WOW, Thank you. You're the first reaction channel I've seen that actually addressed the meaning of the song. It's very deep and completely messed up. But very real.
Err, it's Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King). It's an ancient Greek tragedy written by Sophocles. He touches on the themes of Oedipus Rex once or twice in the lyrics but most of it is just unrelated 'trippy' imagery because it sounded cool when he said it, as far as I can tell.
One of the greatest film openings ever is the opening to Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now.” You see military helicopters flying over the Vietnamese jungle (actually the Philippine jungle) while “The End” plays. Just as Morrison sings “This is the end…”, the entire jungle explores into flames. Yet all you hear on the soundtrack is the Doors. It is a truly unforgettable moment.
I agree it’s a powerful usage. I also think it has the sense of heaviness and foreboding that Amy picks up. Added is that the weight of thick southern humid air is definitely in the Apocalypse Now visuals of the jungle moved by a breeze.
It's not just the opening of the film: it's the once-in-a lifetime concomitance of an epic song (epic by rock standards), an epic film (only 2001 is in this league in films of that epoch), and a still mind-bending and gut-wrenching novel from another century, Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Both the novel and the movie express an extreme 'end' - the ultimate pit of darkness of the human heart (or is it perhaps the Dark Night of the Soul, or both?) - which Coppola managed to pair with the only rock song ever composed that could accompany it and do it justice. It's about the end of all that matters and. indeed, of all that is. It suggests that all of existence could pass into nonexistence; that nothingness could triumph over existence.
The Doors were getting a lot of bad press in 1971..I wanted to tell Morrison that 50 years from now people would still be listening to their music and that it was timeless, unfortunately when I arrived at The Doors Office on Santa Monica Blvd where they were recording LA Woman Morrison had just left…oddly enough I was in Paris in September of 71 where I visited Morrison’s grave at Pete Lachaise..
Robbie's playing sounds almost like a sitar. The rhythm is fluid, adaptive, ready to go off in any direction at any time. The words paint several weird scenes. The Doors were at their best when you didn't know what to anticipate. They didn't always know what to expect, either. The mark of a great psychedelic band.
Well said. First acid trip looped this all night in a dark room......January of 1996. Jim at his peak transcedence A few years later, drunk at a house party, and happening upon some clean acid....i went out to my truck and played this on the cd player and stared at the near full moon. Jim felt very much alive during that....i knew in my bones at that moment spirits were a real as anything and that i was aware of an ancient ecology without end, despite the cold sober everday perception of meaningless id come to know
Oh, forgot to add that John Densmore drumming on this is fantastic, where he accents things, his dynamics, going louder and then pulling back and just gently riding a cymbal, etc...
Densmore was the unsung hero of the song (and band!). He had to anticipate all the noodling improvisations of the other band members, accentuate them with his own, and then reel them all back in when it was time to return to the main structure of the song.
Agreed. What I love is how Densmore throughout plays so as to serve the song. These guys listened to each other and created an intruiging musical conversation. This music retains its power all these years later.
A master piece. The doors music stands the test of time, they sounded like no one else. They where popular but they where so much more then a pop band.
They should have made songs without their stupid organ. It's like country music.... like seriously guys, please make at least ONE song without the stupid steel guitar. Get my drift? Oh, and the lyrics and drugs were dumb too. Annoying. No masterpiece, just a drug fueled band making uninteresting music.
For me, the most rewarding aspect of this series is seeing the ideas and emotions passing across Amy's face, knowing that this is the first time she's hearing it. The raising of her eyebrows, different facial expressions, the communicate emotions than seem to mirror those that I felt when I first heard this decades ago. Her eyes tell the story that I really want to hear.
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Same thought occurred to me. She could have gotten I role in a Bergman film
I started to watch because of it. I stayed because of her remarkable knowledge and interpretation. (I may not agree with, but when people tell me their "why", I listen to them).
Once again Amy's insights are deep and valuable! It's amazing to think that this song came out just four years after "Please please me" by The Beatles. The artistic explosion of rock music, the creative limits it crossed so quickly, is difficult to grasp! As for "the end", I tend to believe that it can mean any intense transformative state that, although fearsome, sad or stressful, in some ways it's a creative part of life, a "friend" of sorts -maybe the ultimate one. As a piece of art... I believe it 's a landmark in 20th century music, showcasing a song as a transformative ritual in itself.
@@briangriffin5524 Indeed they did, and they changed music forever. I mentioned their song as some kind of a landmark that may separate old time rock'n'roll from what we consider as more "modern" rock.
I've noticed that Amy seems to like gradual introduction and “weaving” of instruments, and based on that, I really can't recommend “Echoes” by the great Pink Floyd enough. It's almost 24 minutes long, in true prog fashion, but it doesn't feel overlong at all. I find the composition amazing in how it feels like it's telling a great tome's worth of story with just music: establishing musical relationships, changing them, separating them, creating moments of despair, fear, and reunion with old friends. In my personal opinion, it's Pink Floyd's magnum opus, and I feel like Amy would enjoy it a lot.
I always thought this song had a kind of East Indian flavor. The electric guitar sounds like a sitar to me. Very hypnotic. I have heard this song many times, and I sang along while listening, but when Amy paused, it felt like, "Oh, back to reality", in an interesting way. Snapped out of an altered state of consciousness. The Doors did so many drugs, I am getting a contact high through the notes 56 years later!
I hadn't considered the heat and humidity theme before, though it might well be there in the sense of the Indian subcontinent. I hear far less Southern, Latin, Caribbean or "Oriental" influence than the popular rock sound of that time -- the music of India with the influence of the sitar, which the guitarist imitated well. All this reminds me of the Ganges.
Robbie Kreiger was an accomplished flamenco guitarist and you can hear it much of the time in his work with the Doors, as well as the drone like sound of the influence of Indian music at that time, as others have noted. Those high pitched sounds you are trying to identify at the beginning are a set of chimes which some drummers can mount on their drum kit. Ask Karl about those. There are quite a few percussion add-on that can be added to a drum kit. Also, you may be hearing the sound of a Tamborine on the 2 and the 4, which Jim played along with often.
That the high pitched strumming sounds like the guitar strings plucked either beyond the bridge or between the nut and the tuning keys. Maybe it's a combination of strings and chimes.
@@jameswarner5809 - I'd just posted a similar comment before coming across your one and am sure that's what's happening there; Most likely between the bridge and the tailpiece of Krieger's SG, as the plucking is very even, which would be harder to achieve on the headstock.
The End is one of my favorite Doors track, Very psychedelic rock, kind of spiritual magical Organ melody keep place between groovy warm slow ryhtem in my ears and must not forget the post modern art of Jim Morison Singing.
This is my favorite song of all time. Thank you for that Amy. I've been following you since the beggining and I'm so glad your channel is progressively getting the love and acknowledgment it deserves
It does roughly follow the outlines of a classical Indian raga; stating a thematic template that shapes the mood and pattern of the whole piece and developing melodically and rhythmically improvisatory sections that each return to the main theme - transformed in intensity by what has gone before - then gradually climbing to a frenetic climax. But instead of encapsulating ideas of spiritual ecstasy or a search for the eternal, I agree that this is a sustained meditation on the descent into nihilism. It is often true that when all sense of meaning, purpose and relationship has gone from the soul, the psyche can try to find some sense of release in empty sexual excess and angry violence, often self-destructive but in the worst-case scenario, directed towards others, or even society as a whole. Where I would beg to differ is that this “beastly” state does not represent that of the animals. Yes, of course, sexual drive and aggression is evident in animal behaviour, sometimes wild and intense and mostly unsentimental. But it is always linked to purpose - mating, hunting, defense - and it is typically brief and always contextual. Animal instincts are triggered and suppressed by environmental signals such as times and seasons. Animals in the wild are not typically wantonly destructive nor are they addictively lustful. Freud was wrong, the uncontrolled "Id" and Oedipal urges are not the natural expression of or inheritance of Nature. It is human beings who can uniquely and tragically descend into such a psychically chaotic state, because we are not automatically controlled and directed by an environment, at least not the physical environment anyway. Our essential link to higher values such as familial love and nobility of spirit must come from some environment that is higher than ourselves. I enjoyed your thought-provoking analysis, as you can see! :-)
That was the best definition of this song yet . I finally respect Morrison’s genius with these lyrics ..The end of the qualities that define humanity .
The end of the qualities that define humanity, may be why Francis Ford Coppola used this song as the audio focal point at the beginning and end of Apocalypse Now.
This song is not for the faint hearted, deep, dark and somewhat disturbing but pure genius both instrumently and lyrically. It was said Jim loved to explore the dark side, at times he could be a madman one minuet then have the charm of a Southern Gentleman the next. The Doors were all about masterfully crafting and building a song into a climax of intense chaotic disarray and mayhem only to bring you back to sanity in the next verse. Please check out The Soft Parade and Not to Touch the Earth, you won't be disappointed
its stark material, id agree. but I'm not sure dark fits. its more brutal honesty. he's picking up the culture's rock & hes watching the ant wars.... the song concludes w/ a declaration for indiv freedom to seek & face this truth w/ the added strength of insight.
I would add also to a previous comment about how good Densmore's drumming is on this record. As a drummer myself, I can say it is as close as it gets to perfection. The rythmic choice. The dynamics. The nuance. When I listen to what he's doing here, I feel like he's wrapping me in a warm blanket on a chilly journey down Morrison's snake highway.
This was brilliant, Amy. I've seen many people discuss this song, musicians and listeners, fans and non-fans, and I've known this song since I was a teenager. You're break-down was different. You successfully tackled subtle nuances and larger themes in a way that was atypical and poignant. Many people try to place this song in a box of their own understanding, whether it be cold and logical dissection or purely emotional. And they often miss the point, in my mind. You were able to describe what's happening musically and what role the music plays, as well as look at how that relates to the music from a standpoint of not knowing yet, and trying to get into the WRITER'S mind. - What did this person want to convey to us?? - I see sooo many people shoot this song down as being either ambiguous and pointless, or exalting it in its free flowing mad-like emotional states (aka don't overthink it just feel it). But you, I feel, very successfully said, 'well here's what would make sense in marrying the structure and execution of the song with the hard-to-read and emotionally difficult themes and words', and you absolutely nailed it. There is more than meets the eye going on here, and it takes a fresh perspective of a new listener who is both highly trained in musical interpretation and highly intelligent yet has no personal stake in what this song means or should mean culturally to existing listeners, and without needing to say 'this is a great song', or 'this is terrible', but rather 'here's simply what it seems to be doing'. I just can't say enough about how refreshing and enjoyable this was.
Well said. I was thinking as well how me as a non musical vocabulary possessing and non musically trained person would miss things like a person who can't read seeing words as meaningless squiggles. Whereas she would notice these things. The difference between expertise and merely having an uninformed opinion.
Same actually. As a teen I used to smoke so much weed and listen to this in the dark with headphones. lol I am in my mid 30's now and probably haven't heard this song in a decade or more. 15 seconds in I found myself closing my eyes and going back to that place. It's so hypnotic, and I urge anyone who hasn't to listen to it with headphones.
These guy's had a gift for using music very atmospherically, as well as having the wisdom to use silence as a part of it as well. Their toolbox included the influence of bebop jazz, classical, Latin music, blues, and for the song in question we have an obvious Eastern influence. Lyrically, being as well read as Morrison was adds yet another complexity... He drew inspiration and often references things from literature... Novels, surrealist/beat poetry, philosophy, mythology, world history and theater. You may sometimes hear a lyric and wonder what on earth could the meaning be? When the reality of it could be, it's something taken from or inspired by Kerouac's On The Road, or Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil, Huxley's Brave New World, etc etc and rather abstract to the song and it's contexts. I particularly loved your analysis of the explicit portion, the hostility, it symbolizing the end of love and I truly believe you're on the money here and on your way to having an understanding of how deep James Morrison was.
I really enjoyed your interpretation and analysis of this song. The guitarist Robbie Krieger had previously learned how to play the Indian sitar and also flamenco guitar. This is where the exotic eastern sound comes from. Another excellent Doors song you should review is The Soft Parade. I know that you would really appreciate it.
yeah the sofr parade, abso-funky-lutely. goes beyond classic.. the Celebration of the Lizard, with all its parts and glory, would also be a gret thing to go afterwards...
As already alluded to, this is quite an atmospheric piece. Jim was obviously a brilliant poet and his soothing voice made songs such as this delectable.
👍🤠 Let me tell you a story about the recording of this masterpiece. When recording they wanted to capture the feeling of when they played live. Tried a couple times but just couldn’t get it. So the band took Jim out and got his head in the right place. Came back that night to try again. Studio dark with one candle burning. Starting playing and this is that take, straight through no edits. So basically one take. Amazing talented musicians.
And tell the rest of the story. After Morrison got done with the recording process, he took a fire extinguisher and hosed down the studio. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. I compare it to The Who destroying their instruments on stage, which I feel is an act of stupidity. I say that because after working in studios and knowing what studios cost and outboard gear doesn't take kindly to that sort of abuse.
About the who and their destruction: it is said they were inspired by a painter (forgot his name, sorry) that destroyed all his paintings as a protest against the nuclear threat of the cold war. (In a sense like.. "What's the point of all this, if you are willingvto destroy everything, anyway?"
@@rosskendall3310 ok challenge accepted. My guess? The recording session was so good, the band was on fire making it so HOT that Jim thought the studio was going to burn down the whole building so he doused it, thus saving the building so he's a HERO! Stay away from drugs children...Just Say NO! 😬
He was out of his mind on acid when he came up with a great deal of this track. 10,000 micrograms, to be exact, if the rest of the band are to be believed. This is…an incredible amount. The man was enlightened
Really a wonderful and brilliant response, amazing for a first listen. I was 17 when this album came out, and I related to this song in the context of a “bad” LSD trip, but it could have been a response to any trauma that brought an end to innocence and ordinariness. The Doors’ next album, Strange Days, extended this mood of alienation and longing, often in beautiful ways.
25:15 Those higher pitches are still the guitar I think, it sounds like he is picking the strings, on the neck, before where the fretboard starts, it sounds like hes sweeping a pick gently over that section, possible while turning a tuning knob to drop to a lower pitch, i play guitar and that sounds like an electric guitar, being played in the formentioned way, so its actually just two instruments, the electric guitar and the drums! :)
The Trio of songs I listened to through turbulent emotional times that reset me to the middle once again. I started with Hey You by Pink Floyd, then The Cure, Disintegration and then The End by the Doors. This trio kept me alive several very dark times. Music is so utterly powerful.
I would never think to turn to those songs in times of emotional darkness……I would fear they would put me over the edge rather than save me. I am sincerely glad that they helped you, however.
@w.geoffreyspaulding6588 I may be an outlier, but the more pain I feel in the music, the more I empathize and self reflect. And that understanding that others suffer just as much if not more than I feel at the time, drags me out and brings me up out of the doldrums.
If you grew up in the 1960's you would know that the musical influence during the intro is from India. A lot of musicians of the 60's picked up that influence, that exotic sound. It's worth mentioning, Ravi Shankar played the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 introducing the hippies to the sitar and eastern music. George Harrison would teach himself to play the sitar.
This song demonstrations the different sides of Jim Morrison, the singer-poet and the actor and the hedonist-drug user. Of all the works by the Doors it's one of the most challenging along with The Celebration of the Lizard. The Doors for me is perhaps the most psychedelic bands as well as the the most original of the 60s. Thank you for taking the risk of listening to this piece.
It's so different from the radio-friendly works like "Love Her Madly." I love that the Doors have that kind of range. It's also remarkable how early they managed this. It's got shades of prog rock, but prog was in its infancy back then. Basically prog was only King Crimson and the Moody Blues when this album came out. The paragons of prog, like Yes and ELP, hadn't got going yet.
"The End" is contemporary to what The Velvet Underground was recording musically at the time, notably "Venus in Furs", "All Tomorrow's Parties", and "Heroin"; and then "Sister Ray". Amazingly innovative American rock groups!
Jim Morrison is a beat poet, much like Alan Ginsburg, Michael McClure, and others. Ray Manzarek on keyboards says down a beat much like a bass or bongos in a smoke-filled coffee house. In fact, Ray Manzarek played keyboards with Michael McClure reciting his poetry around the year 2000.
John Densmore needs to commended for his drum work for the Doors. Big epic sounds and arrangements being held together with excellent sub division on a very basic drum kit according to today's standards.
Oh what a song. I used to listen to it a lot as a teenager. That whole first album. These days I'll prefer When The Music's Over and their second album, but what a trip The End is. Jim used to say that there was not enough chaos in music (which applies a lot to the current corporate world of today) - and that he created such chaos in The Doors and the band put an order to that chaos. The End ticks all the boxes.
A few things - obviously the music is influenced by Indian raga music - I'd say that's the biggest musical influence. Jim was a big reader & his lyrics often were influenced by literature. The "killer" sequence is obviously a sort of reference to Oedepis Rex - also of note is that where Jim was an idol to the drug culture of the 60's, his father was Admiral of the US naval fleet operating off the coast of Vietnam - while the war was raging - his father's naval jets bombing people of that land - I think that colors this song (and note that Francis Ford Coppola began his Vietnam war epic "Apocalypse Now" with this song) - that relationship Jim had to the war might color some of the lyrics in this song. I'd also say that I think this song presages the dissolution of the "hippy" scene - the end of peace & love and darkness to come - the final scene of which was the Rolling Stones playing Gimme Shelter at Altamont with the Hell's Angels murdering a man in front of the stage. Jim was like Kurt Cobain - a brilliant, but painfully shy artist saddled with the idea of being "the Voice of a Generation" - the weight of which dragged (or at least contributed strongly) to their deaths at age 27 - neither of them wanted that boat-anchor of a role and rejected it.
It’s been decades since I’ve listened to this song. I never really connected with it’s true power. Thank you Amy, once again: Seeing it through your eyes gave me an entire new level of appreciation of it as a piece of musical art.
In Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" the protagonist imagines rivers as snakes winding through far away lands. its about exoticising remote lands and the exploitation of the east and south by the West. This song gave Apocalypse Now its soundtrack and the film was an adaptation of Conrad's novella.
The high ringy harp like sound in the beginning is the guitar being played behind the bridge or behind the nut where there is a very short string length left that is not “supposed” to be played but sounds really nice as an effect.
This is a very intense and emotional song. I tend only to listen to it once every several years despite loving it. "Of our elaborate plans, the end; Of everything that stands, the end; No safety or surprise, the end; I'll never look into your eyes again" brings home the abject permanence of death. It is so absolute that one can't help but be uncertain. What I like about the music is how it FEELS so uncertain. Imagine being given a large dose of acid and unexpectedly awakening in a dark jungle with predators about. You are anxious because your outcome is uncertain. I can't help but uncomfortably contemplate death listening to this song. "The undiscovered country, from whose bourne no travel returns, puzzles the will, and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others we know not of."
The guitar sound you heard was Robbie Krieger tuning his guitar to sound like a sitar which as you noted gives it a eastern vibe. The repetitive nature of music with the sitar and organ sounds act like a repetitive mantra to induce a trace-like relaxing state You should listen to their song "Soft Parade". Thanks for your interpretation of this classic rock song.
Welcome to the world of The Lizard King, Amy. I found your analysis and your feelings about The End to be quite interesting. Friendship, family, and love breaking down and book ended by the surrender to the feelings of despair. I believe that the lyrics to The End are best understood in the context of Jim Morrison's life, fascinations, and love of great classic literature. I see the progression in the song building from the ending of a romantic relationship to tragic, epic breakdowns in human connections. Despite this painful darkness, Morrison speaks of unlimited freedom and travel through California to an ancient lake that holds the secrets of life. Thank you for your wonderful review, you've added some important insights to a song that I've admired for many decades. 👍👍👍
I strongly suggest watching their concert, The Doors Live at the Hollywood Bowl, 1968. You see how mesmerizing their music was. My sister-in-law, brother, and sisters were there. They had third row center seats, which cost $8.00. They came home absolutely in awe of what they witnessed. I'm still mad at them for not taking me, I had a ticket, but I was only nine years old. Imo, their music were all masterpieces. I do remember reading somewhere that the blue bus was the color of the school buses in Florida. Jim was a son of an Admiral. They had to move quite often which did not allow Jim to establish long lasting relationships. Jim's lyrics always provoked the listener to think.
It's an Indan style music Amy, not so much Spanish, that is why you said correctly it sounded hippie. I would recommend you listen to 'The Crystal Ship' next, a short song but one of the most beautiful of all time. You'd appreciate his singing.
There is something very distinctly eastern Mediterranean/Byzantium about this song. The snake isn't a road. It's from the ancient Greek Dionysian cult. The snake had significance. Morrison believed that he was the reincarnation of Dionysios himself.
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28:58 What I like about this begnning is that it kind of mimicks the tuning of the instruments before Orchestra performance. For me it indicates that we are in for á hell of a ride…
The interpretation of the lyrical content - end of friendship, end of family and end of love, sends me clear connections to the state and fate of Pink’s mind in The Wall… And it clearly indicates what the end, or absence, of those precious things does for a human being. The bitter end is approaching unless you manage to break through the wall. Great breakdown of this song and I’m waiting patiently for the next ‘chapter’ of The Wall saga… 😅
Jim Morrison was a poet living in a pop music world. It's poetry. Good poetry raises more questions than answers. There's definitely "something a lot more going on here." It's art. It's very good art. The last time something this artistic and complex in a pop music setting became popular was Radiohead. Have I missed something in the past ten years? If so, who are they?
The song starts off very is ethereal, then hypnotic, becomes frenzied and then returns to limbo. Jim Morrison never thought of himself as a singer, but as a poet. Lyrically, listen to The Doors, "Not To Touch The Earth". ✌️
The original release did not contain the expletives, or they were actually so deeply buried in the mix you could not hear them. It wasn't until many years later this version was released, and the swearing was brought in my opinion too much into the fore. Really enjoying your videos, keep up the good work. I would suggest 'Cream' as another late 60's band to try. Three of the greatest musicians of that era.
@@immortalserito774 th-cam.com/video/KUhPpsXeb8Q/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=estreewamin I don't know if the URL will post, but I found this on YT channel estreewamin. It was posted 10 years ago. It wasn't the simplest search. My search phrase was - the doors the end censored
@@paulsto6516Agreed. I had to go back and listen to my LP to make sure wasn't hearing things. It's there, but it's so deep in the mix it's virtually invisible.
One thing to remember is that this was the time of much psychedelic drug use. They conjured up all kinds of strange ideas and images in the mind of the user. Since Morrison was a heavy user of alcohol and drugs, I expect that they had a lot to do with the unusual lyrics in many of his songs, and no doubt, his death at only 27. Thanks for the video.
you can thank his herion addicted common law wife for that. some say pamela hid it from jim . they went out to a club that night . one story is that he thought it was coke and snorted a big line . guess we will never know . people around jim said he was excited for release of la woman . only drinking at the time.
Indeed. Apocalypse Now was loosely based on the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad but with the setting moved from Congo/Africa to the Vietnam war. ‘The End’ formed a perfect apocalyptic sound atmosphere to the napalm bombings of the Vietnamese jungle setting in the into of the film. A must see film…
When it comes to the lyrics, I think it helps to remember that this era of The Doors, and Jim Morrison in particular, was heavily influenced by the Beat poets who embraced irrational, surrealist word salad as a form of artistic expression.
its should be remembered blake too.... hes actually morphing modern beat techniques w/ classical symbolist poetry of blake & whitman... wh/ only gives it more power.
This song sets the vibe of the Anti-War movie "Apocalypse Now" through the entire movie. It´s like if Francis Ford Coppola the director, author and producer of that movie has built his movie fully on purpose both visually and psychologically around that song.
29:00 heck yes! :) Subscribed. 32:20 More! More. Love your analysis. 37:00 absolute and something we can all relate to on an intuitive level. 52:00 WOW. Nailed it here. It's a heavy song.
Morrison's father was an admiral in the US Navy & partially responsible for the misreporting of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident that accelerated the Vietnam War. Morrison was always protesting that situation and his father's responsibility.
Many of us know this song, but what some may not realize is that The Doors' many iconic songs and not songs but recorded jam sessions. They vibe. Every recording is different. Live they are in a free flow state of unconscious music. Jim was a poet first and and a singer second. That why the lyrics perhaps are not linier. They are different poems placed in the vibe of the song.
In the movie Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola used the beginning of this song to start the movie and the climactic ending of the song at the end of the movie. The effect is absolutely chilling and makes listening to the song after seeing the movie even more powerful.
The "pling-pling" in the intro sounds like plucking the strings between the saddle and the mechanics. I think, the sound is inspired by Indian music (common in that time): The guitar is in bright close to the sound of a sitar, and when the organ enters, it even makes a "sitar-drone" except for the occasional trills. Also the bending guitar starts like a sitar riff, but bends out of the expected scale. An obvious choice to put under a violent scenario in a film about civil war. And indeed it was used so in Vietnam War film.
This song was used as a thread all the way through "Apocalypse Now" to really great effect; it would appear at different pivotal times throughout the film. The darkness of the song really fits the film well. There's cryptic but definite allusions to American foreign policy during the Vietnam era. Lines like "Desperately in need of some stranger's hand - in a desperate land" and "The West is the best" seem to highlight the western arrogance of cold-war ideology. I've always interpreted the reference to the "Blue Bus" was referring to the military busses recruits were carried away in after induction; for many people it was the last they would ever see of their family members. The plucking sound you're mentioning at 25:28 is the sound of electric guitar strings being strummed above the nut.
Exactly! I have always thought of the snake as a river (perhaps in Vietnam). Rivers often lead to lakes, of course, but in a war zone it would be a cold “exposed” feeling to be on a boat on a river - not knowing who or what lurk on the banks. So many songs of this era eluded to the horrific themes of the Vietnam war - Hey Joe (Hendrix), Down by the river (Neil Young), etc. The war was as much a part of our daily lives as our relationships. It’s not a stretch to presume imagery could be blurred between them - especially in an artistic exploration of emotions.
There are many, many examples of family, friendship and love in the animal world, between animals of the same species, animals of different species and even animals and humans. These traits do not separate humanity from animals (or beasts). Indeed, humanity has much to learn from the way animals behave. Other than that, this was a very insightful and educated interpretation of this song. Thank you.
Amy’s videos are very informative, insightful, deep intellectual look into music as science and art, Very valuable and interesting. Especially from one into Professionally Trained Classical Music. But, I’m surprised too! Amy reacts as if she’s never heard rock music before like it is a foreign language to her :) No radio in the house when growing up? :( I know in my case my love of Classical and Masters came out of being a fan of Rock. I started listening to and fell in love with the Art of Musicians' craft in general and that would eventually lead me to appreciate Bach Mozart and the rest. In any case Amy you Rock! :)
I love this channel so much. Love to hear your insightful and well-informed but outsider's take on these works. One thing I would suggest is to not read any of the lyrics beforehand. The revelation of them can be so powerful when you don't know they're coming. The context of what comes before them can be so influential to what meaning there is to be make or find in them. In any case, please keep up the good work, this channel is magic.
@@elbohne5636 Your point is well taken, but I have always taken that from it, since back in the 70s... "The end of our elaborate plans The end of everything that stands" "No safety or surprise The end I'll never look into your eyes again" "Desperately in need of some stranger's hand In a desperate land" All sounds kinda like the barren landscape of some catastrophic, massively destructive, societal upheaval...to me anyway.
The most interesting rock Song of all time: poetry, philosophy, theatre, Greek drama, psichology, Shamanism, ancient myths (eastern and western)...The heroe's Journey. Amazing and very deep with lots of universal meanings...pure magic.
Amy, the guitar part is very Sitar sound, which was very popular among exploratory guitarists in the 60's. Listen to East- West by Butterfield Blues Band. ( Michael Bloomfield )
I really enjoyed that, thank you. I have listened to this song hundreds of times over the past 40 years but I still get goosebumps every time Jim's voice comes on during the opening of Apocalypse Now.
Great reaction, analysis, and interpretation on a fun one to interpret (many possibilities). Enjoyed your interesting take on the three parts (end of friendship; end of family; end of love/humanity). For me, both the lyrics and the music always sounded like they were coming out of the subconscious parts of his mind, through altered states (drugs, dreams, mystical experiences). My take has always been that it is about death and the end of pain, which is very poignant considering his premature death. But I also really like your take on it. The guitar to me sounds very sitar like. The music and spirituality of India was influencing many musicians at this time. Carlos Castaneda books delve into these altered mental states.
Great video! I believe the high plucked sound are just the guitar strings above the nut or below the saddles. Not tuned to anything particular usually, just a chimey textural effect that isn't exactly uncommon on electric guitars in particular.
Yeah, my thoughts, too. I seem to recall Brian May also did something similar in Bohemian Rhapsody, for emphasis on the "sends shivers down my spine" lyric.
This has been a voyage in a time machine! As a young guy in the 1970's I understood this song to express disillusionment at the passages of growing up. Now I can see the universal meaning - ALL the children are insane. "I'll never look into your eyes again" meant the experiences of my past didn't have the same value anymore. New experiences take their place maybe sometimes to extremes; my vinyl copy didn't have the f-word part but that fits. The phrase "kill, kill, kill" didn't seem to be meant literally but just the expression of rage a young man might feel at some of the changes we have to face especially at that stage of life. Thanks for doing this one, Amy!
WOW, Thank you.
You're the first reaction channel I've seen that actually addressed the meaning of the song.
It's very deep and completely messed up. But very real.
Not the first but most do the top 40 garbage crap
Oedipus Wrecks
Athentic response ....love ya!
@@Sirala6 Oedipus Wreck
No Doubt.
It's flawed Freudian BS, But I think He knew that.
Err, it's Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King). It's an ancient Greek tragedy written by Sophocles.
He touches on the themes of Oedipus Rex once or twice in the lyrics but most of it is just unrelated 'trippy' imagery because it sounded cool when he said it, as far as I can tell.
One of the most haunting and beautiful songs ever written
One of the greatest film openings ever is the opening to Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now.” You see military helicopters flying over the Vietnamese jungle (actually the Philippine jungle) while “The End” plays. Just as Morrison sings “This is the end…”, the entire jungle explores into flames. Yet all you hear on the soundtrack is the Doors. It is a truly unforgettable moment.
"Saigon..."
I agree it’s a powerful usage. I also think it has the sense of heaviness and foreboding that Amy picks up. Added is that the weight of thick southern humid air is definitely in the Apocalypse Now visuals of the jungle moved by a breeze.
Mixolydian
Yes. I guess that's the image most of us have in mind whenever that song plays.
It's not just the opening of the film: it's the once-in-a lifetime concomitance of an epic song (epic by rock standards), an epic film (only 2001 is in this league in films of that epoch), and a still mind-bending and gut-wrenching novel from another century, Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Both the novel and the movie express an extreme 'end' - the ultimate pit of darkness of the human heart (or is it perhaps the Dark Night of the Soul, or both?) - which Coppola managed to pair with the only rock song ever composed that could accompany it and do it justice. It's about the end of all that matters and. indeed, of all that is. It suggests that all of existence could pass into nonexistence; that nothingness could triumph over existence.
an hour long deep dive into a song that was released 60 years ago is exactly what morrison wanted.
The Doors were getting a lot of bad press in 1971..I wanted to tell Morrison that 50 years from now people would still be listening to their music and that it was timeless, unfortunately when I arrived at The Doors Office on Santa Monica Blvd where they were recording LA Woman Morrison had just left…oddly enough I was in Paris in September of 71 where I visited Morrison’s grave at Pete Lachaise..
Yes!!!
Acid Song . Hypnotic
Wow. How did you know them / what was your connection, or were you just a superfan?
@@CahtodeRay no, I have common sense and logic.
This is psychedelic music in its purest form; the eastern scale, the organ, the timbre of Jim Morrison’s voice…..just oozes atmosphere.
Yes. They take you on a trip, for sure.
Robbie's playing sounds almost like a sitar. The rhythm is fluid, adaptive, ready to go off in any direction at any time. The words paint several weird scenes. The Doors were at their best when you didn't know what to anticipate. They didn't always know what to expect, either. The mark of a great psychedelic band.
The greatest American rock band ever and will never be duplicated.
Well said. First acid trip looped this all night in a dark room......January of 1996.
Jim at his peak transcedence
A few years later, drunk at a house party, and happening upon some clean acid....i went out to my truck and played this on the cd player and stared at the near full moon. Jim felt very much alive during that....i knew in my bones at that moment spirits were a real as anything and that i was aware of an ancient ecology without end, despite the cold sober everday perception of meaningless id come to know
î only say: dark room, weed, a good drink and a lot of time to listen that song.... and you will learn to fly....^^
Oh, forgot to add that John Densmore drumming on this is fantastic, where he accents things, his dynamics, going louder and then pulling back and just gently riding a cymbal, etc...
He's really getting the most out of his rather modest kit! Quite remarkble indeed! 😀👍
Densmore was the unsung hero of the song (and band!). He had to anticipate all the noodling improvisations of the other band members, accentuate them with his own, and then reel them all back in when it was time to return to the main structure of the song.
Densmore is SO underrated!!
Agreed. What I love is how Densmore throughout plays so as to serve the song. These guys listened to each other and created an intruiging musical conversation. This music retains its power all these years later.
A master piece. The doors music stands the test of time, they sounded like no one else. They where popular but they where so much more then a pop band.
They should have made songs without their stupid organ. It's like country music.... like seriously guys, please make at least ONE song without the stupid steel guitar. Get my drift? Oh, and the lyrics and drugs were dumb too. Annoying. No masterpiece, just a drug fueled band making uninteresting music.
agreed!
For me, the most rewarding aspect of this series is seeing the ideas and emotions passing across Amy's face, knowing that this is the first time she's hearing it. The raising of her eyebrows, different facial expressions, the communicate emotions than seem to mirror those that I felt when I first heard this decades ago. Her eyes tell the story that I really want to hear.
Same thought occurred to me. She could have gotten I role in a Bergman film
🤔.....😂😂😂😂
I started to watch because of it. I stayed because of her remarkable knowledge and interpretation.
(I may not agree with, but when people tell me their "why", I listen to them).
Exactly.
Just fantastic drumming by Densmore.
Once again Amy's insights are deep and valuable!
It's amazing to think that this song came out just four years after "Please please me" by The Beatles. The artistic explosion of rock music, the creative limits it crossed so quickly, is difficult to grasp! As for "the end", I tend to believe that it can mean any intense transformative state that, although fearsome, sad or stressful, in some ways it's a creative part of life, a "friend" of sorts -maybe the ultimate one. As a piece of art... I believe it 's a landmark in 20th century music, showcasing a song as a transformative ritual in itself.
The Beatles reinvented themselves over and over again. Few bands went through such dramatic changes in such a short time.
Perfect comment yours
@@briangriffin5524 Indeed they did, and they changed music forever. I mentioned their song as some kind of a landmark that may separate old time rock'n'roll from what we consider as more "modern" rock.
@@noother964 great comment. I feel the same about this timeless classic of western music :)
All these years later, this one is still as good as it is disturbing
I've noticed that Amy seems to like gradual introduction and “weaving” of instruments, and based on that, I really can't recommend “Echoes” by the great Pink Floyd enough. It's almost 24 minutes long, in true prog fashion, but it doesn't feel overlong at all. I find the composition amazing in how it feels like it's telling a great tome's worth of story with just music: establishing musical relationships, changing them, separating them, creating moments of despair, fear, and reunion with old friends. In my personal opinion, it's Pink Floyd's magnum opus, and I feel like Amy would enjoy it a lot.
Amy LOVES Pink Floyd and I'm sure Echoes is on the list. But I'm hoping for something really special: An entire Dark Side Of The Moon analysis!
Oh yes…Please please do Echoes!
The ‘Live in Pompeii’ version please!
Echoes is brilliant... as marcel mentionnes the Pompeii version is awesome!
I'd add my support to 'Echoes' as well... from an album sadly almost forgotten.
For me the ultimate Doors song, nothing better than this
I always thought this song had a kind of East Indian flavor. The electric guitar sounds like a sitar to me. Very hypnotic. I have heard this song many times, and I sang along while listening, but when Amy paused, it felt like, "Oh, back to reality", in an interesting way. Snapped out of an altered state of consciousness. The Doors did so many drugs, I am getting a contact high through the notes 56 years later!
def agree about that Indian feel to it.
Agreed! The guitar gives me Middle Eastern or Indian vibes also. I feel like the tambourine adds to that sound as well.
Yes, eastern but also the blending with Kreiger's tex-mex riffs seems a perfect marriage.
Krieger genius
I hadn't considered the heat and humidity theme before, though it might well be there in the sense of the Indian subcontinent. I hear far less Southern, Latin, Caribbean or "Oriental" influence than the popular rock sound of that time -- the music of India with the influence of the sitar, which the guitarist imitated well. All this reminds me of the Ganges.
Robbie Kreiger was an accomplished flamenco guitarist and you can hear it much of the time in his work with the Doors, as well as the drone like sound of the influence of Indian music at that time, as others have noted. Those high pitched sounds you are trying to identify at the beginning are a set of chimes which some drummers can mount on their drum kit. Ask Karl about those. There are quite a few percussion add-on that can be added to a drum kit. Also, you may be hearing the sound of a Tamborine on the 2 and the 4, which Jim played along with often.
yes, I definitely thought there was an Indian feel to it as well.
That the high pitched strumming sounds like the guitar strings plucked either beyond the bridge or between the nut and the tuning keys. Maybe it's a combination of strings and chimes.
@@jameswarner5809 - I'd just posted a similar comment before coming across your one and am sure that's what's happening there; Most likely between the bridge and the tailpiece of Krieger's SG, as the plucking is very even, which would be harder to achieve on the headstock.
First time I listened to the End - 4 way Window Pane, Head Phones, in the Dark, Mind Blowing.
Those were the Days.
4 way in the eye was the best!
The End is one of my favorite Doors track, Very psychedelic rock, kind of spiritual magical Organ melody keep place between groovy warm slow ryhtem in my ears and must not forget the post modern art of Jim Morison Singing.
There is Toronto 1967 live version of this song on YT👍
This is my favorite song of all time. Thank you for that Amy. I've been following you since the beggining and I'm so glad your channel is progressively getting the love and acknowledgment
it deserves
It does roughly follow the outlines of a classical Indian raga; stating a thematic template that shapes the mood and pattern of the whole piece and developing melodically and rhythmically improvisatory sections that each return to the main theme - transformed in intensity by what has gone before - then gradually climbing to a frenetic climax.
But instead of encapsulating ideas of spiritual ecstasy or a search for the eternal, I agree that this is a sustained meditation on the descent into nihilism. It is often true that when all sense of meaning, purpose and relationship has gone from the soul, the psyche can try to find some sense of release in empty sexual excess and angry violence, often self-destructive but in the worst-case scenario, directed towards others, or even society as a whole.
Where I would beg to differ is that this “beastly” state does not represent that of the animals. Yes, of course, sexual drive and aggression is evident in animal behaviour, sometimes wild and intense and mostly unsentimental. But it is always linked to purpose - mating, hunting, defense - and it is typically brief and always contextual. Animal instincts are triggered and suppressed by environmental signals such as times and seasons.
Animals in the wild are not typically wantonly destructive nor are they addictively lustful. Freud was wrong, the uncontrolled "Id" and Oedipal urges are not the natural expression of or inheritance of Nature. It is human beings who can uniquely and tragically descend into such a psychically chaotic state, because we are not automatically controlled and directed by an environment, at least not the physical environment anyway. Our essential link to higher values such as familial love and nobility of spirit must come from some environment that is higher than ourselves.
I enjoyed your thought-provoking analysis, as you can see! :-)
Write a book already !!!
The Psychedelic era of great rock 66-72 was such a great time in history for the youth of that period. The music is the best ever put out.
That was the best definition of this song yet . I finally respect Morrison’s genius with these lyrics ..The end of the qualities that define humanity .
The end of the qualities that define humanity, may be why Francis Ford Coppola used this song as the audio focal point at the beginning and end of Apocalypse Now.
This song is not for the faint hearted, deep, dark and somewhat disturbing but pure genius both instrumently and lyrically. It was said Jim loved to explore the dark side, at times he could be a madman one minuet then have the charm of a Southern Gentleman the next. The Doors were all about masterfully crafting and building a song into a climax of intense chaotic disarray and mayhem only to bring you back to sanity in the next verse. Please check out The Soft Parade and Not to Touch the Earth, you won't be disappointed
“I am the Lizard King… I can do anything.”
its stark material, id agree. but I'm not sure dark fits. its more brutal honesty. he's picking up the culture's rock & hes watching the ant wars.... the song concludes w/ a declaration for indiv freedom to seek & face this truth w/ the added strength of insight.
Definitely not top 40 garbage radio played mindlessly every 20 mins
I would add also to a previous comment about how good Densmore's drumming is on this record. As a drummer myself, I can say it is as close as it gets to perfection. The rythmic choice. The dynamics. The nuance. When I listen to what he's doing here, I feel like he's wrapping me in a warm blanket on a chilly journey down Morrison's snake highway.
This was brilliant, Amy. I've seen many people discuss this song, musicians and listeners, fans and non-fans, and I've known this song since I was a teenager. You're break-down was different. You successfully tackled subtle nuances and larger themes in a way that was atypical and poignant.
Many people try to place this song in a box of their own understanding, whether it be cold and logical dissection or purely emotional. And they often miss the point, in my mind. You were able to describe what's happening musically and what role the music plays, as well as look at how that relates to the music from a standpoint of not knowing yet, and trying to get into the WRITER'S mind. - What did this person want to convey to us?? -
I see sooo many people shoot this song down as being either ambiguous and pointless, or exalting it in its free flowing mad-like emotional states (aka don't overthink it just feel it). But you, I feel, very successfully said, 'well here's what would make sense in marrying the structure and execution of the song with the hard-to-read and emotionally difficult themes and words', and you absolutely nailed it. There is more than meets the eye going on here, and it takes a fresh perspective of a new listener who is both highly trained in musical interpretation and highly intelligent yet has no personal stake in what this song means or should mean culturally to existing listeners, and without needing to say 'this is a great song', or 'this is terrible', but rather 'here's simply what it seems to be doing'.
I just can't say enough about how refreshing and enjoyable this was.
Well said.
I was thinking as well how me as a non musical vocabulary possessing and non musically trained person would miss things like a person who can't read seeing words as meaningless squiggles. Whereas she would notice these things. The difference between expertise and merely having an uninformed opinion.
Exactly Amy did a wonderful and erudite analysis of this song and in "the end" left it open for interpretation.
Thank you.
Wonderful and thoughtful comment! Thank you for taking the time to share it!
The Doors music tends to attract a bit of an unusual, outcast-esque, yet highly intelligent type of individual. It is music for the different.
I have not listened to this in quite some time, I think we forget how mesmerizing a ballad it is, truly masterful work
Same actually. As a teen I used to smoke so much weed and listen to this in the dark with headphones. lol I am in my mid 30's now and probably haven't heard this song in a decade or more. 15 seconds in I found myself closing my eyes and going back to that place. It's so hypnotic, and I urge anyone who hasn't to listen to it with headphones.
Love this song it’s my lullaby
These guy's had a gift for using music very atmospherically, as well as having the wisdom to use silence as a part of it as well. Their toolbox included the influence of bebop jazz, classical, Latin music, blues, and for the song in question we have an obvious Eastern influence. Lyrically, being as well read as Morrison was adds yet another complexity... He drew inspiration and often references things from literature... Novels, surrealist/beat poetry, philosophy, mythology, world history and theater. You may sometimes hear a lyric and wonder what on earth could the meaning be? When the reality of it could be, it's something taken from or inspired by Kerouac's On The Road, or Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil, Huxley's Brave New World, etc etc and rather abstract to the song and it's contexts. I particularly loved your analysis of the explicit portion, the hostility, it symbolizing the end of love and I truly believe you're on the money here and on your way to having an understanding of how deep James Morrison was.
I really enjoyed your interpretation and analysis of this song. The guitarist Robbie Krieger had previously learned how to play the Indian sitar and also flamenco guitar. This is where the exotic eastern sound comes from. Another excellent Doors song you should review is The Soft Parade. I know that you would really appreciate it.
yeah the sofr parade, abso-funky-lutely. goes beyond classic.. the Celebration of the Lizard, with all its parts and glory, would also be a gret thing to go afterwards...
they got all up under your skin and in your head....most emotional response to a song you have given
I loved the doors as a young beginning musician. I find myself going back & enjoying their art till this day
Art is greater than the sum of its parts. That is why it can speak to our spirit.
Thanks for taking such a deep dive into a difficult and rewarding work of art.
As already alluded to, this is quite an atmospheric piece. Jim was obviously a brilliant poet and his soothing voice made songs such as this delectable.
👍🤠 Let me tell you a story about the recording of this masterpiece. When recording they wanted to capture the feeling of when they played live. Tried a couple times but just couldn’t get it. So the band took Jim out and got his head in the right place. Came back that night to try again. Studio dark with one candle burning. Starting playing and this is that take, straight through no edits. So basically one take. Amazing talented musicians.
And tell the rest of the story. After Morrison got done with the recording process, he took a fire extinguisher and hosed down the studio. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. I compare it to The Who destroying their instruments on stage, which I feel is an act of stupidity. I say that because after working in studios and knowing what studios cost and outboard gear doesn't take kindly to that sort of abuse.
About the who and their destruction: it is said they were inspired by a painter (forgot his name, sorry) that destroyed all his paintings as a protest against the nuclear threat of the cold war. (In a sense like.. "What's the point of all this, if you are willingvto destroy everything, anyway?"
@@rosskendall3310 ok challenge accepted. My guess? The recording session was so good, the band was on fire making it so HOT that Jim thought the studio was going to burn down the whole building so he doused it, thus saving the building so he's a HERO!
Stay away from drugs children...Just Say NO! 😬
@@rosskendall3310He spray it down because the song was on fire and so was the recording of the song and that equipment was sprayed.
He was out of his mind on acid when he came up with a great deal of this track. 10,000 micrograms, to be exact, if the rest of the band are to be believed. This is…an incredible amount. The man was enlightened
Really a wonderful and brilliant response, amazing for a first listen. I was 17 when this album came out, and I related to this song in the context of a “bad” LSD trip, but it could have been a response to any trauma that brought an end to innocence and ordinariness. The Doors’ next album, Strange Days, extended this mood of alienation and longing, often in beautiful ways.
25:15 Those higher pitches are still the guitar I think, it sounds like he is picking the strings, on the neck, before where the fretboard starts, it sounds like hes sweeping a pick gently over that section, possible while turning a tuning knob to drop to a lower pitch, i play guitar and that sounds like an electric guitar, being played in the formentioned way, so its actually just two instruments, the electric guitar and the drums! :)
The Trio of songs I listened to through turbulent emotional times that reset me to the middle once again. I started with Hey You by Pink Floyd, then The Cure, Disintegration and then The End by the Doors. This trio kept me alive several very dark times. Music is so utterly powerful.
Wow, what a trio of songs - never would've thought to pair them but now I'm definitely going to try - thank you for sharing!
I would never think to turn to those songs in times of emotional darkness……I would fear they would put me over the edge rather than save me. I am sincerely glad that they helped you, however.
@w.geoffreyspaulding6588 I may be an outlier, but the more pain I feel in the music, the more I empathize and self reflect. And that understanding that others suffer just as much if not more than I feel at the time, drags me out and brings me up out of the doldrums.
If you grew up in the 1960's you would know that the musical influence during the intro is from India. A lot of musicians of the 60's picked up that influence, that exotic sound. It's worth mentioning, Ravi Shankar played the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 introducing the hippies to the sitar and eastern music. George Harrison would teach himself to play the sitar.
George got a lot of tuition from Ravi himself.
Several of the doors had gurus, also. Aspects of Indian culture were spread all throughout the popular culture of the 60s.
The end of friendship and the end of family and the end of love. Wow that was awesome.
This song demonstrations the different sides of Jim Morrison, the singer-poet and the actor and the hedonist-drug user. Of all the works by the Doors it's one of the most challenging along with The Celebration of the Lizard. The Doors for me is perhaps the most psychedelic bands as well as the the most original of the 60s. Thank you for taking the risk of listening to this piece.
It's so different from the radio-friendly works like "Love Her Madly." I love that the Doors have that kind of range. It's also remarkable how early they managed this. It's got shades of prog rock, but prog was in its infancy back then. Basically prog was only King Crimson and the Moody Blues when this album came out. The paragons of prog, like Yes and ELP, hadn't got going yet.
His voice was amazing. Powerful, haunting, melodic, tender…so much came through
"The End" is contemporary to what The Velvet Underground was recording musically at the time, notably "Venus in Furs", "All Tomorrow's Parties", and "Heroin"; and then "Sister Ray". Amazingly innovative American rock groups!
Jim Morrison is a beat poet, much like Alan Ginsburg, Michael McClure, and others. Ray Manzarek on keyboards says down a beat much like a bass or bongos in a smoke-filled coffee house. In fact, Ray Manzarek played keyboards with Michael McClure reciting his poetry around the year 2000.
I think the blue bus was referring to the war draft busses that would collect the teens for vietnam. " The blue bus, is calling us".
No, it was a blue school bus which shuttled UCLA students for outings to the beach and elsewhere. Basically a school shuttle before school shuttles.
No it was the blue bus that picked the boys that got drafted to their boot camp destination. @@mickeyshooter5298
The city of Santa Monica's buses were two-tone blue.
John Densmore needs to commended for his drum work for the Doors. Big epic sounds and arrangements being held together with excellent sub division on a very basic drum kit according to today's standards.
I loved the way it was used in the movie "Apocalypse Now" which was mind blowing moviw to start with
Oh what a song. I used to listen to it a lot as a teenager. That whole first album. These days I'll prefer When The Music's Over and their second album, but what a trip The End is. Jim used to say that there was not enough chaos in music (which applies a lot to the current corporate world of today) - and that he created such chaos in The Doors and the band put an order to that chaos. The End ticks all the boxes.
A few things - obviously the music is influenced by Indian raga music - I'd say that's the biggest musical influence. Jim was a big reader & his lyrics often were influenced by literature. The "killer" sequence is obviously a sort of reference to Oedepis Rex - also of note is that where Jim was an idol to the drug culture of the 60's, his father was Admiral of the US naval fleet operating off the coast of Vietnam - while the war was raging - his father's naval jets bombing people of that land - I think that colors this song (and note that Francis Ford Coppola began his Vietnam war epic "Apocalypse Now" with this song) - that relationship Jim had to the war might color some of the lyrics in this song. I'd also say that I think this song presages the dissolution of the "hippy" scene - the end of peace & love and darkness to come - the final scene of which was the Rolling Stones playing Gimme Shelter at Altamont with the Hell's Angels murdering a man in front of the stage.
Jim was like Kurt Cobain - a brilliant, but painfully shy artist saddled with the idea of being "the Voice of a Generation" - the weight of which dragged (or at least contributed strongly) to their deaths at age 27 - neither of them wanted that boat-anchor of a role and rejected it.
Wow…I did not know about Jim’s father. Holy Cow. What a psychic burden on a son who did not share his fathers beliefs.
It’s been decades since I’ve listened to this song. I never really connected with it’s true power. Thank you Amy, once again: Seeing it through your eyes gave me an entire new level of appreciation of it as a piece of musical art.
Yes, was surprised that she didn’t pick up on the Indian influence.
I was just about to post on 'expecting a sitar'.
Jim was, in my opinion, far more intelligent and talented than the likes of Kurt Cobain. I cannot wrap my head around a direct comparison.
In Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" the protagonist imagines rivers as snakes winding through far away lands. its about exoticising remote lands and the exploitation of the east and south by the West. This song gave Apocalypse Now its soundtrack and the film was an adaptation of Conrad's novella.
The high ringy harp like sound in the beginning is the guitar being played behind the bridge or behind the nut where there is a very short string length left that is not “supposed” to be played but sounds really nice as an effect.
that's what I thought as well...
Yes. Found that sound by accident as a kid, just fooling around while learning guitar. The trick is finding when to use it.
At 29:10, one of the best descriptions ever from a reaction channel on how music can feel! Bravo
This is a very intense and emotional song. I tend only to listen to it once every several years despite loving it. "Of our elaborate plans, the end; Of everything that stands, the end; No safety or surprise, the end; I'll never look into your eyes again" brings home the abject permanence of death. It is so absolute that one can't help but be uncertain. What I like about the music is how it FEELS so uncertain. Imagine being given a large dose of acid and unexpectedly awakening in a dark jungle with predators about. You are anxious because your outcome is uncertain.
I can't help but uncomfortably contemplate death listening to this song. "The undiscovered country, from whose bourne no travel returns, puzzles the will, and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others we know not of."
25:20 that's actually also the guitar. He's plucking the Strings behind the bridge.
The guitar sound you heard was Robbie Krieger tuning his guitar to sound like a sitar which as you noted gives it a eastern vibe. The repetitive nature of music with the sitar and organ sounds act like a repetitive mantra to induce a trace-like relaxing state You should listen to their song "Soft Parade". Thanks for your interpretation of this classic rock song.
The End is a monument and travels through all times. But also marks a point in history and has thousand interpretations. It will be here and always.
Welcome to the world of The Lizard King, Amy. I found your analysis and your feelings about The End to be quite interesting. Friendship, family, and love breaking down and book ended by the surrender to the feelings of despair. I believe that the lyrics to The End are best understood in the context of Jim Morrison's life, fascinations, and love of great classic literature. I see the progression in the song building from the ending of a romantic relationship to tragic, epic breakdowns in human connections. Despite this painful darkness, Morrison speaks of unlimited freedom and travel through California to an ancient lake that holds the secrets of life. Thank you for your wonderful review, you've added some important insights to a song that I've admired for many decades. 👍👍👍
I strongly suggest watching their concert, The Doors Live at the Hollywood Bowl, 1968. You see how mesmerizing their music was. My sister-in-law, brother, and sisters were there. They had third row center seats, which cost $8.00. They came home absolutely in awe of what they witnessed. I'm still mad at them for not taking me, I had a ticket, but I was only nine years old. Imo, their music were all masterpieces. I do remember reading somewhere that the blue bus was the color of the school buses in Florida. Jim was a son of an Admiral. They had to move quite often which did not allow Jim to establish long lasting relationships. Jim's lyrics always provoked the listener to think.
It's an Indan style music Amy, not so much Spanish, that is why you said correctly it sounded hippie. I would recommend you listen to 'The Crystal Ship' next, a short song but one of the most beautiful of all time. You'd appreciate his singing.
I love that one too. As well as Ship Of Fools.
There is something very distinctly eastern Mediterranean/Byzantium about this song. The snake isn't a road. It's from the ancient Greek Dionysian cult. The snake had significance. Morrison believed that he was the reincarnation of Dionysios himself.
28:58 What I like about this begnning is that it kind of mimicks the tuning of the instruments before Orchestra performance. For me it indicates that we are in for á hell of a ride…
Jim was well-read in philosophy and the reference to the father and mother alludes to the story Oedipus.
This song is prominent in the movie apocalypse now and your interpretation fits this movie even more then how I took it well done
The E string on the guitar is tuned down to a low D. Krieger strums near the machine heads of the guitar at the start.
The interpretation of the lyrical content - end of friendship, end of family and end of love, sends me clear connections to the state and fate of Pink’s mind in The Wall… And it clearly indicates what the end, or absence, of those precious things does for a human being. The bitter end is approaching unless you manage to break through the wall. Great breakdown of this song and I’m waiting patiently for the next ‘chapter’ of The Wall saga… 😅
Jim Morrison was a poet living in a pop music world. It's poetry. Good poetry raises more questions than answers. There's definitely "something a lot more going on here." It's art. It's very good art. The last time something this artistic and complex in a pop music setting became popular was Radiohead. Have I missed something in the past ten years? If so, who are they?
The song starts off very is ethereal, then hypnotic, becomes frenzied and then returns to limbo.
Jim Morrison never thought of himself as a singer, but as a poet.
Lyrically, listen to The Doors, "Not To Touch The Earth". ✌️
Jim Morrison’s poetry is influenced by the Beat Poetry of his early teenage years and it is throughout many of the Doors musical arrangements.
The original release did not contain the expletives, or they were actually so deeply buried in the mix you could not hear them. It wasn't until many years later this version was released, and the swearing was brought in my opinion too much into the fore. Really enjoying your videos, keep up the good work. I would suggest 'Cream' as another late 60's band to try. Three of the greatest musicians of that era.
And it's been so many years, listening to the original, that the repair work seems out of place.
Nope Poco stop the Wimpy Queen
Is there a YT video with the original mix? Can't seem to find one.
@@immortalserito774
th-cam.com/video/KUhPpsXeb8Q/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=estreewamin
I don't know if the URL will post, but I found this on YT channel estreewamin.
It was posted 10 years ago. It wasn't the simplest search.
My search phrase was - the doors the end censored
@@paulsto6516Agreed. I had to go back and listen to my LP to make sure wasn't hearing things. It's there, but it's so deep in the mix it's virtually invisible.
Thanks for listening along with me, a 40 year fan and the first time someone has sat with me and shared the listening experience.
One thing to remember is that this was the time of much psychedelic drug use. They conjured up all kinds of strange ideas and images in the mind of the user. Since Morrison was a heavy user of alcohol and drugs, I expect that they had a lot to do with the unusual lyrics in many of his songs, and no doubt, his death at only 27. Thanks for the video.
you can thank his herion addicted common law wife for that. some say pamela hid it from jim . they went out to a club that night . one story is that he thought it was coke and snorted a big line . guess we will never know . people around jim said he was excited for release of la woman . only drinking at the time.
What a thoughtful, insightful review of a smart, engaging, landmark song, by a band for the Ages. Thank you.
Soundtrack - Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic vietnam war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola .
Indeed. Apocalypse Now was loosely based on the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad but with the setting moved from Congo/Africa to the Vietnam war. ‘The End’ formed a perfect apocalyptic sound atmosphere to the napalm bombings of the Vietnamese jungle setting in the into of the film. A must see film…
The Doors are one of my favorite bands, and I love your take on this.
When it comes to the lyrics, I think it helps to remember that this era of The Doors, and Jim Morrison in particular, was heavily influenced by the Beat poets who embraced irrational, surrealist word salad as a form of artistic expression.
Yes to this. Spontaneous free verse probably genesis of many of those stanzas.
Also LSD and mescaline.
its should be remembered blake too.... hes actually morphing modern beat techniques w/ classical symbolist poetry of blake & whitman... wh/ only gives it more power.
@@4thlinemaniac356wat
BIGLY surprised to see The End attracting reaction channel interest 👀
Enjoyed the analysis, looks like an interesting channel for this 👍🏽
This song sets the vibe of the Anti-War movie "Apocalypse Now" through the entire movie.
It´s like if Francis Ford Coppola the director, author and producer of that movie has built his movie fully on purpose both visually and psychologically around that song.
those high pitched plucking is done on the end of a guitar between the twisty tuning thing and the start if the neck
This was used in the for the opening of the movie Apocalypse Now. It fit perfectly
25:30 strummed sound comes either the strings of a guitar forward of the nut or behind the bridge.
29:00 heck yes! :) Subscribed. 32:20 More! More. Love your analysis. 37:00 absolute and something we can all relate to on an intuitive level. 52:00 WOW. Nailed it here. It's a heavy song.
Stupid unnecessary timestamps
There is also a sitar with the guitar in this song which gives it more depth
No sitar on the recording, it's all Krieger doing it on the guitar
Morrison's father was an admiral in the US Navy & partially responsible for the misreporting of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident that accelerated the Vietnam War. Morrison was always protesting that situation and his father's responsibility.
The Drums in here are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!
YES!! Been waiting for this one 😊
Many of us know this song, but what some may not realize is that The Doors' many iconic songs and not songs but recorded jam sessions. They vibe. Every recording is different. Live they are in a free flow state of unconscious music. Jim was a poet first and and a singer second. That why the lyrics perhaps are not linier. They are different poems placed in the vibe of the song.
In the movie Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola used the beginning of this song to start the movie and the climactic ending of the song at the end of the movie. The effect is absolutely chilling and makes listening to the song after seeing the movie even more powerful.
The music is haunting Morrisons voice is almost supernatural almost like his whispering it in your ear
You mention the Intro having a 'Latin Feel' to it.
The guitar player, Robby Krieger, played Flamenco guitar before joining The Doors
The "pling-pling" in the intro sounds like plucking the strings between the saddle and the mechanics.
I think, the sound is inspired by Indian music (common in that time): The guitar is in bright close to the sound
of a sitar, and when the organ enters, it even makes a "sitar-drone" except for the occasional trills.
Also the bending guitar starts like a sitar riff, but bends out of the expected scale.
An obvious choice to put under a violent scenario in a film about civil war.
And indeed it was used so in Vietnam War film.
one of the greatest pieces by one of the greatest bands...ever!
This song was used as a thread all the way through "Apocalypse Now" to really great effect; it would appear at different pivotal times throughout the film. The darkness of the song really fits the film well. There's cryptic but definite allusions to American foreign policy during the Vietnam era. Lines like "Desperately in need of some stranger's hand - in a desperate land" and "The West is the best" seem to highlight the western arrogance of cold-war ideology. I've always interpreted the reference to the "Blue Bus" was referring to the military busses recruits were carried away in after induction; for many people it was the last they would ever see of their family members.
The plucking sound you're mentioning at 25:28 is the sound of electric guitar strings being strummed above the nut.
Exactly! I have always thought of the snake as a river (perhaps in Vietnam). Rivers often lead to lakes, of course, but in a war zone it would be a cold “exposed” feeling to be on a boat on a river - not knowing who or what lurk on the banks.
So many songs of this era eluded to the horrific themes of the Vietnam war - Hey Joe (Hendrix), Down by the river (Neil Young), etc. The war was as much a part of our daily lives as our relationships. It’s not a stretch to presume imagery could be blurred between them - especially in an artistic exploration of emotions.
>the western arrogance of cold-war ideology.
Yeah, the defense of individual rights against mass murderers is so...uncool.
There are many, many examples of family, friendship and love in the animal world, between animals of the same species, animals of different species and even animals and humans. These traits do not separate humanity from animals (or beasts). Indeed, humanity has much to learn from the way animals behave. Other than that, this was a very insightful and educated interpretation of this song. Thank you.
Amy’s videos are very informative, insightful, deep intellectual look into music as science and art, Very valuable and interesting. Especially from one into Professionally Trained Classical Music. But, I’m surprised too! Amy reacts as if she’s never heard rock music before like it is a foreign language to her :) No radio in the house when growing up? :( I know in my case my love of Classical and Masters came out of being a fan of Rock. I started listening to and fell in love with the Art of Musicians' craft in general and that would eventually lead me to appreciate Bach Mozart and the rest. In any case Amy you Rock! :)
Check out the 10K video video for more background
Many Amazing tunes from the Doors, too many to count.
I love this channel so much. Love to hear your insightful and well-informed but outsider's take on these works. One thing I would suggest is to not read any of the lyrics beforehand. The revelation of them can be so powerful when you don't know they're coming. The context of what comes before them can be so influential to what meaning there is to be make or find in them. In any case, please keep up the good work, this channel is magic.
"The end" referenced in the first verses, give me a connotation of the end of civilization. It puts me in mind of a post apocalyptic landscape.
Maybe cause there's an apocalypse (right) now.
@@elbohne5636 Your point is well taken, but I have always taken that from it, since back in the 70s...
"The end of our elaborate plans
The end of everything that stands"
"No safety or surprise
The end
I'll never look into your eyes again"
"Desperately in need of some stranger's hand
In a desperate land"
All sounds kinda like the barren landscape of some catastrophic, massively destructive, societal upheaval...to me anyway.
The most interesting rock Song of all time: poetry, philosophy, theatre, Greek drama, psichology, Shamanism, ancient myths (eastern and western)...The heroe's Journey. Amazing and very deep with lots of universal meanings...pure magic.
Amy, the guitar part is very Sitar sound, which was very popular among exploratory guitarists in the 60's. Listen to East- West by Butterfield Blues Band. ( Michael Bloomfield )
I really enjoyed that, thank you. I have listened to this song hundreds of times over the past 40 years but I still get goosebumps every time Jim's voice comes on during the opening of Apocalypse Now.
Great reaction, analysis, and interpretation on a fun one to interpret (many possibilities). Enjoyed your interesting take on the three parts (end of friendship; end of family; end of love/humanity). For me, both the lyrics and the music always sounded like they were coming out of the subconscious parts of his mind, through altered states (drugs, dreams, mystical experiences). My take has always been that it is about death and the end of pain, which is very poignant considering his premature death. But I also really like your take on it. The guitar to me sounds very sitar like. The music and spirituality of India was influencing many musicians at this time. Carlos Castaneda books delve into these altered mental states.
you are such a joy..
thank you..
Great video! I believe the high plucked sound are just the guitar strings above the nut or below the saddles. Not tuned to anything particular usually, just a chimey textural effect that isn't exactly uncommon on electric guitars in particular.
Yeah, my thoughts, too. I seem to recall Brian May also did something similar in Bohemian Rhapsody, for emphasis on the "sends shivers down my spine" lyric.
This has been a voyage in a time machine!
As a young guy in the 1970's I understood this song to express disillusionment at the passages of growing up. Now I can see the universal meaning - ALL the children are insane.
"I'll never look into your eyes again" meant the experiences of my past didn't have the same value anymore. New experiences take their place maybe sometimes to extremes; my vinyl copy didn't have the f-word part but that fits.
The phrase "kill, kill, kill" didn't seem to be meant literally but just the expression of rage a young man might feel at some of the changes we have to face especially at that stage of life.
Thanks for doing this one, Amy!