Post by darkstar on Apr 2, 2005 16:04:29 GMT
Lizard King Remembered As Landmark and Legend
"Alestle" - Alton, Edwardsville and East St. Louis
Sheri McWhirter
Photo Editor
November 7 2000
"The future's uncertain and the end is always near."
- "Roadhouse Blues,"
The Doors
Nearly 30 years after the death of the Lizard King, his music and poetry carry his name from rock god to legend.
Jim Morrison earned his notoriety while singing for the infamous 1960s rock band, The Doors. He was loved. He was hated. Now he's a landmark.
It was Saturday, June 10, and it had rained all night and all morning in Paris, France. The cool air created steam rising from the warm pavement as Mercedes and BMWs whizzed by in the afternoon rush hour near Pere Lachaise, a national cemetery in the northeast corner of the city.
A guard stood at the gate with a stack of papers in his hands. He'd been handing out maps of the famous cemetery for years and said, in perfect English, that most visitors are American.
He pointed on a map where Frederic Chopin was buried. Then Oscar Wilde. Then Sarah Bernhardt. Then a couple of kings.
"But I assume you're not here to see any of them, right?" the guard said.
He again pointed to the map and smiled. Then he pointed through the gate and up a gentle hill. Nestled in the center of all the ancient tombs, in the largest cemetery in Paris, is the most visited grave in all of France - James Douglas Morrison.
There were flowers. Lilies. Roses. Daisies. There were candles. A burned-out blue one. A red one was still burning. There were cigarettes. There were joints. There was even a dollar bill with a message written on it. There would be more before the day was over. It was only 2 p.m.
Every hour a tour group came by. The guide wore a blue suit and spoke in English. The groups were mostly comprised of pudgy couples with graying hair. They looked at the grave from the muddy path. They zoomed in with their camcorders.
Young people came, but not in tour groups. They edged around other tombs and between headstones while stuffing their maps in their pockets. Most left flowers. Some lit candles.
One woman performed a small ritual. She walked behind the headstone and placed her bunch of daisies on the cold stone. She lit a candle and then took a ring from her finger to leave next to the daisies. She spread around a couple of handfuls of herbs. Then she lit some incense and placed it on the grave. She chanted for a minute and then walked away with tears in her eyes.
Not much later a group of American men stumbled up. One of them was wearing a black leather jacket and pulled a bottle of whiskey out of the inner pocket. He took a long pull from the bottle and handed it to one of his friends. They all in turn took long swigs. Then the man in the leather jacket approached the grave and poured the remaining whiskey on the grave. Two guards who had been lurking behind other tombs appeared and escorted the men from the cemetery.
When the guards came back, one said that they've had to create rules for the national cemeteries because of the behavior of the visitors to Morrison's grave. In the past, cleaning crews have had to pick up alcohol bottles, garbage and even used condoms that appear overnight. He said the government was considering unearthing Morrison and returning him to the United States when the lease on his tomb runs out on July 4 because of the problems his fans have caused.
Because most Western European countries have been burying people for thousands of years, the practice of leasing a resting place started several centuries ago, he said. It then becomes the family's responsibility to renew the lease. If that doesn't happen, another body will be buried in the same place and the original headstone removed. He said the leases are usually 30 years, long enough for a body to decompose. However, in Morrison's case, only removing his casket will keep the fans from coming to the cemetery, the guard said.
Ray Manzarek, the keyboard player from The Doors, confirmed the guard's remark in a recent interview with the cable channel VH1. He said Morrison's casket will be taken to Los Angeles at the request of the French government.
Manzarek said he is uncertain as to whether Morrison is truly dead or if he faked his death to escape his own fame. That's why Manzarek plans to be in Paris in early July - he wants to see for himself.
For now, people still come with their cameras and camcorders, although the site isn't much to look at anymore. The bust sculpture has been removed. The graffiti has been washed away. According to the guard, all items left at Morrison's grave are removed every night after closing. No other grave is cleaned off nightly.
The fans will keep coming. Not many other musicians are remembered like this. Morrison's face is still sold on posters on college campuses and on T-shirts in stores and magazines to a generation that wasn't even alive before he died on July 3, 1971.
While the legend may be gone, his words and music live on.
www.siue.edu/ALESTLE/library/FALL2000/november7/lking.html
"Alestle" - Alton, Edwardsville and East St. Louis
Sheri McWhirter
Photo Editor
November 7 2000
"The future's uncertain and the end is always near."
- "Roadhouse Blues,"
The Doors
Nearly 30 years after the death of the Lizard King, his music and poetry carry his name from rock god to legend.
Jim Morrison earned his notoriety while singing for the infamous 1960s rock band, The Doors. He was loved. He was hated. Now he's a landmark.
It was Saturday, June 10, and it had rained all night and all morning in Paris, France. The cool air created steam rising from the warm pavement as Mercedes and BMWs whizzed by in the afternoon rush hour near Pere Lachaise, a national cemetery in the northeast corner of the city.
A guard stood at the gate with a stack of papers in his hands. He'd been handing out maps of the famous cemetery for years and said, in perfect English, that most visitors are American.
He pointed on a map where Frederic Chopin was buried. Then Oscar Wilde. Then Sarah Bernhardt. Then a couple of kings.
"But I assume you're not here to see any of them, right?" the guard said.
He again pointed to the map and smiled. Then he pointed through the gate and up a gentle hill. Nestled in the center of all the ancient tombs, in the largest cemetery in Paris, is the most visited grave in all of France - James Douglas Morrison.
There were flowers. Lilies. Roses. Daisies. There were candles. A burned-out blue one. A red one was still burning. There were cigarettes. There were joints. There was even a dollar bill with a message written on it. There would be more before the day was over. It was only 2 p.m.
Every hour a tour group came by. The guide wore a blue suit and spoke in English. The groups were mostly comprised of pudgy couples with graying hair. They looked at the grave from the muddy path. They zoomed in with their camcorders.
Young people came, but not in tour groups. They edged around other tombs and between headstones while stuffing their maps in their pockets. Most left flowers. Some lit candles.
One woman performed a small ritual. She walked behind the headstone and placed her bunch of daisies on the cold stone. She lit a candle and then took a ring from her finger to leave next to the daisies. She spread around a couple of handfuls of herbs. Then she lit some incense and placed it on the grave. She chanted for a minute and then walked away with tears in her eyes.
Not much later a group of American men stumbled up. One of them was wearing a black leather jacket and pulled a bottle of whiskey out of the inner pocket. He took a long pull from the bottle and handed it to one of his friends. They all in turn took long swigs. Then the man in the leather jacket approached the grave and poured the remaining whiskey on the grave. Two guards who had been lurking behind other tombs appeared and escorted the men from the cemetery.
When the guards came back, one said that they've had to create rules for the national cemeteries because of the behavior of the visitors to Morrison's grave. In the past, cleaning crews have had to pick up alcohol bottles, garbage and even used condoms that appear overnight. He said the government was considering unearthing Morrison and returning him to the United States when the lease on his tomb runs out on July 4 because of the problems his fans have caused.
Because most Western European countries have been burying people for thousands of years, the practice of leasing a resting place started several centuries ago, he said. It then becomes the family's responsibility to renew the lease. If that doesn't happen, another body will be buried in the same place and the original headstone removed. He said the leases are usually 30 years, long enough for a body to decompose. However, in Morrison's case, only removing his casket will keep the fans from coming to the cemetery, the guard said.
Ray Manzarek, the keyboard player from The Doors, confirmed the guard's remark in a recent interview with the cable channel VH1. He said Morrison's casket will be taken to Los Angeles at the request of the French government.
Manzarek said he is uncertain as to whether Morrison is truly dead or if he faked his death to escape his own fame. That's why Manzarek plans to be in Paris in early July - he wants to see for himself.
For now, people still come with their cameras and camcorders, although the site isn't much to look at anymore. The bust sculpture has been removed. The graffiti has been washed away. According to the guard, all items left at Morrison's grave are removed every night after closing. No other grave is cleaned off nightly.
The fans will keep coming. Not many other musicians are remembered like this. Morrison's face is still sold on posters on college campuses and on T-shirts in stores and magazines to a generation that wasn't even alive before he died on July 3, 1971.
While the legend may be gone, his words and music live on.
www.siue.edu/ALESTLE/library/FALL2000/november7/lking.html