The Doors - Been Down So Long (Studio Version)

For some portion of my life I had the CD for "LA Woman" (1971) in heavy rotation when I would do any summer driving. The only CDs that could compete with it were mixed CDs I had made and those became increasingly fickle in quality as the years degraded them. Eventually it was just LA Woman. This is 'White People Blues' and so it can be difficult to keep a straight-face while listening to it, so I just smile. And smile and smile. From the first funky organ bleats of "The Changeling" to the final rolling thunder of "Riders on the Storm", I'm smiling.

Just take the first sentence of this week's song: "Well, I've been down so goddam' long, that it looks like up to me..."  It sound like the punchline to some ancient joke with just a touch of swearing to sell it. It's the Blues, right where bitter despair meets sweet rhythm.





I may post more Doors, so here is the Kids in The Halls with the perfect primer/antidote, ingest as needed.
Pity us poor 80s kids who like Depeche Mode and The Doors!



If the gods are merciful I will never have to endure L.A and this whole album is the poetry-book of a 27-year old Avatar of Chaos (who will be dead 3 months after the release of this) but there is still a region of my 41-year old northern soul where I'm driving on some dark highway, the windows are down and the night air is warm, listening to rock songs on a static-edged radio as they return to Earth after bouncing through the atmosphere.