, power, and charisma. A trio of songs that employ poeticism and insight into the human condition. Songs that are as valuable today as they were when they were written some 50-plus years ago. Indeed, these are three songs for people who say they don’t like The Doors.
“People Are Strange” from Strange Days (1967)
This song is a crucial one to investigate these days, now more than ever. In an era when the internet is populated by hate and division, orchestrated often by nameless poor-faith accounts, the lyrics of this song, which have everything to do with isolation and the sense of being an outcast, are spot-on. On the circus-like track, lead singer Jim Morrison sings,
People are strange
When you’re a stranger
Faces look ugly
When you’re alone
Women seem wicked
When you’re unwanted
Streets are uneven
When you’re down
When you’re strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you’re strange
No one remembers your name
When you’re strange
“Light My Fire” from The Doors (1967)
From the band’s self-titled 1967 LP, this song is all about passion and love—two things frontman Morrison was known for. Written by the band’s guitarist Robby Krieger, the track blends a hazy psychedelia with a driving rock sensibility. The track has since become one of the best known and most beloved from the group. On it, Morrison sings,
You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn’t get much higher
Come on, baby, light my fire
Come on, baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre
“Riders on the Storm” from L.A. Woman (1971)
This song holds the sad title of being the final track Morrison ever recorded before his sudden and unexpected death two months and two weeks after the band’s 1971 album L.A. Woman was released. Given that fact, it’s an interesting track to be Morrison’s last. The elongated, ponderous song can be seen as his final goodbye as he goes up into the heavens. On it, he sings,
Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm
Into this house, we’re born
Into this world, we’re thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor out on loan
Riders on the storm
There’s a killer on the road
His brain is squirmin’ like a toad
Take a long holiday
Let your children play
If you give this man a ride
Sweet family will die
Killer on the road, yeah
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