 L.A. Woman opens with the Morrison-penned track "The Changeling", which the Doors wanted to be the album's first single. Taken from one of Morrison's notebooks written in 1968, Holtzman overruled the group's decision in favor of "Love Her Madly" and the non-album B-side "(You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further". Author James Riordan has noted the song's mention of the "changeling", or spirit child, may be another reference to Morrison's difficult childhood. The funky James Brown-esque composition also appears to anticipate the singer's departure from Los Angeles with the line "I'm leavin ' town on the midnight train".
