You know how lyrics from an old song will sometimes pop into your head and get stuck? Well bits and pieces of The Doors' Crystal Ship were going through my head all this morning.
The Crystal Ship is a song from The Doors' eponymous first album, released in January 1967. I was in 8th grade, 13 years old, and as Top 40 AM radio began to fill the airwaves with Light My Fire (from the same album), some friends and I started a garage band.
We eventually covered a lot of rock artists but none more than The Doors -- of the 11 tracks on this album, we regularly performed 9 of them, including Crystal Ship, Light My Fire and The End.
Crystal Ship is not my favorite Doors song -- I don't even like all the lyrics. But with their haunting arrangement and delivery, a few lines have always moved me.
"The Days Are Bright, And Filled With Pain"
Ouch. But that's how I've been feeling recently. Caught in the bright, harsh light of reality. The pain of slowly losing hope, of plodding through the days, of seeing my own shortcomings a little too clearly, and not liking myself as much as I used to.
"Enclose Me In Your Gentle Rain"
And I can feel peace begin to wrap me. To be "enclosed" like this is to be protected and perhaps transformed, like a caterpillar enclosed in its cocoon. The gentle rain is neither cold nor pelting, but it is both cleansing and refreshing. It softens the brightness, relieves the pain.
"Before You Slip Into Unconsciousness / I'd Like to Have Another Kiss"
I've always imagined this as referring to the sweetness of my lover drifting off to sleep beside me. But in recent years it touches my own fear of slipping into a kind of sexual unconsciousness, where the only choices are between bad sex and no sex. And before I go, I would indeed like another kiss, "Another flashing chance at bliss."
Enjoy the song.
The Crystal Ship
John Densmore/The Doors/Robbie Krieger/Ray Manzarek/Jim Morrison
Before you slip into unconsciousness
I'd like to have another kiss
Another flashing chance at bliss
Another kiss, another kiss
The days are bright and filled with pain
Enclose me in your gentle rain
The time you ran was too insane
We'll meet again, we'll meet again
Oh tell me where your freedom lies
The streets are fields that never die
Deliver me from reasons why
You'd rather cry, I'd rather fly
The crystal ship is being filled
A thousand girls, a thousand thrills
A million ways to spend your time
When we get back, I'll drop a line
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Crystal Ship
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5 comments:
wow. Sounds like you're in alot of pain now and sort of melancholy. Not sure what to say.
"Another flashing chance at bliss".
You described the feeling beautifully. Thank you.
Dear Who, no need to say more. It's ok.
And Marianne, yes, you know.
I adore The Doors. Jim Morrison wasn't only brilliant, he was beautiful.
"People Are Strange" still rings true today. Whereas, like you, I find different meanings (feelings?) coming to the surface when I listen to most of their other music today.
Could be why I tend not to go backward.
Thanks Byrd. The intrinsic paranoia in "People Are Strange" has always made me uneasy. I guess that's its point. But I really like meeting new people and my own travel experiences, even as a broke and dirty hitchhiker in my late teens, have always been much more positive.
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