Thread: Jim Morrison......who WAS this guy?"

Yeah...we all know the name....the icon....the legend.

But aside from the pop and the drama...bullshit intermixed with truth, do we know him? Who in hell was this guy???

He was was a guy who read Nietzsche, Kafka, Balzac, Cocteau, etc, in high school....didn't do it because he was required to, he did it because he wanted to. He would have loved the paintings of William Blake. He was on a search...and a quest. The dark drew him in perhaps, but the light brought him back.

Here's a montage of some photos of Jim way before The Doors...when he was a kid:



.

.

And here is about the best video bio I've ever found on him....a bio that attempts to parse the myth and mystery. I have no idea where Part 1 of this particular video set went.



I think that one of those last passages rings truest:

"This much is true: You can't burn out if you're not on fire."

His image and his legacy burns still in the imagination of a world.

.

Here is some of his poetry...others are easy enough to look up.

Can you dig it.
My meat is real.
My hands- how they move
balanced like lithe demons
My hair- so twined & writhing
The skin of my face- pinch the cheeks
My flaming sword tongue
spraying verbal fire-flys
I’m real.
I’m human
But I’m not an ordinary man
No No No

~~~

What are you doing here?
What do you want?
Is it music?
We can play music.
But you want more.
You want something & someone new.
Am I right?
Of course I am.
I know what you want.
You want ecstasy
Desire & dreams.
Things not exactly what they seem.
I lead you this way, he pulls that way.
I’m not singing to an imaginary girl.
I’m talking to you, my self.
Let’s recreate the world.
The palace of conception is burning.


Look. See it burn.
Bask in the warm hot coals.
You’re too young to be old.
You don’t need to be told
You want to see things as they are.
You know exactly what I do
Everything


I am a guide to the Labyrinth.
Monarch of the protean towers
on this cool stone patio
above the iron mist
sunk in its own waste
breathing its own breath.

~~~

You can find the rest of his poems, many lighter than those above, here:

http://beatpatrol.wordpress.com/2009...-of-the-trunk/

.

If you want know Jim Morrison, then look past the images and the press and see the words....look past the words, and see the feeling, FEEL it....look past the feeling and into the misty depths of the soul.....your own....that's where you'll find Jim.

--

Random post of the day. Anyway...

His father was an Admiral and during Vietnam my dad was part of his crew (which turned out to be a pretty good gig, taking week-long shore breaks to go skiing in Japan, etc.). You were not supposed to mention his son - ever - as they weren't on speaking terms. I always thought it was interesting that his dad was a military man... sure wouldn't have guessed it.

Originally Posted by TahoeJ

Random post of the day. Anyway...

His father was an Admiral and during Vietnam my dad was part of his crew (which turned out to be a pretty good gig, taking week-long shore breaks to go skiing in Japan, etc.). You were not supposed to mention his son - ever - as they weren't on speaking terms. I always thought it was interesting that his dad was a military man... sure wouldn't have guessed it.

Makes sense. Rebellious youth during the Viet Nam era, that and I think he was a seriously disturbed individual, many creative types are.

Disturbed, perhaps. Here's a little blurb on some of his family life. From Wikipedia.

" Morrison's early life was a nomadic existence typical of military families.^[32] Jerry Hopkins recorded Morrison's brother, Andy, explaining that his parents had determined never to use corporal punishment on their children. They instead instilled discipline and levied punishment by the military tradition known as dressing down. This consisted of yelling at and berating the children until they were reduced to tears and acknowledged their failings. "

How fucked up is that? Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather take the belt.

--

suffer the add - it's worth it.

AKR - my best guess is that Morrison wasn't anywhere near as serious and dark as he's been portrayed. I love The Doors, never really cared for his poetry or what kind of guy he was.