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And now all your love will be exorcised And we will find you saying it's to be paradise And it's an even sum It's a melody It's a battle cry It's a symphony
—Seven Devils - Florence and the Machine
Scandal had it that she was possessed with seven devils, but her heart did not contain seven devils, it contained seven knives
—The Last Temptation Of Christ - Nikos Kazantzakis
The idea for writing this text came yesterday, while I was watching Jim Morrison's Final 24 about his last hours. What's really great about this documentary is the fact that it focuses on Jim's way to self-destruction. I mean, it is not a point that people like to explore… It's not easy to face Jim destroying himself.
After, I finished the documentary, I began to think that Jim was destroyed by the devils inside him and automatically my mind linked it to Florence's song "Seven Devils". Then I went to sleep but there were a lot of ideas about Jim, Florence, Art, Devils, Self-destruction and inspiration inside my head and I'll try to put them right here or my mind will explode.
First of all, we should understand Jim's legacy. In his work we can see that he was always talking about freedom and being lost to find yourself. I'll just show two of The Doors lyrics for you…
This is the end, Beautiful friend This is the end, My only friend, the end 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 This is the end
These lyrics are from The End from The Doors' first album (The Doors).
Come on people, don't you look so down You know the rain man is coming to town He'll change your weather, change your luck And it'll teach you how to Find yourself L'America
These are from L'America from The Doors' last album (L.A. Woman).
Both of them show to us a man who was seeking libertation, for the true freedom. Jim wanted an individual revolution inside of each one of us, not an external and bloody war against Capitalism or whatever. But the world was so afraid of its capacity that all that Jim was saying sounded like dangerous madness. Then, the only freedom Jim could find out was his nemesis: Death.
What I've written has been said years after his death. But I don't want to write once again by Jim's end, I want to check out the road toward it and then you'll see how Florence Welch and her Seven Devils just fit perfectly with Jim's Via Crucis.
Jim's internal and complex spirit was at the same time his Heaven and his Hell. It was the main force on his creative process, but it was also the essential part for his volatile temperament. Once he said that a shaman spirit joined to his body when he was on a trip with his family and they saw a wreck with a truck full of indians.
I don't know if it's true, if there was the soul of a shaman inside Jim's body, but I know that inside the same body there were many people, according to Ray Manzarek's division they were: James Douglas Morrison was a great poet, a sensible man, a gentile and fun guy; Jim Morrison was the singer, the showman, the shaman to the audience and Jimbo was the drunk, violent, explosive, uncontrollable man.
Those three faces (and the others) were always mixing, always influencing and contacting each other. You can feel this on his work. But as Jim grew older and the life grew harder and harder, Jim sought an escape for the troubles on drugs and alcohol. Then, in the end, he was Jimbo almost all the time. Drunk at the door of the Whiskey, boring at the shows and weak to fight with the vices that were dominating each inch of his life.
But I don't think it's all Jim's fault. Jim felt lonely, Jim hadn't contact with his family, Jim saw all his intention of leading a brainy revolution on America's audience failing after the Miami Show's consequences and after that he had to face the anger of his own country. Then he just was eaten by his Seven Devils.
Holy water cannot help you now A thousand armies couldn't keep me out I don't want your money I don't want your crown See I have to burn your kingdom down
Holy water cannot help you now See I've had to burn your kingdom down And no rivers and no lakes can put the fire out I'm gonna raise the stakes I'm gonna smoke you out
What's really amazing on this song is its duality; first it seems to be sung by devils themselves and after it seems like a victim's cry of help. And it's just like I imagine Jim on his final months… He was sunk on the darkness within, unable to fight out for his own freedom, and at both times he was his own executioner and the victim.
Jim wanted to became a poet, he wanted, at least, to control his vices, but it was like if on his soul there were wild horses running madly through a free field. The whole disturbance in America affected him, how could he forget the scars so easily?
And now all your love will be exorcised And we will find you saying it's to be paradise And it's an even sum It's a melody It's a battle cry It's a symphony
I can't really believe how much it fits with the moment Jim lived in Paris. The lines and now all your love will be exorcised / And we will find you saying it's to be paradise. Remember how much Jim and Pam were trying to save their relationship, but it wasn't working at all. Pam had lovers in Paris and Jim was also finding out the pleasures of the City of Light. All the love was being exorcised… And it was paradise.
At the same time, Jim was trying to recover his inspiration. But it wans't coming out as he wanted. His lines were strange and awkward for him… This moment was "a melody / (…) a battle cry / (…) a symphony".
They can keep me high 'Til I tear the walls 'Til I save your heart And I take your soul And what have been done Cannot be undone In the evil's heart In the evil's soul
Jim fell. He gave away. He couldn't fight with the Seven Devils inside him. They came… And everything ended up in a morning with an inert body in a bath.
Seven devils all around you Seven devils in your house See I was dead when I woke up this morning I'll be dead before the day is done Before the day is done
And what's a really strange coincidence: "See I was dead when I woke up this morning / I 'll be dead before the day is done." Jim died on the early morning of July, 3 in 1971; he was dead before the day was done.
The last thing is about Florence. I just think she's the one who had written the song, but I am not sure about that. But she's who's singing it. It's really scarry, but sometimes I wonder if Florence has inside her the same devils than Jim. Those wild, strong forces who can conduce you to create the wonderful visions of Heaven, but can also lead you to the fire of the Tartarus. But I really expect that Flo can control these things inside her and I really believe on her strenght to deal with that.
Eagle Rock Entertainment are proud to announce the simultaneous release on 7 / 8 November 2011 of the "Mr. Mojo Risin' — The Story Of L.A. Woman" DVD and Blu-ray [Cat. No. EREDV903 and ERBRD5105 respectively] from The Doors. This is the authorised story of the album made with the full involvement and approval of the Doors. This release coincides with the special 40th Anniversary reissue of the "L.A. Woman" album and features excerpts from: The Changeling, Love Her Madly, L.A. Woman, Hyacinth House, Crawling King Snake, The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat) and Riders On The Storm.
"Mr Mojo Risin'" is the story of the making of the Doors' last album with Jim Morrison "L.A. Woman". 2011 is the 40th anniversary both of the album's release and of the death of Jim Morrison and goes into detail of how the album came about, its recording and what was happening to the band at the time. The story is told through new interviews with the three surviving Doors: Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger and John Densmore plus contributions from Jac Holzman, founder of their label Elektra Records, Bill Siddons, who was their manager, Bruce Botnick, engineer and co-producer of the album and others associated with the Doors at this time. The show includes archive footage of the Doors performing both live and in the studio, classic photographs and new musical demonstrations from The Doors. The Bonus Features offer additional interviews not featured in the broadcast version.
"Mr Mojo Risin'" is the story of the making of the Doors' last album with Jim Morrison "L.A. Woman". 2011 is the 40th anniversary both of the album's release and of the death of Jim Morrison and goes into detail of how the album came about, its recording and what was happening to the band at the time. The story is told through new interviews with the three surviving Doors: Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger and John Densmore plus contributions from Jac Holzman, founder of their label Elektra Records, Bill Siddons, who was their manager, Bruce Botnick, engineer and co-producer of the album and others associated with the Doors at this time. The show includes archive footage of the Doors performing both live and in the studio, classic photographs and new musical demonstrations from The Doors. The Bonus Features offer additional interviews not featured in the broadcast version.