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.