Hi,
First got into this band in Madison, WI, when the song "Light My Fire" came out, and I heard it on the radio, and immediately got the album. The far out part was that the radio version was a short version, and the album's version was much more satisfying and valuable in any sensory experience. When I moved to California, there were 10 record albums that I had to hold in my hand all the way there, and this first album was one of them.
I was not exactly a fan of this band, but if there was one thing, was that it was obvious that this was poetry set to music, and it worked really well, and some of the things, all the way to this last album, was valuable and something I always enjoyed. Sometimes, lyrics feel just like words that are partially empty, something is missing in them, and this was how I felt about a lot of rock music, but you have to remember that I came from a house of literature, so it was easy to think that ... even the Beatles ... were not great writers, but the combination of what they did was excellent, and made their words sound way better otherwise, I always thought. If you sit back and read it, it's not that strong.
The same happened to many poets when you heard them, or read them. If you read Allen Ginsberg, it does not feel special. When you hear him read it, it just explodes in your head ... it's a wow. This does not happen to many writers, but it does happen to folks whose expression is their passion, and it eventually gets found. Bob Dylan is a bit like this, even though his earlier period (specially BonB), was highly expressive, and assertive, a lot more than it was musical.
The Doors, for me, up until Amon Duul 2, was the most poetic of all bands. And the books that followed with the words and other poems, that likely would have become lyrics in other songs, were some of the things that I loved reading ... it was not quite a vacuous poem, set to rock music. It was a poem, in every sense of the word, in the best tradition of the style. It was a Lord Byron for the 20th century. Nothing less, and lyrical, in its musical interpretation.
Favorites are many, but this song, The Soft Parade, When the Music is Over, The End, The Texas Radio Song, Whiskey Bar, Light My Fire ... and a few others, will always be a part of me growing up and loving something, that meant more ... than just lyrics to some notes. It was the very definition of what music, in its romantic definition, or artistic definition is supposed to be. Not just a song for radio, and to excite the kids ... but something to let your mind and dreams take you away ... not just as a kid, but also as an adult.
For that, I can always say ... thanks!