SOTD: "Riders on the Storm"

Song Of The Day is “Riders on the Storm” by The Doors. This is my all-time favorite song. Every time I listen to this song I am moved by the mesmerizing tones of legendary keyboard soloist, Ray Manzarek paired with the tranquil voice of Jim Morrison. The song still stands today as their most popular.

The song began with the band “jamming in the studio” when a “country bop tune” sparked a lyrical epiphany in Morrison. In an interview with Manzarek, he explains that the lyrics Morrison presented at that moment were simply “‘Riders on the Storm’”. The Doors recorded the song before Morrison left for Paris with his girlfriend, Pamela Courson--a trip he had longed for. Drawn from Morrison’s love-driven excitement, ‘Riders on the Storm’ portrays tones of infatuation and is seen as a loose portrayal of his life. 'Riders on the Storm' would also be the last song The Doors would record with Morrison before his overdose in Paris.

“The [lyric] ‘killer on the road’ is a reference to a screenplay [Morrison] wrote called The Hitchhiker (An American Pastoral), where Morrison was going to play the part of a hitchhiker who goes on a murder spree.” In the music video, they use scenes cut out from the 50 minute film. “It was shot during the spring and summer of 1969 in the Mojave Desert and in Los Angeles.” Throughout the music video we are immersed in the raw and unusual life of a hitchhiking serial killer. The video conveys a seemingly innocent tone at first, then becomes eerie and mysterious. The man (played by Morrison) seems to be on an impossible quest to fill a void of dissatisfaction with his life. As the song progresses he loses sanity and projects a reckless attitude filled with anger and loneliness. When the hitchhiker is drinking and driving I believe it could be Morrison’s personal addition, one that was meant to display his own coping mechanisms in response to his overwhelming life. I also believe that Morrison wanted to portray a consistent feeling of disconnection from the world and from self through the music video. When the hitchhiker continues driving, he closes his eyes momentarily, highlighting the tranquility he feels as a result of being reckless. Towards the end of the music video we learn that the mans dissociative relationship with the world around him is what he is trying to run away from. The only thing, he believes, that can make him feel something is by killing people, or almost killing himself. (Click on the pics to learn more)