The Doors - Waiting For the Sun
- FaceOff - עימות חזיתי
- 2 days ago
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Written By: Moti Kupfer
Release date - 01.07.1968
Whoever controls the media controls the minds of the people.
Long before anyone imagined the overwhelming power the media would one day have to manipulate public opinion, Jim Morrison seemed to foresee it. That same sense of totality defined Morrison's stage presence, where his theatrical performances gave him an almost hypnotic control over his audience.
On December 9, 1967, "The Doors" performed at the New Haven Arena in Connecticut. The concert came to an abrupt end when police arrested Morrison on stage. It was later revealed that before the show, Jim Morrison had been kissing a female fan backstage when a police officer, unaware that he was the band's singer, ordered him to leave the area. Morrison responded with profanity, and during the performance he continued mocking the officers while sarcastically singing about the incident. The show ended when a police lieutenant approached Morrison, who forcefully shoved the microphone into the officer's mouth. Morrison was taken into custody and charged with inciting a riot, indecent behavior, and public obscenity.
The remaining members of "The Doors", Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore, watched in frustration as the charismatic frontman who had captivated audiences from the very beginning gradually became a man who no longer knew where to draw the line. Just as he was completely committed on stage, he was equally consumed by alcohol and drugs off it.
By 1968, "The Doors" had become one of the biggest rock bands in America. After releasing two albums within just seven months, both packed with future classics that propelled them to stardom, they suddenly realized they had very little new material left for their third album, "Waiting for the Sun," which was released on July 3, 1968.
"When we got to our third album, we had enough money to spend endless hours in the studio. We wanted to get every part just right, and Jim, whose vocal sessions always came last, would get bored waiting around and head to a nearby bar. By the time it was his turn to sing, he was useless," Robby Krieger recalled.
Beyond the shortage of new material, the band had intended to include a 17-minute epic titled "The Celebration of the Lizard." Producer Paul Rothchild felt the piece was not commercial enough, leaving only "Not to Touch the Earth" to survive from the ambitious composition.
Jim Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida. At the age of four, he experienced a traumatic event when he witnessed a horrific traffic accident in the desert involving a Native American family. Morrison later claimed that the incident haunted him for the rest of his life, and he would eventually reference it in several of his songs.
As a child, Morrison moved frequently between military bases across the United States because of his father's career as a senior officer in the U.S. Navy. During his teenage years, one of his greatest passions was reading philosophy and poetry. Among all the thinkers he studied, Friedrich Nietzsche had the deepest influence on him. Morrison frequently explored Nietzsche's ideas and reinterpreted them in "The Doors'" music, particularly in "The End," whose themes resonate with Nietzsche's philosophical reflections on death and eternity.
Nietzsche's philosophy often inspired Jim Morrison's extreme behavior on stage. He would deliberately provoke audiences, screaming at them to wake up.
After graduating from high school, Morrison moved to Florida to live with his grandparents, where he began studying film at Florida State University. He later completed his studies in film and cinematography at UCLA in Los Angeles, where he met Ray Manzarek. During the summer of 1965, the two began writing songs together.
Manzarek soon discovered Jim Morrison's remarkable singing ability, and together they recruited John Densmore and Robby Krieger, whom they met through a meditation class. The four adopted the name "The Doors," inspired by Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception.
In 1966, they began performing in California clubs such as the legendary Whisky a Go Go. Before long, they released their self-titled debut album, "The Doors."
Beyond being a captivating frontman and exceptional vocalist, Morrison considered himself an American poet. He constantly wrote poetry and aspired to be far more than just another rock star. Likewise, "The Doors" believed they were much more than a source of entertainment. They maintained that their purpose was to stimulate the listener's mind, and Morrison was frequently portrayed as an artist rather than merely a performer.
Ray Manzarek, the band's keyboardist, first developed his musical skills as a pianist while also playing competitive basketball throughout high school. After graduating, he briefly studied economics at DePaul University before pursuing theater, film, and television at UCLA between 1962 and 1965, where he met Jim Morrison.
Robby Krieger was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish family. His father was an engineer with a passion for classical music. While attending the private Menlo School in Atherton, Krieger used a free study period each evening to teach himself how to play guitar. During the mid-1960s, he studied flamenco guitar under Frank Chin, a style that would later find its way into "Spanish Caravan," one of the standout tracks on "Waiting for the Sun."
Compared to its predecessors, "Waiting for the Sun" was a more restrained and melodic album. Among its highlights is the gentle ballad "Love Street," inspired by the house Morrison shared with his longtime partner Pamela Courson in Laurel Canyon. The couple affectionately referred to the neighborhood as "Love Street."
The album's biggest hit is "Hello, I Love You," whose main riff and melody have often been noted for their striking resemblance to "All Day and All of the Night" by "The Kinks."
Other standout tracks include "The Unknown Soldier," a direct criticism of the Vietnam War, "Summer's Almost Gone," a nostalgic reflection on the end of summer and the loss of innocence that Morrison had written before meeting Manzarek; and "Five to One," a song that has inspired countless interpretations over the years, with many viewing it as a protest against the prevailing culture of the era.
To date, "Waiting for the Sun" has sold approximately seven million copies worldwide and remains the only "Doors" album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200, securing its place as one of the band's most commercially successful releases.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music
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