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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Jul 12, 2006 9:21:21 GMT
Arguably the best Doors song NEVER to make it to an album......
most of us cannot understand why it did not make it onto The Soft Parade LP......
First seen as the B-Side to the Wishful Sinful single which was a very minor US hit it eventually ended up on the Weird Scenes LP and recently released by The Doors on the 1999 Box Set minus a verse much to the embarrassment of The Doors.
Some great Morrison imagery the song seems to have evolved over a period of years from bits of Jim poetry and elements made up on the spot during the earliest Doors concerts.
And musically superb with all three musical Doors adding thier own little stamp to the song....most notable being some lovely Robby guitar....Also for me one of the few Doors songs that actually benefit from the brass/strings arrangements.
Who scared you
And why were you born, my babe.
In two-time's arms
With all of your charms, my love.
Why were you born
Just to play with me,
To freak out
Or to be beautiful, my dear?
Load your head,
Blow it up.
Feeling good, baby.
Load your head,
blow it up.
Feeling good, baby.
Well my room is so cold,
You know you don't have to go, my babe.
And if you warm it up right,
I'm gonna love you tonight, my love.
Well I'm glad that we came,
I hope you're feeling the same.
Who scared you
And why were you born,
Please stay.
I see a rider
Coming down the road.
Got a burden
Carrying a heavy load.
One sack of silver,
And one bag of gold.
Any thoughts on this Doors gem from you guys?
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Jul 17, 2006 8:40:01 GMT
I wonder whether Who Scared You was played during the 1966 Doors gigs?
Snippets of it appear in gigs from early 1967 as well as later that year. Would be fascinating to know when The Doors first incorporated it into their set.
A good example of a Doors song worked up over the years in concert and all the elements coming together to make a classic Doors tune.
Would be nice to know the definitive history of this and many other Doors tunes. The Moonlight Drive story behind the songs book does not include it unfortunately which is a shame as its a classic Doors song............
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gizmo
Door Half Open
Posts: 113
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Post by gizmo on Sept 16, 2006 8:25:02 GMT
who scared you and shamans blues are almost the same song, (the solo robby plays during shamans blues is like the singing lines of who scared you). i can play the bass line from shamans blues and sing who scared you over it and it fits like a glove for most parts exept the load your head part.
i guess that's the reason why who scared you didn't make it to the soft parade album.
both great tracks but they had to make a choice
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Post by jym on Sept 16, 2006 15:50:19 GMT
Wow! That's weird that Shaman's & Who Scared you have the same musical structure, I'll have to listen to each again. Maybe that's one reason they didn't put it on Soft Parade. Maybe another is that it would have changed the feel of the album, it just doesn't sound like the other songs on SP.
I've always found Who Scared You to be one of the more elusive Doors songs, maybe it's because of the music, although it sounds more traditionally jazz based. I also find Someday Soon to be the same so maybe it's just because I don't hear them all that often or in the context of any album.
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Sept 27, 2011 9:42:11 GMT
The title comes from a comment in a letter that William Burroughs wrote to Allen Ginsberg. How smart is that? One of my top 5 favourite Doors tunes. listen to: The Doors - Who scared you
The final part may well be a reference to Morrison himself. He may well be the rider. His burden..... fame and the his band mates who now sought the rewards of The Doors rather than the art. The heavy load the responsibility placed on Morrison to come up with the magic to keep The Doors in the limelight. The reference to the bag of gold and silver the burden rather than the heavy load itself. Fame the killer on the road that was destroying the magic that had come from the art of The Doors. It's just a train of thought backed up by little in the way of evidence but Morrison drops hint to support this throughout his last few years.  |
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wplj
moderator 
Posts: 186
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Post by wplj on Nov 24, 2011 14:28:58 GMT
Is the edit of Who Scared You that appeared on the box set really the version that was on the b-side of Wishful Sinful? Didn't know that; thought it was a unique edit.
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Nov 24, 2011 15:00:31 GMT
The full version was the one that was on the UK single I used to have and as far as I know the US version. It also appears on WSITG compilation of 1972.
The shortened version is ever so slightly different from that version (apart from missing out the my room is so cold verse).
It has additional sighs from Jim.
There were both 3:50 stereo and mono versions and this shorter 3: 18 version may well have been for radio play only.
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Nov 24, 2011 15:05:01 GMT
There are several versions of this song.
The full 3:50 min version was the one that was B Side to Wishful Sinful in the UK single and as far as I know the US version.
It also appears on WSITG compilation of 1972.
The shortened version is ever so slightly different from that version (apart from missing out the My Room Is So Cold verse).
It has additional sighs from Jim.
There were both stereo and mono versions of the 3:50 min and this shorter 3: 18 min version may well have been for radio play only.
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wplj
moderator
Posts: 186
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Post by wplj on Nov 24, 2011 16:37:25 GMT
So this 3:19 edit was never on a stock single, possibly only on promo singles? Weird ... so that shorter edit was never officially issued on CD until 1997? Strange.
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Nov 24, 2011 16:52:55 GMT
So this 3:19 edit was never on a stock single, possibly only on promo singles? Weird ... so that shorter edit was never officially issued on CD until 1997? Strange. I don't know mate. Maybe somewhere this version was released as a single. Maybe it was just shortened for radio which liked 3 minute songs. I don't think anyone knows. Certainly not The Doors as it was not until fans told them about the box set that they did something about it. |
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wplj
moderator
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Post by wplj on Nov 24, 2011 20:41:19 GMT
I think the problem was first remedied on The Best Of The Doors (2000). I THINK that has the full version.
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Dec 8, 2011 11:38:43 GMT
It's interesting on a day such as today that Jim Morrison deserved so much better than those three. His burden is still here 40 years later which is rather sad. Give the singer some he once said. The Doors never did really.  |
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Nov 22, 2012 12:38:12 GMT
A very interesting possible first reference to 'Who Scared You' from the 1965/66 Green Songbook. We know it was a song that appears during the Danbury High School gig in 1967 but have no clue to it's origins. Now we see the phrase used as far back as maybe 1965.  Green Songbook |
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