A Day In The Life

A momentous recording in every way, melding riveting Lennon lyrics and a contrasting yet perfectly applicable verse penned by Paul McCartney to two superb and effective orchestral buildups and a seemingly everlasting coda - the long, long crashing piano and harmonium chord which slowly evaporates into silence and the end of the album.
David Crosby was at Abbey Road studios when The Beatles were recording this. In an interview with Filter magazine, he said: "I was, as near as I know, the first human being besides them and George Martin and the engineers to hear A Day In The Life. I was high as a kite - so high I was hunting geese with a rake. They sat me down; they had huge speakers like coffins with wheels on that they rolled up on either side of the stool. By the time it got the end of that piano chord, man my brains were on the floor."

Lyrics:

I read the news today oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph.
He blew his mind out in a car
He didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They'd seen his face before
Nobody was really sure
If he was from the House of Lords.
I saw a film today oh boy
The English Army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
but I just had to look
Having read the book.
I'd love to turn you on
Woke up, fell out of bed,
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup,
And looking up I noticed I was late.
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke,
Somebody spoke and I went into a dream
I read the news today oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.
I'd love to turn you on

Riders On The Storm

Facts about the song:

• This was the last song Jim Morrison recorded. He went to France and died a few weeks later. The single was released in June, 1971, shortly before Morrison's death.


• If you listen closely, you can hear Jim Morrison whispering the lyrics over his own singing. This causes a kind of creepy effect.


• The Doors brought in bass players Marc Benno and Jerry Scheff to play on the album. Scheff came up with the distinctive bass line after Manzarek played him what he had in mind on his keyboard. It took a while to figure out, since it was much harder to play on a bass than a keyboard.


• This evolved out of a jam session when the band was messing around with "Ghost Riders In The Sky," a cowboy song by Stan Jones.


• Ray Manzarek used the electric piano to create the effect of rain.


• Paul Rothchild, who produced The Doors' first 5 albums, decided not to work on this because he didn't like the songs. He thought this sounded like "cocktail music." The Doors ended up producing it themselves with the help of their engineer, Bruce Botnick.

Some interesting comments about the song:

• Definitely appreciated on a new level when stoned. Next time it rains sit in a room with a joint, crank up the sound and watch the rain...very eery, feels like Jim comes back to say hello... Nice touch being it was the last most of us heard of his voice. A beautiful song, I believe it is about us being thrown into this life with no choice and no idea where we are from, maybe another piece he tuned into in from the other side..just before he crossed over...


• jim will always be with us! long live the lizard king!


• this is one of the greatest doors songs and yes you do appreciate it more when youre high! you really get lost in it, especially ray's solo


• One of my all time favs........i realised there was JIM whispering in the background after listenin to it UNDER WEED......hehe.....makes it sound as if its a voice coming from inside..... Jim really knew how to CREATE pictures in front of ur eyes.....


• excellent song, the way it flows just makes you feel something inside yourself. powerful in a way that I can't really understand.

Lyrics:
Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm
Into this house we're born
Into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor out on loan
Riders on the storm.

There's a killer on the road
His brain is squirming like a toad
Take a long holiday
Let your children play
If you give this man a ride
Sweet memory will die
Killer on the road, yeah.

Girl you gotta love your man
Girl you gotta love your man
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
Riders on the storm
Into this house we're born
Into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor out on loan
Riders on the storm.