The Beautiful Poetry of Jim Morrison – Poets Who Inspire!

Photo credit: Bing images

I was only 8 years old when Jim Morrison passed away, but I will always remember my sister with several of the doors posters hanging on her wall and she and her friends playing their music on the record player.  My favorite song was always “Light My Fire,” but now as an adult, I can say I like some of their other songs as well. This band made a huge impact on the music industry, but many people didn’t realize Jim Morrison was also a poet who at one point in his life actually wanted to leave the music industry to write poetry books.  Thank goodness he was able to leave a book of poetry back here for us all to read.

We can all agree that Morrison was a person who made his own rules and didn’t care much for authority, but after all of that is said and done, he was a very talented individual and at the end of the day, he was also a talented poet.  I have posted three poems below that was written by him and I hope you all enjoy them!

James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, songwriter and poet, best remembered as the lead vocalist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, wild personality, performances, and the dramatic circumstances surrounding his life and early death, Morrison is regarded by music critics and fans as one of the most iconic and influential front men in rock music history. Since his death, his fame has endured as one of popular culture’s most rebellious and oft-displayed icons, representing the generation gap and youth counterculture.

Together with Ray Manzarek, Morrison co-founded the Doors during the summer of 1965 in Venice, California. The band spent two years in obscurity until shooting to prominence with their #1 single in the United States, “Light My Fire,” taken from their self-titled debut album. Morrison wrote or co-wrote many of the Doors’ songs, including the hits “Light My Fire”, “Break On Through (To the Other Side),” “The End,” “Moonlight Drive,” “People are Strange”, “Hello, I Love You,” “Roadhouse Blues,” “L.A. Woman,” and “Riders on the Storm.” Morrison recorded a total of six studio albums with the Doors, all of which sold well and received critical acclaim. Though the Doors recorded two more albums after Morrison died, his death severely affected the band’s fortunes, and they split up in 1973. In 1993, Jim Morrison, as a member of the Doors, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Morrison developed an alcohol dependency during the 1960s, which at times affected his performances on stage. He died unexpectedly at the age of 27 in Paris. As no autopsy was performed, the cause of Morrison’s death remains unknown.

POWER

I can make the earth stop in
its tracks. I made the
blue cars go away.
I can make myself invisible or small.

I can become gigantic and reach the
farthest things. I can change
the course of nature.
I can place myself anywhere in
space or time.

I can summon the dead.
I can perceive events on other worlds,
in my deepest inner mind,
and in the minds of others.

I can.

I am.

 

Newborn Awakening

Gently they stir, gently rise.
The dead are newborn awakening.
With ravaged limbs and wet souls.
Gently they sigh in rapt funeral amazement.
Who called these dead to dance?

Was it the young woman learning to play the ghost song on her baby grand?
Was it the wilderness children?
Was it the ghost god himself, stuttering, cheering, chatting blindly?

I called you up to anoint the earth.
I called you to announce sadness falling like burned skin.
I called you to wish you well.
To glory in self like a new monster.
And now I call you to pray.

 

Freedom Exists

Did you know freedom exists
In school books
Did you know madmen are
Running our prisons

Within a jail, within a gaol
Within a white free protestant
Maelstrom

We’re perched headlong
On the edge of boredom
We’re reaching for death
On the end of a candle

We’re trying for something
That’s already found us

This poet-prophet rock idol flung the doors of perception wide open, and as we read his poetry, for an instant we become infinite. His words continue to echo in the young of heart. 

Poems and excerpt credit: culturacolectiva.com