Robby Krieger Says Jim Morrison Wanted to Experience Insanity
- by Martin Kielty
Doors guitarist Robby Krieger says late bandmate Jim Morrison welcomed syphilis, arguing that he didn't fear going crazy. The potentially fatal sexually transmitted disease’s symptoms can include the loss of mental faculties, and has long been connected to the lives of 18th and 19th century artists. But the development of modern antibiotics means that it's no longer usually lethal.
“I think Jim believed that life could be boring and that a lot of people were just going through the motions, so he would try to freak them out,” Krieger tells the Guardian. “He would do anything to add to the craziness. Most people would be scared if they contracted a potentially lethal STD, but Jim was excited to feel close to all those disease-ridden 19th century poets and painters he idealized.
“He wanted to let it go untreated,” Krieger added, “so he could experience what it was really like to go insane.”
