How The Doors’ Jim Morrison Inspired The Monkees’ Hit ‘Words’
- by Matthew Trzcinski
Through his work with The Doors, Jim Morrison became a classic rock legend. The Monkees’ regular songwriters had strong reaction to The Door’s songs. Subsequently, they drew influence from Morrison to write “Words” and other Monkees songs.
How The Monkees’ songwriters thought Jim Morrison compared to other 1960s artists
Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart formed a songwriting duo called Boyce & Hart. They are known for writing Prefab Four songs such as “(Theme From) The Monkees” and “Last Train to Clarksville.” In his 2015 autobiography Psychedelic Bubble Gum: Boyce & Hart, The Monkees, and Turning Mayhem Into Miracles, Hart said he and Boyce drew inspiration from hard rock bands.
“Nighttime would find us at our regular table at the Whiskey, soaking up the counterculture sounds of groups like Arthur Lee and Love or Jim Morrison and The Doors,” Hart wrote. “These were shockingly new sounds to us, worlds apart from the pop of the first half of the ’60s, and we were excited and inspired by them.”
