(literary) inspirations

[matt]

I made a list containing some works that supposedly influenced Morrison's lyrics in one way or another. Some time ago I posted it in the LL but didn't get no response at all. Feel free to add some you know or to just comment on the list.

The Doors

Break On Through (To The Other Side)
Alfred Kubin - The Other Side;
Aldous Huxley - The Doors of perception, "LSD" ;
Thomas De Quincey - Confessions of an English Opium Eater
Charles Baudelaire - Artificial Paradises

Soul Kitchen
Inspired by Olivia's

The Chrystal Ship
Greek and mythology I would say

End Of The Night
Louis Ferdinand Celine - Journey to the end of the night
A lot of William Blake quotes

Take It As It Comes
Erich Maria Remarque - Time to live, time to die (also a bible quote)
Inspired by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

The End
A lot inspired by Greek and Indian mythology and the writings of Freud and Nietzsche

Strange Days

Horse Latitudes
Inspired by some Spanish Seaman stories

My Eyes have seen you
Inspired by works of Antonin Artaud

When the music¡¦s over
Said to be inspired either by Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep or some cheap porn movie

Waiting For The Sun

Not to touch the earth
J.G. Frazer - The Golden Bough (anthropology book on Menstruation taboos)

My wild love
Sounds a lot like some Robert Johnson lyrics

The Soft Parade

Wild Child
Has some Rimbaud references

Running Blue
Otis Redding homage

Morrison Hotel

The Spy
Anais Nin - Spy in the house of love

L.A. Woman

Been down so long
Richard Farina - Been down so long it looks like up to me

L.A. Woman
John Rechy - City of night

Hyacinth House
Greek Mythology

Riders on the storm
Truman Capote - In Cold Blood
Georges Simenon - The Hitchhiker

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

Cool thread mate..........there are a few literary buffs here who could add some interesting stuff....so c'mon guys lets hear it.........

Just a few off the top of my head.....


Take It As It Comes
John mentioned this in ROTS and in the December 2005 documentary on BBC Radio 2 John mentioned that Jim attended a meeting of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi because he wanted to look into his eyes......John said that Jim said to him 'yes hes got something.... there is some knowledge there'. Jim wrote the song as a tribute.......

The End
Main inspiration for that was his girlfriend Mary Werbelow..........it would never have come about if not for her.

When the music's over
The cheap porn movie was Scream Of The Butterfly......................Jim liked it and used the line in the song....a lot of it just came from bits of poetic ramblings from his notebooks and I would dispute the common held belief that it is actually a political song............

L.A. Woman
Jim was a film student so its also possible that City Of Night could have come from the silent classic The City of Terrible Night which was a Rudyard Kipling screenplay. Without doubt a tribute to film noir as well as his love fot LA and wholly approriate as the place was the home of the movies.............

Hyacinth House
I think that in itself is a MYTH as Robbys house where the song was formulated supposedly had Hyacinth growing ouside and its not about Hyacinthus..........same with the bathroom....apparently it was just that....Jim wanted a piss and saw the bathroom was clear.........

Wild Child
This has an obvious Rimbaud connection.................

End Of The Night
The poet Mike McClure pulled Jim up on this saying that parts of the lyric are lifted from William Blake's Auguries of Innocence poem......Jim laughed and said 'I know but I ain't been busted yet!'

Riders on the storm
Inspired as well by Morrison's screenplay The Hitchiker and Ghost Riders In the Sky the Stan Jones song........

Hello I love You
Inspired when Jim saw a coloured girl on Venice Beach during his sojourn on Dennis Jacobs rooftop (Ray was NOT there ) and called out to her 'Hello I love You'.......

My Eyes Have Seen You
The voyeuristic theme comes from living on Dennis Jacob's roof.......Dennis was looking after a building as a caretaker and let Jim live on the roof.........Jim saw the view from the roof and the forest of TV arials and incorporated that view into the song.
Also probably inspired by his essays and notes on film making that he wrote in his notebooks..............

Also check out Mandala's discussion forum for JDMs lyrics........
Jim's Lyric Forum

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

matt said:

The Crystal Ship
Greek and mythology I would say

More likely Celtic as both Welsh & Irish folklore contains stories of the Celtic Wizard/God Mannanan, who gave his name to The Isle Of Man, who had a ship called 'Scuabtuinne' or Wave Sweeper which was made of crystal and did not need sails as it was propelled by thought......