The following essay about songs by The Doors was written by Bob Lefsetz

The following essay about songs by The Doors was written by Bob Lefsetz, and is reprinted with his permission.

Because of the length of some of the individual song stories, this essay will be broken into sections.

Here are the third, fourth & fifth songs he wrote about ........

THE DOORS TOP 16

3. Break On Through It's the INTRO! It's like you're driving down the highway, WAY TOO FAST, fearing the future will OUTRUN YOU! There's minimal percussion. And that bass riff. It's like cruising for burgers on amphetamines. You're all jumpy, all speedy. "You know the day destroys the night Night divides the day" I think those day people are AFRAID of the night. The day's all hustle and bustle. People earning a living. Whereas nighttime...is quiet, inherently uneventful. You can't outrun your problems. They're right there, haunting you. The night people are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the day people. The day people will talk about their cars, their houses, their jobs. The hassle of everyday living. The night people will talk about life. The night people are PHILOSOPHERS! The day people put down the night people. They're lazy. They can't get with the program. But living during the day is MISSING OUT! We night people own the universe for eight to twelve hours a day. It's only us. There's no congestion on the freeway. Nobody elbowing us out of the way. Our only mission is DISCOVERY! Of ourselves, of LIFE! "Break On Through" is a nighttime drive. It's the kind of music George Lucas should have used when the Millennium Falcon went into HYPERSPACE. If "Star Wars" weren't a cartoon, but real life. Call me some evening after nine. I'll put the first Doors album in the car stereo. We'll drive down Sunset, crawl on Mulholland. Look at the city lights. And talk about the meaning of life.

4. Soul Kitchen

Ray Manzarek might talk too much. But, make no mistake, he could PLAY! His keyboard textures were an INTEGRAL PART of the DOORS! Sure, Morrison's belting of the chorus is a reason "Soul Kitchen" is so great, but really it's Manzarek's priceless intro that makes the track.

Slow and in the groove after the album's opening runaway of "Break On Through".

"Break On Through" is the anticipation of the date, the ringing of the doorbell. The awkwardness. "Soul Kitchen" is the actual drive. You've pulled away from the curb, with no particular place to go. "Learn to forget, learn to forget Learn to forget, learn to forget" They talk about the San Francisco groups imploring the baby boomers to tune in, turn on and drop out. It's forgotten that this Los Angeles band was giving the same message. Alas, they were proffering a much darker journey.

Albeit more akin to real life... Come away with me. Everything will be new. But I won't promise you'll get BACK!!!

5. Light My Fire t might be the most PLAYED Doors track, but it's not the best. It's the pop SINGLE! Actually, it worked AGAINST the band. Believe me, we were hip by this point. A Los Angeles band called THE DOORS?

Like in THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION??? HOW FUCKING LAME! With a HIT SINGLE TO BOOT! Our favorite acts didn't have hit singles. You didn't hear "Purple Haze" on AM radio. And it wasn't until EONS after "Disraeli Gears" was in the marketplace that "Sunshine Of Your Love" crossed over. This was the main reason I didn't buy the album. I expected more LIGHT MY FIRE! And that's not what the rest of the album was.

But I had to wait for that afternoon in Sally's vacation house to find out. Still, "Light My Fire" WAS famous for having two versions. Yes, you had to tune in to FM to hear the seven minute take.

We felt SPECIAL! For the average joe, the one LISTENING to AM, DIDN'T listen to FM, and had no idea this version existed. It was just for us. And it's this lengthy instrumental break, excised from the AM version, that makes the track.

e-mail address: lefsetz@aol.com

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