"
The End" is a song by
The DoorsThe Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California by vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger. They are considered a controversial and influential band, due mostly to Morrison's cryptic lyrics and unpredictable...
. Originally written by
Jim MorrisonJames Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American singer, songwriter, poet, writer and filmmaker. He was best known as the lead singer and lyricist of The Doors and is widely considered to be one of the most charismatic frontmen in rock music history. He was also the author of several books of poetry ...
as a simple good-bye song, possibly to a girlfriend, it evolved through months of performances at
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
'
Whisky a Go GoThe Whisky a Go Go is a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip....
into a nearly 12-minute opus on their
self-titled albumThe Doors is the debut album by the American rock band The Doors, released in January 1967. It features the breakthrough single "Light My Fire", extended with a substantial instrumental section mostly omitted on the single release, and the lengthy song "The End" with its Oedipal spoken-word...
. The band would perform the song to close their last set. It was first released in January 1967. The song is unrelated to
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
song of the same name"The End" is a song by The Beatles composed by Paul McCartney for the album Abbey Road. It was the last song recorded collectively by all four of The Beatles, and is the final song of the medley that dominates side two of the LP version of the album.-Composition and recording:McCartney said, "I...
, which was released two years later on
Abbey RoadAbbey Road is the 11th official U.K. album and 17th U.S. album released by The Beatles. Though work on Abbey Road began in April 1969, making it the final album recorded by the band, Let It Be was the last album released before the Beatles' dissolution in 1970. Abbey Road was released on 26...
.
"The End" was ranked at #328 on
Rolling Stone'sRolling Stone is a United States-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J. Gleason.The magazine was named after the 1948 Muddy Waters song of the same...
list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2004).
Robby KriegerRobert Alan Krieger is an American rock and roll guitarist and songwriter. He was the guitarist in The Doors, and wrote some of the band's best known songs, including "Light My Fire", "Love Me Two Times", "Touch Me" and "Love Her Madly".He is listed as number 91 on Rolling Stones list of the 100...
's slinky, haunting guitar lines over D drone in DADGBD (double dropped D tuning) tuning using a harmonic minor scale recall Indian
droneIn music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
and
ragaRāga refers to melodic modes used in Indian classical music. It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. In the Indian musical tradition, rāgas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons. Indian classical music is always set in a rāga...
-based music, as has often been noted, and the rolling and dramatic crescendoes of
John DensmoreJohn Paul Densmore is a Californian musician and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer of the rock group The Doors from 1965 to 1973.-Biography:...
's drums recall Indian
tablaThe tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in the classical, popular and religious music of the Indian subcontinent and in Hindustani classical music. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
rhythms. The music as a whole, though, does not sound entirely or even particularly "Indian".
"
The End" is a song by
The DoorsThe Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California by vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger. They are considered a controversial and influential band, due mostly to Morrison's cryptic lyrics and unpredictable...
. Originally written by
Jim MorrisonJames Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American singer, songwriter, poet, writer and filmmaker. He was best known as the lead singer and lyricist of The Doors and is widely considered to be one of the most charismatic frontmen in rock music history. He was also the author of several books of poetry ...
as a simple good-bye song, possibly to a girlfriend, it evolved through months of performances at
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
'
Whisky a Go GoThe Whisky a Go Go is a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip....
into a nearly 12-minute opus on their
self-titled albumThe Doors is the debut album by the American rock band The Doors, released in January 1967. It features the breakthrough single "Light My Fire", extended with a substantial instrumental section mostly omitted on the single release, and the lengthy song "The End" with its Oedipal spoken-word...
. The band would perform the song to close their last set. It was first released in January 1967. The song is unrelated to
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
song of the same name"The End" is a song by The Beatles composed by Paul McCartney for the album Abbey Road. It was the last song recorded collectively by all four of The Beatles, and is the final song of the medley that dominates side two of the LP version of the album.-Composition and recording:McCartney said, "I...
, which was released two years later on
Abbey RoadAbbey Road is the 11th official U.K. album and 17th U.S. album released by The Beatles. Though work on Abbey Road began in April 1969, making it the final album recorded by the band, Let It Be was the last album released before the Beatles' dissolution in 1970. Abbey Road was released on 26...
.
"The End" was ranked at #328 on
Rolling Stone'sRolling Stone is a United States-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J. Gleason.The magazine was named after the 1948 Muddy Waters song of the same...
list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2004).
Music
Robby KriegerRobert Alan Krieger is an American rock and roll guitarist and songwriter. He was the guitarist in The Doors, and wrote some of the band's best known songs, including "Light My Fire", "Love Me Two Times", "Touch Me" and "Love Her Madly".He is listed as number 91 on Rolling Stones list of the 100...
's slinky, haunting guitar lines over D drone in DADGBD (double dropped D tuning) tuning using a harmonic minor scale recall Indian
droneIn music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
and
ragaRāga refers to melodic modes used in Indian classical music. It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. In the Indian musical tradition, rāgas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons. Indian classical music is always set in a rāga...
-based music, as has often been noted, and the rolling and dramatic crescendoes of
John DensmoreJohn Paul Densmore is a Californian musician and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer of the rock group The Doors from 1965 to 1973.-Biography:...
's drums recall Indian
tablaThe tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in the classical, popular and religious music of the Indian subcontinent and in Hindustani classical music. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
rhythms. The music as a whole, though, does not sound entirely or even particularly "Indian". The sharp, ringing edge of the
guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
recalls the 50s
rock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...
style, while the fingerpicking attack may derive equally from the
flamencoFlamenco is a Spanish musical genre with origins in Andalusia. It can be both a musical form, known for its intricate rapid passages, and a dance characterized by audible footwork. The origins of the term are unclear...
guitar style Krieger had studied as a youth and from
folk musicThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
.
Ray ManzarekRaymond Daniel Manczarek, Jr., better known as Ray Manzarek , is an American musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder, and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, and the Doors of the 21st Century since 2001.-Early life and career:Ray Manzarek is of Polish descent, born...
's organ is used sparingly to provide an inconspicuous bass line (I-V-I-V-I-V...) and fills. One may find a strong similarity to Chopin's
"Funeral March"Frédéric Chopin composed his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35 mainly in 1839 at Nohant near Chateauroux in France, although the third movement, which comprises the funeral march had been composed as early as 1837....
theme and also to Sandy Bull's guitar instrumental "Blend" - but this may be more to do with the quality of the melodic minor scale than with any specific influence. The song begins in common time (4/4), and starts alternating with the unusual meter of 6/4, right before Morrison sings the line "...of our elaborate plans, the end...", until he sings "I'll never look into your eyes...again", when it returns to 4/4, and stays in that meter for the remainder of the song.
Structurally, the song crescendos to three separate mini-climaxes separated by slower sections of half-spoken, half-sung lyrics before building to an enormous
psychedelicThe term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλείν , translating to "mind-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly ordinary fetters...
climax right after Jim Morrison sings the "meet me at the back of the blue bus" verse. Previously, the song had been weaving along on its melodies to an encounter with the ruling powers of the mind, the controlling "father" structure and the longed-for "mother", or freedom. The final climax represents either an attempt to break through to that freedom, or more likely, an Oedipal sexual climax. The sexual representation seems more likely given the similar crescendo apex very much along the lines of Ravel's 'Bolero". Afterward, "The End" departs on a wistful note when Morrison sings, "It hurts to set you free, but you'll never follow me. The end of laughter and soft lies, the end of nights we tried to die." In the context of Morrison's first interpretation quoted above, this lyric and the associated music that softly reiterates themes from the opening may mean that the comfort of childhood will be sacrificed for freedom.
Lyrics
Shortly past the mid-point of the nearly 12-minute long album version, the song suddenly enters a spoken-word section with the words, "The killer awoke before dawn... " That section of the song reaches a dramatic climax with the lines, "Father/ Yes son?/ I want to kill you/ Mother, I want to... (fuck you)," (with the last two words screamed out unintelligibly). This is often considered a reference to
SophoclesSophocles was the second of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus and earlier than those of Euripides...
'
Oedipus the KingOedipus the King is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BC. It was the second of Sophocles's three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone...
, a production on which
Jim MorrisonJames Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American singer, songwriter, poet, writer and filmmaker. He was best known as the lead singer and lyricist of The Doors and is widely considered to be one of the most charismatic frontmen in rock music history. He was also the author of several books of poetry ...
had worked while at
Florida State UniversityFlorida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
.
Said Morrison in 1969, "Everytime I hear that song, it means something else to me. It started out as a simple good-bye song probably just to a girl, but I see how it could be a goodbye to a kind of childhood. I really don't know. I think it's sufficiently complex and universal in its imagery that it could be almost anything you want it to be." Producer Paul Rothchild said in an interview that he believed the song to be an inside trip, and that "kill the father" means destroying everything hierarchical, controlling, and restrictive in one's psyche, while "fuck the mother" means embracing everything that is expansive, flowing, and alive in the psyche. Ray Manzarek, the former keyboard player for the Doors spoke about it defensively saying,
He was giving voice in a rock 'n' roll setting to the Oedipus complex, at the time a widely discussed tendency in Freudian psychology. He wasn't saying he wanted to do that to his own mom and dad. He was re-enacting a bit of Greek drama. It was theatre!
The Apocalypse Now Sequence
"The End" was most famously used as a
framing deviceThe term framing device refers to the usage of the same single action, scene, event, setting, or any element of significance at both the beginning and end of an artistic, musical, or literary work. The repeated element thus creates a ‘frame’ within which the main body of work can develop.The...
for
Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola is an Italian-American film director, producer and screenwriter. Away from showbusiness, Coppola is also a vintner, magazine publisher and hotelier. He is a graduate of Hofstra University where he studied theatre. He earned an M.F.A. in film directing from the UCLA Film School...
's 1979 film
Apocalypse NowApocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic war film set during the Vietnam War. The plot revolves around two US Army special operations officers, one of whom, Captain Benjamin L. Willard of MACV-SOG, is sent into the jungle to assassinate the other, the rogue and presumably insane Colonel Walter E....
, in which its dark, poetic passage marked the film's descent into the
surrealSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
. The sound of helicopter rotors from the beginning of the film are often included in recordings of the song. However, this version of the song is also incomplete, and the sounds of a jungle replace most of the lyrics in the second half of the song.
This usage has led to other, often satirical usages for the song's appearance:
- There are three sequences on The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
television series in which the song plays: while HomerHomer Jay Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and father of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
contemplates suicide, in the episode "Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore" in which, in an Apocalypse NowApocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic war film set during the Vietnam War. The plot revolves around two US Army special operations officers, one of whom, Captain Benjamin L. Willard of MACV-SOG, is sent into the jungle to assassinate the other, the rogue and presumably insane Colonel Walter E....
parody, Homer thinks he is a god, and in the episode "Smoke on the Daughter"Smoke on the Daughter" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons
' nineteenth season. It was broadcast on March 30, 2008, and was written by Billy Kimball, and directed by Lance Kramer. Lisa becomes a ballerina at an academy and discovers her natural talent is enhanced by second...
", when Bart raises his head out of a pile of leg warmers in the smoke outside, the song's instrumental portion is heard, mirroring a sequence in the film Apocalypse NowApocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic war film set during the Vietnam War. The plot revolves around two US Army special operations officers, one of whom, Captain Benjamin L. Willard of MACV-SOG, is sent into the jungle to assassinate the other, the rogue and presumably insane Colonel Walter E....
.
- A Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a weekly late-night sketch comedy and variety show filmed in New York City. It made its debut on October 11, 1975, under a slightly different title. The show features a regular cast of comedy actors, joined by a guest host and musical act...
sketch in which John McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
is driven to madness while campaigning for George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
as a parody of Apocalypse Now.
- The final broadcast of Toonami
Toonami is a registered trademark of Cartoon Network, used initially for action-oriented programming blocks on Cartoon Network television channels worldwide, mostly showing American and Japanese cartoons, originating in the United States on March 17, 1997 and ended on September 20,...
, specifically Tom's last message, references the song.
- It was used in the final episode of The Dennis Miller Show, during another Apocalypse Now parody sequence, in which Dennis was airlifted by (we are led to believe) a helicopter out of the set.
- The song was also referenced in a 2006 episode of The Venture Bros.
The Venture Bros. is an American animated television series which premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on February 16, 2003. The series chronicles the adventures of two dopey yet well-meaning teenage boys, Hank and Dean Venture; their emotionally insecure, ethically challenged super-scientist...
entitled "Assassinanny 911"Assassinanny 911" is an episode of the animated television series The Venture Bros., the third episode of the second season. Molotov Cocktease returns and is both an assassin and the "nanny" in "Assassinanny."- Plot :...
", in a scene which also parodied the Apocalypse Now usage, when Hank (under the influence of poison) quotes the Oedipal section of the song and tries to kill his father with a paper machete sword while a Doors-influenced score plays in the background.
- The song was parodied in an episode of Animaniacs
Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. and produced by Amblin Entertainment. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros. Animation during...
, the plot of which was partly a parody of Apocalypse Now. At the start of the episode, a voice actor sings in a Morrison-like voice, "This is the beginning... the beginning of our story...the beginning...". At the middle of the story, the word "beginning" is replaced with the word "middle". At the end of the episode he says "This is the ending...the ending of our story...the ending...the ending...the ending...the ending." and a Jim Morrison character is seen being run over by a golf cart.
- Director Martin Scorsese
Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. He is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation, a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema and has won awards from the Oscars, Golden Globe,...
once used the song in a sex scene montage in his early student film Who's That Knocking at My DoorWho's That Knocking at My Door, originally titled I Call First, is Martin Scorsese's first feature film. Exploring themes of Catholic guilt similar to those in his later film Mean Streets, the story follows Italian-American J.R. as he struggles to accept the secret hidden by his girlfriend...
(1968).
- The song was also used in Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director and screenwriter. Stone came to prominence as a director with a series of films about the Vietnam War, in which he had participated as an American infantry soldier, and his work continues to focus frequently on contemporary political and cultural...
's 1991 film The DoorsThe Doors is a 1991 biopic about the 1960s rock band of the same name which emphasizes the life of its lead singer, Jim Morrison. It was directed by Oliver Stone, and stars Val Kilmer as Morrison, Meg Ryan as Pamela Courson , Kyle MacLachlan as Ray Manzarek, Frank Whaley as Robby Krieger, Kevin...
, where it plays while the band explored drugs in the desert.
- The early 90's Fox Kids cartoon show Eek! the Cat had an episode based on Apocalypse Now. In the beginning of the episode, the title character sings "This is the beginning of the story."
Usage in other music
- "Tiny Sick Tears", from Frank Zappa's You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 is a two-CD set of live recordings by Frank Zappa, recorded between 1969 and 1988, and released in 1991.-Disc one:#"Little Rubber Girl"...
, parodies the song's Freudian imagery, and Jim Morrison's portentous delivery;You take a mask from the ancient hallway, and you go down, to your father's room. And you open the door, and your father, your tiny sick father, is beating his meat to a Playboy magazine -- he's got it rolled into a tube and he's got his tiny sick pud stuffed in the middle of it, right flat up against the centrefold! And you say, "Father, I want to kill y--" and he says "Not now, son, not now!"
- Nirvana
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
parodied the song live with Kurt CobainKurt Donald Cobain was an American musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the rock band Nirvana....
singing normally (although with different lyrics) and Krist NovoselicKrist Anthony Novoselic II is a Croatian American rock musician , best known for being the bassist and co-founder of the grunge band Nirvana. In addition to Nirvana, Novoselic has played for Sweet 75, Eyes Adrift, and most recently in Flipper...
drunkenly doing improvised spoken word parts about the killer awaking in Belgium and craving waffles.
- In the March 1, 1997 version of the Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, exploration of music across genres, and devoted fan base. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983, the band's four members performed together for over 20 years until an official breakup in...
song "Weekapaug Groove", recorded on
Slip Stitch and PassSlip Stitch and Pass is a live album by Phish. It was released on October 28, 1997 by Elektra Records and features nine tracks from March 1, 1997, at the Markthalle Club in Hamburg, Germany, during Phish's European Tour...
, vocalist
Trey AnastasioTrey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. He is credited by name as composer of 152 Phish original songs, 140 of them as a solo credit, in addition to 41 credits attributed to the band as a whole...
starts out by indirectly quoting the Oedipal section of this song, saying, "He walked on down the hall... He said, "Father, I want to kill you... Mother... I want to cook you breakfast.... Then I wanna...I wanna borrow the car.... Then I wanna... Ooooooooooh."
- During the Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Zeitgeist was released on July 6, 2007 in certain countries and on July 10, 2007 in the United States and Canada. It is the first studio album The Smashing Pumpkins have released since their 2000...
tour, The Smashing PumpkinsThe Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan and James Iha , the band has included D'arcy Wretzky , Jimmy Chamberlin , and Melissa Auf der Maur among its membership.Disavowing the punk rock roots shared by...
used a tease of "The End" as an intro to "Silverfuck".
- Rap group Three 6 Mafia
Three 6 Mafia is an Academy Award winning American rap group originating from Memphis, Tennessee. Formed in 1991 by DJ Paul, Lord Infamous, and Juicy J, they shortly thereafter recruited fellow Memphian rappers Koopsta Knicca, Gangsta Boo, and Crunchy Black. The group also frequently collaborates...
sampled this song for their song "I'm So Hi" on their album When the Smoke ClearsWhen the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1 is the fourth full length album from Three 6 Mafia, as well as the first platinum album for Three 6 Mafia, Hypnotize Mindz, and Memphis rap in general. It includes smash hits such as "Who Run It" , "Tongue Ring", and "Sippin On Some Syrup"...
.
- Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead singer and songwriter for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave , and for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions . He is known for his wide four octave vocal range, and powerful vocal belting technique...
, both solo recently and while fronting the grunge behemoth SoundgardenSoundgarden was a Grammy Award winning American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by lead singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
, will tag portions of "The End", among other songs, onto the breakdown of the 11+ minute long Soundgarden opus "Slaves & Bulldozers" during live performances.
- Metal group Bloodsimple
Bloodsimple is an American metal band from New York City that formed in 2002. They are currently signed to Warner Bros. Records.The band's name, Bloodsimple, comes from a term coined by detective novelist Dashiell Hammett. The term apparently describes the addled, fearful mindset people are in...
sampled lines from "The End" in their song "Ride With MeRed Harvest is the second album by New York Alternative metal band Bloodsimple. It was released on October 30, 2007. Will Hunt of the band Dark New Day played drums on this album...
".
- Norwegian Pop/Rock singer Marion Raven
Marion Elise Ravn is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and former child actress. Her surname is of Norse origin, with Ravn meaning Raven, which she adopted as her stage name Marion Raven as well as for her trademark raven logo. She was one-half of the now defunct pop duo M2M, along with Marit Larsen...
sampled lines from "The End" in her song, "For You I'd Die", written about Jim Morrison and girlfriend Pamela CoursonPamela Susan Courson was the long-term companion of Jim Morrison, vocalist of The Doors. After the deaths of Morrison and Courson, her parents petitioned an out-of-state court to declare that the couple had a common law marriage.-Early life and involvement with Morrison:Courson was born in Weed,...
. In it she sings the lines "Oh, this is the end / My only friend the end / Are words from my favorite band."
- Morrison's one-time lover Nico
Nico was a German singer-songwriter, fashion model, actress, and Warhol Superstar...
covered the song for her fourth albumThe End is the fourth studio album by Nico, released in 1974. The album was her fifth collaboration with John Cale and third with him as producer. It carried the same harmonium-based music heard on The Marble Index and Desertshore with the addition of Brian Eno's synthesizers and electronic...
, which shared the title.
- Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
's cover version of Five to One"Five to One" is a song by The Doors, from their 1968 album Waiting for the Sun.-Origin:"Five to one" is rumored to be the approximate ratio of whites to blacks, old to young, or non-pot smokers to pot smokers in the US in 1967, depending on whom you ask. A further urban legend has it as the ratio...
, also by The Doors, ends in him referencing the "Mother I want to fuck you" lyrics to close the song.
- Dirty South (House DJ) used the lyric 'This Is The End' for his song 'The End'
- Even touted as one of the best covers of the song by the surviving members, Travis Meeks
Travis Shane Meeks , is an American musician, and is the lead singer, guitarist and song writer for acoustic rock band Days of the New.-Early life and career:...
of the world-music, rock band Days of the NewDays of the New is an alternative rock band from Charlestown, Indiana , formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Travis Meeks and a variety of supporting musicians...
covered the song with the remaining members on VH1 StorytellersStorytellers is a television music series produced by the VH1 network.In each episode artists perform in front of a live audience, and tell stories about their music, writing experiences and memories, somewhat similar to MTV Unplugged...
. The song was later recorded for the Doors tribute album, Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The DoorsStoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors is a tribute album dedicated to The Doors. Producer Ralph Sall gathered an assortment of new, classic and iconic artists for the record. Unusually, the surviving members of The Doors played on this "tribute" record. In addition, recordings of Jim Morrison...
.
- Butthole Surfers
The Butthole Surfers are an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but the core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been together since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
vocalist Gibby HaynesGibson Jerome "Gibby" Haynes is an American musician, radio personality, painter and the lead singer of the group Butthole Surfers.-Early life and career:...
parodied the "walk down the hall" section as a sort of speech on their live album Double LiveDouble Live is the name of Garth Brooks' tenth country album. As its name implies, it is a two-disc live album recorded live during Brooks' second world tour in 1998. It broke the first week sales record at the time, when it sold one million copies , becoming the best-selling live album in the...
.
Versions
While the 1967 release of the song is the best known version, there are other, slightly different versions available.
A significantly shorter edit, sometimes erroneously referred to as a "single version", was released on the
Greatest HitsGreatest Hits is a compilation album by The Doors, released in 1980. The album was re-released in 1996 as an enhanced CD with a different tracklisting and cover art....
album. The edited version is almost half the length of the original.
The version used in
Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola is an Italian-American film director, producer and screenwriter. Away from showbusiness, Coppola is also a vintner, magazine publisher and hotelier. He is a graduate of Hofstra University where he studied theatre. He earned an M.F.A. in film directing from the UCLA Film School...
's movie
Apocalypse NowApocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic war film set during the Vietnam War. The plot revolves around two US Army special operations officers, one of whom, Captain Benjamin L. Willard of MACV-SOG, is sent into the jungle to assassinate the other, the rogue and presumably insane Colonel Walter E....
is different from the 1967 release, being a remix specifically made for the movie. The remixed versions emphasizes the vocal track at the final crescendo, highlighting Morrison's liberal use of
scatIn vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with random vocables and syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice....
and
expletivesFuck is an English word that is generally considered profane, that in its most literal meaning refers to the act of sexual intercourse. However, by extension it may be used to negatively characterize anything that can be dismissed, disdained, defiled, or destroyed, and it is due to the convergence...
. The vocal track can partly be heard in the 1967 release, although the expletives are effectively buried in the mix (and the scat-singing only faintly audible), and Morrison can only be heard clearly at the end of the crescendo with his repeated line of "Kill! Kill!".
A new 5.1 mix was issued with the 2006 box set Perception. The new 5.1 mix has more sonic details than the original 1967 mix.
While it is officially recognized that the 1967 version is an edit consisting of two different takes recorded on two consecutive days—the splice being right before the "
The killer awoke before dawn" line, easily pinpointed by cut cymbals—the full takes, or the edited parts, have yet to surface.
In the version recorded Live In Madison Square Garden, the controversial lyric "Mother, I want to fuck you" can be heard clearly, instead of the unintelligible screaming of the studio version.