When The Music's Over - The Doors

Yeah!

When the music's over
When the music's over, yeah
When the music's over
Turn out the lights
Turn out the lights
Turn out the lights

When the music's over
When the music's over
When the music's over
Turn out the lights
Turn out the lights
Turn out the lights

For the music is your special friend
Dance on fire as it intends
Music is your only friend
Until the end
Until the end
Until the end

Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection
Send my credentials to the house of detention
I got some friends inside

The face in the mirror won't stop
The girl in the window won't drop
A feast of friends
"Alive", she cried
Waiting for me
Outside

Before I sink into the big sleep
I want to hear, I want to hear
The scream of the butterfly

Come back, baby
Back into my arms

We're gettin' tired of hangin' around
Waitin' around, with our heads to the ground
I hear a very gentle sound

Very near, yet very far
Very soft, yeah, very clear
Come today, come today

What have they done to the Earth?
What have they done to our fair sister?
Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her
Stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn
And tied her with fences
And dragged her down

I hear a very gentle sound
With your ear down to the ground
We want the world and we want it...
Now
Now?
NOW!

Persian night, babe
See the light, babe
Save us!
Jesus!
Save us!

So when the music's over
When the music's over, yeah
When the music's over
Turn out the lights
Turn out the lights
Turn out the lights

Well, the music is your special friend
Dance on fire as it intends
Music is your only friend
Until the end
Until the end,
Until the end
*********************************
When The Music's Over by The Doors
Album: Strange Days Released: 1967During live performances, Jim Morrison usually ended up flopping around on the floor. The Doors performed it live many times in 1966 when they were the house band at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go in Los Angeles. It was not released on an album until a year later.

The theme is music being the fire of life. When it stops, so does life's spirit.

Arguably, one of the most beautifully intense moments of any Rock song is when Morrison screams, "Persian Night! See the Light! Save Us! Jesus! Save Us!" The first 2 lines reference the wise men from the Bible, often referred to as The Magi. The Magi is a priestly caste from ancient Persia. On that Christmas night the Persian Magi looked into the night and saw the Star of Bethlehem. (thanks, Jim - St. Paul, MN)

The lyric "scream of the butterfly" is a reference to a porno film.

Two guitar solos were played simultaneously. They were improvised by Robbie Krieger in the studio.

Krieger: "That solo was a real challenge because the harmony is static. I had to play 56 bars over the same riff."

Ray Manzarek's organ intro to this song was based on the intro to another Doors song, "Soul Kitchen."

Sublime sampled this song's opening in their song "Cisco Kid" from the album Robbin' The Hood.

"The Resurrection" is an evangelical Christian magazine/paper that came in the mail. Possibly he is refering to not only literally canceling his subscription, but also abandoning his belief in the second coming and expects to go to hell (House of detention). He hung around with sinners and has some friends in hell. Having abondoned that religion he seeks comfort in sex. "I want to hear the scream of the butterfly" He takes pleasure in her screams of pleasure. The verse that begins "What have they done to the earth" : A lament concerning the destruction of it via mining and pollution -- "Ravaged and plundered..etc" High rise buildings -- "Stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn" Laments all kinds of fences. EG restriced mobility of persons by the invention of nation states and their borders -- "Tied her with fences..." The earth is tied and dragged down by unnatural borders. Christian, western culture is often blamed for plundering and scaring the earth. Hence, cancel my subscription to the resurrection. Having abandonded that religion, he needs a new religion but doesn't know what it is. Natives and other hunters put their ear to the ground to listen for heards of buffalo they could not see. Too, people sometimes put their ear on the railroad track to try and hear the train coming. It's about listening for something you can not see. He is listening for the earth they way it was before it was ripped open and plundered. We want the world (the way it was) and we want it NOW! (Counter culture & adolescent impatience). In the absence of a new religion, he makes a final appeal to Jesus to save us from our destruction of our fair sister, and implicitly, ourselves. That appeal doesn't work, sexual pleasure doesn't fix it, and in the end music is his his only friend. Signed: Everyman Location: Earth

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=235