First Listen to The Doors - L.A. Woman (REACTION)

[@recyclerhopkins]

Daniel, these songs have many meanings. The woman is a metaphor for the city of Los Angeles (city of Angels) and the song is a social commentary about the city and it's lifestyle at this time. Morrison described himself as a poet, not a singer, although he had a great voice. He was more of a crooner in the style of Frank Sinatra on many songs but could change to other styles. For something lighter and simpler try TOUCH ME or you could try THE SOFT PARADE which is longer and sort of like the Doors trying to be progressive, from that same album. STRONGER THAN DIRT

[@edb6690]

Actually, his voice changed a lot on this album because of his smoking. He was a chain smoker and it caused his voice to get raspier.

[@firebird7479]

The song is an Homage to the city of Los Angeles. Morrison was a Floridian by birth but L.A. was his favorite city. Mr. Mojo Risin is an anagram for his name. "Mojo" is a blues term for sex...so take Mojo Risin for what it is...John Densmore, the drummer decided to build up and speed up that part of the song to simulate an orgasm. As for I see your hair is burning...Morrison was first and foremost, a poet. His words meant something. They also meant nothing.

[@MariaM-qm1cl]

"I see your hair is burning, hills are filled with fire". I always thought the burning hair was the hills of L.A. lit up at night. L.A. is the lonely woman with hair of fire.

[@mikefox1591]

@@MariaM-qm1cl Pam's hair was burning red. Against a backdrop of the LA Hills and smoke from the seasonal fires. Maybe?

[@friartalk6060]

Mojo is a Creole voodoo term for magic.

[@kraal9]

hair is burning... can i think the shine on bushes and grass on the hills iluminating whit ligts of the city approachin

[@kraal9]

much about the guitar talking with jim its the city itself and you cans feel the speed of a man driving all the song in the beguine turning on increasing the speed and in the crecendo in the middle i can see a jim withe the head out of the car screaming in the highway very late at night

[@nostromo526]

For those of you confused as to why he is not picking up on the meanings in these lyrics, remember he is 16 years old. Hopefully he has yet to experience first hand the seedy atmosphere of wondering the “topless bars” area of a major city. Never had to stay in a dumpy motel downtown and witness the sights, sounds and smells that come along with it. Once you have experienced that, this song takes on a visceral tone that is felt, not intellectualized.

[@martinrenzhofer8241]

OK. LA Woman is about the many sides, especially the seamy side. The hair burning is a reference to the constant wild fires in the hills. Great tune. Listen to Riders On the Storm or Light My Fire. Jim Morrison was also one of the great crooners of rock. The Doors rarely used a bass. The keyboardist would often play bass part. Morrison wrote most of the lyrics.

[@martinrenzhofer8241]

@Susan Nilsen Yes, sex always. But there were fires in the hills in the 70s, too.

[@izzonj]

This song is the cause of more speeding tickets than any song in history

[@mikec6733]

Free Bird must be 2nd then, lol.

[@samuelmregister]

don't be afraid to turn the volume up ;-)

[@WMalven]

Hey, Daniel, you're a young guy and you've set yourself up in a situation in which you will, from time to time, run into some real...jerks... for lack of a better term. If someone takes offense at something you said about a band, that's THEIR problem, not yours. It's your OPINION, not a statement of universal truths, you're expressing. Don't let them get to you, It's just WORDS. Words have only the power you give to them. So...sit back, crank up the tunes, tell the world what you think, and have a blast. Ignore the haters. Took most of my 67 years to learn that fact. Learn it now and save yourself a lifetime of worrying about what others think of you. ONWARD, INTO THE FOG!

[@johncampbell756]

The LA Woman is LA itself. The hair are the Trees and brush on fire in the hills. He describes the seedier areas of LA. Mr Mojo Risin )

[@slimpickins9124]

The musical term for the lyric & an instrument "echoing" is called "call & response".

[@johnroop9625]

LA Woman is Morrison speaking of LA AS A WOMAN.He was from florida,Florida, moved to LA for school and LOVED LA!!! LOVED LA...LOVED

[@BigMacIain]

I always figured that this was a song about LA itself, the same way that the Chilli Peppers' Under The Bridge was about LA.

[@DiconDissectionalReactions]

Heheh, under the bridge always made me think of a drug addict. But yes, after further thought, you are most likely correct, the LA Woman is the city itself:)

[@frankcatlin9311]

"There are things known and there are things unknown and in-between them, are the doors" Jim Morrison

[@rhwinner]

This is like a musical film noir, like an old '40's film shot on location at night in the seedy parts of LA....

[@kelvinkloud]

its the whole city. the car is the lyrical tool for movement thru all aspects of the city. the grand artifice of wealth in beverly hills. the windy hiways, thru wh/ you move quickly thru the outer curves of the city thru the canyons & hills. then into the bowels of the city. the blues. crime, violence, prostitution. compton... then finally screaming out of the city to the perimeter of the desert..... lyrically this is written in vivid broad scape. cinematic.

[@wpollock1]

As said below, LA Woman is an actual woman, and used as a metaphor for the city.... hills are filled with fire(LA fires), driving down your freeways. Morrison sees the grittier side of LA....motel, money, murder, madness...there was a lot of that in LA. Having said that he still loves the “woman”. “If they say I never loved you, you know they are a liar”. I love the way he writes- never boring!

[@bobszejk9620]

If you haven't done "The End" yet, you're in for a hell of a ride through the mind of Mr. MOJO Risin'

[@seanwold8819]

That ride the snake stuff scares me. :^D

[@edb6690]

You have had to live in L. A. for a few years to know his description of L.A. as a whole. L. A. has always been described as a bunch of cities all together. There are 3 seasons, summer, fire, and rain. He's talking about the fire season where the dried grass is a golden color before burning. The topless bars is where he's talking about Sunset Boulevard in North Hollywood.

[@markallen4637]

This was a homage to LA, he was leaving to live in France.

[@ernestquinch3395]

You can hear the congestion (due to alcohol abuse) in Morrison's voice. He died less than three months after this albums release.

[@LarryHinze-q9b]

It wasn't congestion...it was the blues!

[@timwirasnik5878]

Did you know the Doors never had a permanent Bass player? They used session player ( Pat Sullivan) on their albums, and Keyboardist Ray Manzarek would play Bass with his Keyboard Live, also The band took their name from the title of Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception, itself derived from a line in William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

[@MsRadar23]

Jerry Scheff, Elvis’s bass player, is on bass in this song

[@dgator3599]

The Doors: Roadhouse Blues Great song!

[@pdogone1]

his dad was navy officer and pilot..was in command during the gulf of tonkin incident that led to the vietnam war..according to an article he never understood jims choices in music..for what it is worth..he outlived his son by over 30 years..

[@Blasserman]

I always thought Jim was talking of "LA" as a Woman (metaphor). The lines that include "Gota see, witch way the wind blows", and the "Hills being full of fire" could very well be about the fires that occur due to the Santa Ana western "off shore" winds that happen in So Cal on a regular basis.

[@tanjajko7220]

I was born 1976 so the Doors was mystery to me, until the movie came out when I was a teenager, and I was blown away by the music. It changed my music life forever. This was always a favourite of mine, even if small town central Finland was a long way away from L.A. 😀

[@jimbo92107]

Jim Morrison was a tortured soul, an artist that saw too much and internalized a world of pain. He self-medicated with booze, drugs and women, seeing women as his possible savior, though he never found one that actually saved him. LA Woman is a masterpiece of poetry blended with music. It is a cry of pain, the recognition of a city's beauty, and the recognition of salvation even in the most dehumanizing circumstances ("topless bars, never saw a woman so alone..."). As for "I see your hair is burning," the whole SoCal coast has regular fires in the hills. "Motel money murder madness" echoes daily headlines in newspapers in 1971. Desperate times for poor people. Morrison was a talented poet, and his band mates were skilled at matching his lyrics with suitable tones and syncopations. The Doors was a level above most bands of the day, but their leader died too early.

[@zappa1952]

"Your hair is burning" refers to wildfires in the Santa Monica Mountains. Peace

[@plk5520]

Welcome to a dark, yet poetically melodic side of rock music.

[@jono8884]

By the time was recorded Jim Morrison was often heavily drunk even while recording. His voice on the song Five to One shows even more of that effect....but it works for the song. Check out Roadhouse Blues, The End will be a challending lyric analysis.

[@lucillehughes5643]

It's never simple with with The Doors - it's a mood, Jim Morrison is always ironic and inhabiting a character. You noticed the frantic, desperate tone that came in at times. He's expressing anger, need, love and loneliness in a sort of inner dialogue that goes headlong and almost into an American urban nightmare.

[@blitztim6416]

Great song about L.A. Captures the feel of the city for sure.

[@blitztim6416]

Jim voice is pretty ragged here. He was drinking a lot of booze and would die sometime after this album.

[@stephenpriola4301]

One of my favorite bands !!!! “The End”

[@drakebullet4509]

Daniel, love your dissections - try the Doors "You're Lost Little Girl" - think you might like it

[@pablogaeta3815]

I know I didn't figure out that this song wasn't about a woman the first time I heard it!

[@tynkirbell599]

I love young people getting into the music we listened to when we were young. This band was already a generation removed from mine when I first got into it in 1985. Kind of reminds me of contemporary bands like Tame Impala and their evolution from psychedelic prog rock to where they are now.

[@Lwize]

That's Elvis Presley's bass player Jerry Scheff on the studio recording.

[@ilariatremolada379]

Ciao Daniel, your reaction to L.A. Woman is priceless, your face says it all! 😉 I can definitely connect with the sense of oddness you're expressing, as I remember feeling the same when I first discovered The Doors as a teen and it took me quite some time to get into JM's poetics, but once I got it I was hooked! What I love the most about this song is the atmosphere it creates by portraying the dark side of L.A., which inspired some of my fave american novelists as Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy. Even though I haven't been to L.A. yet, when I listen to this song I can picture myself riding the streets of L.A. late nite, passing by cheap motels, empty diners and lonely hills where the creepiest things happen... 😱

[@RicoBurghFan]

Ray Manzarek, who is on the piano here and other things, was the greatest rock keyboardists ever IMO.

[@blakkat4126]

"There IS a piano...interesting." LOL!

[@pepespov286]

We moved to California ( LA) more than 40yrs ago! My mom told me to bring ONE "item" with me!.... THE Doors LP... Yesterday, today, tomorrow.... The Doors rule!!

[@glass2467]

The woman is the city.

[@jtbynum5291]

LA Woman is the singer’s (Jim Morrison) love letter to the city of Los Angeles. He’s using woman as a metaphor for the city.

[@phantomatom1845]

I meant to say that when Jim was singing about the topless bars and being so alone, he was talking about how the topless dancers were so alone out on stage.

[@jefmay3053]

"I've heard The Doors are a very odd band." CLASSIC

[@Kaiserin1]

I'm sure someone said this before but mr. Mojo Rising is an anagram for Jim Morrison

[@adonisrivera354]

Painting a picture of what it must've been like in Los Angeles during the 60's early 70's. LA has always had seedy corners hidden and open in the land of false dreams. Inspiration for writers like chandler and bukowski. And every year the hills of LA burn. I wonder what Jim would think of he saw his beloved LA today. Rent was very cheap back then...

[@markmurphy558]

It's the city of LA he's singing to. Hair burning is the brush fires that threaten LA every year.

[@juaneato]

Mr. Mojo Risin’ is an anagram of Jim Morrison

[@fewwiggle]

Huh. That's very interesting. Perhaps that is why Daniel noted that about 5 times during his reaction..... ;-)

[@juaneato]

@@fewwiggle I’m sure I never watched the whole thing. So I didn’t hear him say it.

[@anthonylovavto3228]

I lived in La so alone! I still see her hair a burning! Piano was by Ray Manzarec!

[@Rob-eo5ql]

“Hills are filled with fire…” For over 5,000 years, the Santa Ana winds (hot, dry weather that they bring in autumn, the hottest of the year) fuel wild fires in the hills of Malibu and other parts of the Los Angeles basin

[@Rob-eo5ql]

The trees & grass on fire in the hills represent “her” (LA) hair

[@rigpa10]

to Daniel - LA woman is metaphor for the city of LA - hair and hills on fire is talking about the wild fires - driving down your suburbs and singing about the blues is talking about how people living in their shiny homes is just a facade that hides the seedy under belly of LA - - the victims of the manson murders living in the suburbs were involved with all kinds of seedy people including manson - manson used to hang out with them in the clubs, motel money , murder madness is referring to the manson family murders - the way the police solved the case is when they found a guy who was murdered in motel room that led to police to find and arrest the some of manson followers - it is a very deep song -

[@theincorruptedeye8226]

My name was taken from a Blue Oyster Cult song (Workshop of The Telescopes), my hobby is deciphering lyrics. I won't go into detail, unless you ask, but Jim Morrison was going to spend a considerable amount of time in prison. If you faced a similar problem, would you stick around, if you had the means to flee and reside in France? No extradition treaty with France. LA Woman was recorded in secret. Released after Jim departed. The lyrics contain a secret message, only a capable wordsmith can unravel. Let me help you get started. The first song on the album, Changeling, in the final moments of the song he says "I'm leaving town...on a midnight train". In other words - I'm secretly leaving. Every song thereafter tells a part of his plan. The opening lyrics in the song LA Woman are "Just got into town about an hour ago". When the album was released he was living In France. I'll let you decipher the next lyrics. At the end of the first verse he poses the question "Are you a lucky little lady in the city of light (Paris) or another lost angel city of night (Los Angeles). He was with his girlfriend, Pam, so in other words he's weighing whether or not she'd be in his future. The answer is in the album title, LA Woman, she wasn't, and in the next lyrics, which he cries out, "LA Woman, LA Woman, LA Woman's gonna have to do". In other words - you'll have to look out for herself. "Drive through your suburbs into your blues". In other words - go home and take your problems with you. She was a junkie. "I see your hair is burning". She had red hair. "Hills are filled with fire". The high points are brilliant. I'll let you decipher the rest. Should you have questions regarding this song or any other, feel free to ask.

[@markmurphy558]

Morrison was a natural born genius as a singer. No training, a film student who joined an unknown band and was a superstar within 2 years. And apparently he was irresistible to women.

[@bartstarr100]

this was recorded in the wake of the Manson Murders

[@jackasswhiskyandpintobeans9344]

Morrison was ragged by this time. He was looking at prison from the Miami incident. Electra had given up on them. This album was self produced. Morrison sang in the bathroom.

[@joefav76]

Another good analysis kid - keep them coming! You look like a young John Fogerty (C.C.R).

[@cavscout62]

That’s the Bass player from Elvis Presley’s band on the entire album, something Jim was really stoked about as he was a big fan.

[@niteowl789]

He's equating the city of L.A. to a woman. Her hills are burning, the cops in cars, topless bars. Poetic license. Some songs were meant to be grooved to, not so much over-analyzed. Let yourself go and stop trying to figure out every little detail and with several listens, you'll develop your own meaning. Your soul will find it's own place in the music.

[@20thanasi]

Great reactor..& digs the DOORS.. SUBSCRIBED!

[@jeffpenn3394]

LA Woman is the city itself, Santa Ana winds would blow wildfires in the hills surrounding the city. He is professing how he digs the scene and people, then the Manson murders happened bringing the whole scene down. This is pre-cell phone days, people used to gather and hang out, no facebook so we would hang out toke up maybe hook up.... just lived our stupid foolish, we were immortal carefree lives.

[@howardchaney6481]

L.A. Woman is Jim Morrison's farewell to the city he loved but he was done being a rock star. as soon as the album of the same name was recorded he was on a plane to Paris work on his poetry and be with his girlfriend but died in his bathtub of a heart attack at 27.

[@AnyangU]

Your hair is burning thing I always thought of as the wild fires that always plagues Souther California every summer, but it is the sec bit in the Mojo risin thing that makes this song especially clever.

[@mikefetterman6782]

Mr mojo risin, the lizard king, had poetry books with abstract off the wall beat poems, and he came up with lots of codes. He was incredibly intelligent and well read. He played word games with the press that went over their heads all the time.

[@ferodrigues1211]

The Doors - Not to touch the earth. This is a good one too.

[@TheFreezerGeezer]

Jim sounds like he's drunk on half the LA Woman album. He definitely sounds drunk on this song.

[@edb6690]

He was most likely drunk or on drugs, sometimes both.

[@nellgwenn]

The Doors band is a poke in the eye of the Hippy Dipppy music, or Surfing music. If The Doors were a film genre it would be Film Noir. There is a great documentary about the making of this whole album called Mr. Mojo Risin' : The Making of L.A. Woman. Check it out. KZbin did have it at one time for free, but now you have to pay for it.

[@mikemaggio4979]

True story, Behind the music episode said that Morrison's manager woke him up @ 3or4 in the morning @ the albums producers request to get the most out of his rich full tones in his voice for recording sessions!

[@charleshartz4814]

Doors last album.... went to France before album was released with his GF. Wasn't in France long when he lost his life.

[@jono8884]

It is also an ode to Los Angeles.....wildfires, highways etc......Manson murders etc......in context to the times. Mr. Mojo Risin also has a sexual connotation.

[@stephentmarksberry4484]

This is a LSD song. The opening line is did a little dot about an hour ago Took a look a look around see which way the wind blows. It didn’t take Jim long to hookup with women.This is one of their oldest albums. I saw them in 1968,in Philadelphia. If you have ever been to LA in the sixties it was an overwhelming city.I preferred San Francisco. was a deadhead and at and a city with a good vibe but I have never lived in a city.Close to one and in the 80’s moved to an island in Rhode island and lived there for 20 years and then moved to a barrier island in Florida, in 2000. We traveled all over the other states around that region,up to Maine.

[@timwirasnik5878]

The last studio Album Morrison made with the Doors before he went to Paris France and died

[@garyluciani370]

Another lost angel - Los Angeles means city of angels. Just another lost angel in the city of angels, the city at night. The song is a metaphor for Los Angeles as a woman. Hills are filled with fire - the well known forest fires in the hills of California.

[@byronmitchell3784]

Always suspected that LA WOMAN WAS THE CITY OF LOS ANGELOS.... TALKING ABOUT THE YEARLY FIRES... COOL REACTION OF THE DOORS...🤪✌ MOJO RISING IS JIM MORRIS.

[@daveking9393]

You came so close this must have been the first time you've dabbled into song facts but you didn't go the distance as you do now interesting to see how that'll progress here forward I'm enjoying my journey going back and listening to your reactions from the beginning before I found your channel

[@mikefoley5792]

LA is the woman. The hills full of fire are the many lights of the city seen from the hills surrounding the city looking into it. Her hair is on fire. Never seen a woman so alone, so alone. It is a place where people can be so far away from those they are close to, lonely is the feeling, especilly if they are only there to get famous.

[@bobdelp2023]

IT'S ALLLLLL ABOUT L.A DANIEL AND THE LIFESTYLE! :) LOS ANGELES, HILLS ( HOLLYWOOD ), COPS IN CARS, TOPLESS BARS, ETC ETC!

[@laurentgoldstein1537]

Thank you for checking-out The Doors! LA Woman is a masterpiece and it is pure poetry. It captures the essence of the city. Jim Morrison was talking about Los Angeles "Your hair is on fire" symbolizes the fires around LA, still happening today more than ever in California. I would like to suggest you react to a song from the french band Magma and the very charismatic leader of the ban, Christian Vander.

[@jackasswhiskyandpintobeans9344]

You are probably my age when I first hear The Doors. It is a musical philosophical ride. Their best album's are their first and last. The Doors are not love and peace-chaos.

[@g.e.5723]

The "woman" is Los Angeles. Famous for, among other things, brush fires in the hills.

[@april6058]

Try not to take songs so literally especially songs by the Doors. Jim Morrison was first a poet and then a song writer. Generally most songs can’t be explained in literal terms- like this one is a metaphor for the city of LA- The Doors are a Los Angeles Band.

[@mikemaggio4979]

Mrmojorisin, anagram for the lead singer Jim Morrison

[@zenclover8468]

They got the name "the doors" after a book of philosophy that jim liked called "the doors of perception" by aldous huxley which delved into hallucinatory experiences and what we are to make of that as humans (im being reductionist here).

[@kirkmcgee1]

Hills are filled with fire is a reference to the frequent fires of Southern CA.

[@vovindequasahi]

Anybody who gets involved with The Doors quickly find that there is a STRONG attraction to Jim Morrison, to the point where people begin to imitate him.

[@rustynail3743]

Jim was a poet. Lost him way to early.

[@mysterychuck]

There is a lot of said meanings in this song that you probably wouldn't get by listening. At least I didn't. Check out songfactsdotcom for more info. Of course never before you listen. Part of the appeal of your channel is your dissection of the song and lyrics. Morrison was considered a god by many but he was at least a tortured talented artist that left too soon.

[@raymondmanderville505]

And just like that another 16 year old was hooked on the Doors .

[@timwirasnik5878]

Also, MR MOJO RISEN is JIM MORRISON spelled differently

[@frankcatlin9311]

AKA an "anagram"

[@stephenpriola4301]

Died shortly after , last song was “riders on the storm” and split to France to meet up with Pam his girlfriend…..that was a H addiic and Jim mixed blow for H , we may never know his girlfriend died of a H od 3 years later .

[@annfreels3071]

Could you please raise your volume. I only discovered you today and have been binge watching. How are you! I love your personality.

[@DiconDissectionalReactions]

Welcome to the channel:) I do turn up the volume on later uploads, apologies for the technical problems on these older videos

[@Merlinsgames]

I noticed someone commented that mojo was about sex. The fact is that it refers to the male libido or ability to participate in the sex act. All we all know how some guys name their "member". So that give Mr. Mojo rising a whole new meaning. I tried not to be crude.

[@kamkelevra]

Original lyric was "I took a little downer bout an hour ago"

[@crazydale1000]

The Doors,one of my favorite bands from their era. Check out."This is the End"

[@blurvough]

I really hope this song clicks with you some day. It's packed with loneliness and yearning and devotion to Los Angeles as a cure to those dreadful feelings. At the same time, it recognizes the brutality of Charles Manson era L.A., the seedy side of the town that's not really represented in the films and TV of the time. 'Mr. Mojo Risin' becomes more than just some clever wordplay... as it builds in intensity it suggests all at once libido, desperation, determination, insecurity and finally something like relief. In the context of the established over-arching loneliness it really paints our protagonist as tragic and doomed. In the end the only conclusion he can make is that he's wed to Los Angeles itself. A magical city of opportunity on the surface, but hiding a darkness at its heart. 10/10.

[@jamespritchett-q7m]

jims ultimate homage to the city of angels.

[@debravirden7130]

Los Angeles/hills the city has hills, which you now know catch fire frequently. Mr Mojo is stepping off the plane is a scouting for fun and drugs. Then coming down from the high.

[@phantomatom1845]

The part where Jim sings about topless bars

[@stephenpriola4301]

Mr. mojo Rison is Jim Morrison in an anagram so if you mix them up it’s spells Jim Morrison

[@karlmerriam]

Morrison did the vocals to this song sitting on a toilet in the studio bathroom

[@anthonylovavto3228]

Watch the summer newscasts of yearly. wildfires!

[@dolnick7]

So glad to see another generation appreciating the Doors. Would love to see your reaction to All Blues from Miles Davis' classic Kind of Blue album. The 1959 album not only redefined Jazz, but influenced countless rock musicians to come. New sub.

[@Earthtime3978]

LA is the woman plain and simple . Not a common approach to lyrics and deceptive at first....but utterly brilliant in every way .