Song of the Day 1/24: The Doors, “Riders on the Storm”

Anyone worth his salt stocked up on it early, because from what I hear there’s not much to be found. We laugh at Southerners who freak out about 2 inches of snow, but it’s been years since northern Delaware got much more than that (higher accumulations have been more common in Kent and Sussex than New Castle). Here’s hoping your power doesn’t go out, and you can ride out the storm.

“Riders on the Storm” has the distinction of being the last song ever recorded by Jim Morrison. Keyboard player Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robbie Krieger said the tune was inspired by “Ghost Riders in the Sky.” The second verse of Morrison’s poem was inspired by the 1953 movie “The Hitchhiker,” based on a then-famous multi-state killing spree. The third verse was inspired by his companion, Pamela Courson. The first, specifically the line “into this world we’re thrown,” was inspired by philosopher Martin Heidegger’s concept of “thrownness.” Morrison contained multitudes.

It also has the distinction of being dismissed as “cocktail music” by their longtime producer Paul A. Rothchild, who quit during the “L.A. Woman” sessions. He had a point – it actually charted higher, No. 11, on the Easy Listening chart than in the Hot 100, where it reached No. 14. It was recorded in January 1971 and released in June. Morrison was found dead in Paris in July.

Earlier this month Playing for Change, the charity project that raises money for music education, got the two surviving Doors, Krieger and drummer John Densmore, to kick off their globe-spanning cover.