Jim Morrison Essay, Research Paper
James Douglas Morrison born on December 8th, 1943, near Cape Kennedy in Melbourne, Florida. He was the son of Steve, a naval officer, and Clara, a good time party girl. Jim s life as a child consisted of living with his mother at his Father s parents for two years while his dad was away in the navy, and then beginning the typical military lifestyle of continuously moving. Once when traveling on a highway they came upon a car wreck with a bunch of Native Americans. Jim wanted to stop and help, he was very upset, after Jim s father did all he could they left. Jim was still crying hysterically, he wanted to do more. Jim claims that the dying Indian entered his head.By the time Jim was fourteen he had moved seven times. He went to high school in Alameda, California. This is where he met his best friend Fud Ford. During this time Jim was very interested in art and writing, much, which had to do with sex and feces. Such were mach radio announcements about masturbation and one drawing showed a man with a soda bottle for a penis, a can opener for testicles, and slime running from his anus. Other such drawings showed his boyish fascination with sex and feces, but at the same time were much more sophisticated then his little mind should have allowed.He was always fooling around with people. He would play jokes on people, he would go days without showering and changing his clothes, but he also showed an intelligent side. His room was filled with books well ahead of his years. On an IQ test his senior year he got a score of 149. He then refused to go to his graduation ceremony. This combination of foolishness and intelligence lead to one of the greatest musical minds of all time. Jim would pave the way for future rock stars behavior. Jim is the greatest entertainer of all times. He not only went past the limit, but also had no concept of authority at all. Jim lived for the reactions and attention, which he got from his actions. He pushed the audience into a riot, he didn t censor his lyrics, and his no holds bar style on stage makes him a role model for future rock stars. All of which helps pave the way for future rock stars, all of which try to imitate this by having their fake bad attitudes and mach no concept of law, but really which one of these rock stars were willing to get dragged off stage by the cops and beaten for their actions. None but Jim, maybe a drunk, stoned, or tripping Jim, but none but Jim.Jim Morrison was known for forcing his crowds into frenzy. Sure there were a couple of shows where the crowd wasn t ready to rush the stage, but on a good typical Morrison night, he had his crowds within minutes of a riot. He would spit at them, yell at them, and even call them names. The police had to stop his concerts for fear of a riot. Jim would say stuff like, You re all a bunch of fucking slaves, in his drunk, slow mumbled tone which would make the crowd even more upset after being abused most of the show. One show he exposed himself on stage causing him to get arrested, which the show had to stop, made the crowd even angrier. Today s rock shows all try to work up the crowd by either cursing or even a couple attempts at nudity, but no one or no band could or ever will be able to work a crowd like Jim Morrison.Jim was known for his lyrics which mostly came from his poetry. Some he would make up on the spot others already written were inappropriate for certain events. On the Ed Sullivan show, Jim was asked before the show to not say a certain lyric, Girl we couldn t get much higher. Television and radio were not supposed to have drug innuendoes at the time, but that didn t stop Jim one bit. When the time came, the censors were confident in their boy , they should have known better, because Jim definitely said the line. Needless to say he never did live television again. At concerts Jim would change the words to a song just to get a reaction. He would change lines like, Come on, Come on, Come on, now touch me babe, into something like, Come on, Come on, Come on now suck me babe. My personal favorite lyric change, which is a classic Morrison touch, is changing the lyrics, Father I want to kill you, mother I want to . AAAAAHHHHH, with his high pitch scream, into .Mother I . Want . To ..Fuck you mama, all night long. His other famous notes were his crazy yells. He would give a blood-curdling yell in the middle of a song. He was also famous for his poetry, which is where most of his famous songs came from. Some would say it s the poetry of a madman, but I believe he has the mind of a genius. Now everyone wants to have the crazy lyrics with the hidden meanings. Every band changes their lyrics at concerts either into cursing or yells trying to be like Jim.
Jim Morrison s style on stage was like no one else. He pulled all kinds of stunts which would almost be imitated by bands to come. He would come out on stage with a gallon of whisky and a straw, which he would have finished by the end of the concert obviously drunk and stumbling. He was definitely an alcoholic and a drug addict, you can bet any money that he would come to his show either drunk or high, which might explain for his behavior. He would even put LSD stickers onto his band mates, Robby, John, and Ray, while they were playing so they would have to go on a trip with him. There were always naked people getting on stage. Once he brought a goat on stage and said he was going to sacrifice it, but who knows if he really would have if the cops didn t step in. He would also tease the cops, thinking they wouldn t do anything. One time before a concert a cop maced Jim mistaking him for a kid. As soon as he was on stage he started to tell his story, I was maced back stage by a blue man, the cops turned around. Yeah a little blue pig, they started closing in on Jim, but he didn t stop. A fat little pig in a police uniform, then the cops grabbed him and dragged him off stage beating as they took him to jail. He got charged for inciting a riot, which there was not one that night. Jim also started doing stage falls. He would fake his falls and jumps acting hurt, and then spring up and start singing again. Again today you see all types of entertainers trying to impress the crowds like this with their making fun of police, or stage diving into the crowds, or running on stage naked, but it still didn t get the reaction of the greatest one of all, Jim.His life was all about pushing the limits. He pushed reality with drugs, the law with crazy stunts and lyrics, and life with death defying stunts. His outrageous style of performance and his fast paced living makes him a legend on and off stage especially for future performers who need a role model. This fast paced living and outrageous life style also caused his demise. Jim was found dead in his bath tub with a smile on his face on July 3rd, 1971. This ended the most genius and influential mind in rock and roll history, next to no one.