A band laying their heart out in the backdrop and a voice, a hypnotizing, charismatic voice, shelling out spoken poetry passage that can make me listen to the same song again and again and again.
That is THE DOORS for you and even though it has been 35 years since they first came on stage, their music, their legacy, their voice keeps echoing, resonated by the walls of time. And the man who led them there was one who can never be replaced, never paralleled, JAMES “JIM” MORRISON.
Jim Morrison had been a bright kid since his childhood, reading books on a wide array of topics and attending the University of California. His songs, his poems reflect Jim Morrison as the way the man he wanted to be. It was the period after he graduated that the troubles began, the period of Jim Morrison drug abuse began.
During 1965, Jim started living a bohemian lifestyle in Venice Beach. Spending his days on the roof of a house in which his friend resided, Jim wrote lyrics to most of THE DOORS early songs. It is said that he lived simply on canned beans and LSD for several months, a period when he would space out at times and not be himself, in other words, and the effect of the drug abuse started to show. It was during this summer of 1965 that THE DOORS was made and within two years with LIGHT OF MY FIRE, they became one of the most popular bands of USA. The strong relationship with drugs and alcohol that he shared was visible in his works too, with the Light of my fire, bearing the lyrics such as “Girl we couldn’t get much higher”, a straightforward reference to drugs and getting high.
With this explosive rise to fame, Jim Morrison very much like Kurt Cobain (Read our article on Kurt Cobain Drug abuse), found it extremely difficult to cope up with the fame and developed a severe drinking and substance abuse habit. Jim Morrison drug abuse worsened and he was mostly addicted to heroin and cocaine and it is said, that he started doing substance abuse almost every day. The quality of his poems deteriorated, his professionalism went haywire, in short the fuse to the destruction bomb was lighted.
By 1969, matters became worse, Morrison – a heavy drinker and substance abuser by then- showed u for recording sessions inebriated, for many a live show he was late or did not present himself. His weight increased considerably, grew a moustache and a beard and started wearing casual clothes even to his concerts. He was so troubled that during a concert in Miami, he tried to spark off a riot leading to massive chaos and pandemonium. Not only this, but he had some twenty paternity action cases against him, most of which were a result of his not being in his senses.
Ultimately, on July 3, 1971 at a ripe age of just 27, Morrison took a severe dosage of heroin, which led to the great man’s fall i.e. Jim Morrison’s death. Jim Morrison wrote some of the best songs I have ever heard a rock band belt out, unfortunately because of his alcohol and drugs problem, he had to bid adieu way earlier than he was supposed to. Jim Morrison’s death was too early than it was destined to be and had he still been alive, undoubtedly he still would have been “lighting many a fire, and getting it higher”. The Doors are incomplete without Jim Morrison. We miss you. If only Jim Morrison drug abuse would never have been a reality, he would have been with us, lightening our lives with his charismatic voice!! It should be a lesson for all youths who think drugs are cool. C’mmon grow up, feel what is right for yourself, teen drug abuse is a great matter of concern, rise against it. I do hope all readers reading this post will!!
