THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

133-Doors-Riders on the Storm.

1971-Number 22 single.

Best Bit-At 2.47. I am a great believer that the vast majority of artists have done their best work by the age of 30, unfortunately we will never know what Jim Morrison would have recorded in those three precious years he never had.

James Douglas Morrison (see also best songs 235) was born on December 8th,, 1943, in Melbourne, Florida, United States, he died on July 3rd, 1971, in Paris, France, at the age of 27 (see also best songs 806.) He was found dead in the bath in his rented apartment by his long term girlfriend Pamela Courson, (1946-1974) the official cause of death was listed as heart failure although no autopsy was performed, as it was not required by French law, Morrison had struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for many years.

‘Riders on the Storm’ was the second and final single released from the Doors sixth studio Album ‘L.A. Woman’ from 1971, with all four band members, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, (1939-2013) and Jim Morrison all receiving the song writing credits. The Album was produced by Bruce Botnick who had engineered on all of the five previous Doors Albums, and had been promoted due to Paul A. Rothchild, (1935-1995) who had produced all five of the Doors Albums previously, not being happy with the direction the band were going in with their music, calling ‘Love Her Madly’ (a track on L.A. Woman) ‘cocktail music.’

‘Riders on the Storm’ is about many facets of Morrison’s life. In 1962 when Morrison was attending University in Tallahassee, Florida, he would often hitchhike to ‘Clearwater’, which was some 280 miles away in order to see his then girlfriend Mary Werbelow, this was often risky as he never knew what car or truck he was getting into. Morrison had also been inspired to write the brooding lyrics after reading about the mass murderer Billy Cook (1928-1952) who had murdered six people, including a family of five after he had posed as a hitchhiker in 1950. The lyrics ‘Girl you gotta love your man,’ are a plea from Morrison to his then girlfriend Pamela Courson to stand by him.

Prior to writing the lyrics for ‘Riders on the Storm,’ Morrison had written a screenplay called ‘HWY: An American Pastoral,’ which was heavily influenced by the story of Billy Cook. In 1969 Morrison made a short experimental road movie with filmmakers which he appeared in, in the movie Morrison played the hitchhiker who kills a man who stops to give him a ride, an event directly referenced in ‘Riders on the Storm.’

The song also evolved out of a jam session when the band were playing the 1948 Stan Jones (1914-1963) Country and Western song ‘(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend,’ which gave Morrison the idea for the title ‘Riders on the Storm.’ The song was the very last one that Jim Morrison worked on before leaving for France where he died around six months later. His final contribution to the song has been explained by fellow band member Ray Manzarek,’There’s a whisper voice on ‘Riders on the Storm,’ if you listen closely, a whispered overdub that Jim adds beneath his vocal. That’s the last thing he ever did. An ephemeral, whispered overdub.’ Manzarek has also said,’He (Morrison) didn’t want the song to be just about a killer hitchhiker. The last verse, ‘The world on you depends, our life will never end/You gotta love your man’ – it becomes a very spiritual song. You won’t still occupy this body, but the essential life will never end, and love is the answer to all things. It gives the song a different perspective.’

‘Take him by the hand, make him understand. The world on you depends, our life will never end. Gotta love your man, yeah, riders on the storm.’