When the Music's Over
"When the Music's Over" is an epic rock song by the American band the Doors, which appears on their second album "Strange Days", released in 1967. It is among the band's longer pieces, clocking out to over 11 minutes. Origin. Like several other songs from their second album "Strange Days", it was composed before they had a record contract, being performed and elaborated in the middle of 1966 at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. One such gig was captured on the 2012 re-release of the record and film "Live  at the Hollywood Bowl". A performance from 1970 was released in 2018 on the "Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970" album. "Rolling Stone" magazine quoted Doors member John Densmore as saying, "playing that song was "intense". I had to take a deep breath before playing it, because it’s not a little three-minute pop ditty." The final album version was recorded in 1967. Morrison wanted the song to be recorded live in the studio without overdubs. However, after being absent from the original studio session for the better part of 24 hours, he found that the band  refused to re-record the song, and he was persuaded to have the vocals recorded on top of the original take (which had keyboardist Ray Manzarek on vocals). Doors guitarist Robby Krieger would later explain about his guitar solo: "That solo was really a challenge because the harmony is static. I had to play 56 bars over the same riff." Manzarek has stated, that he was inspired by Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man", while composing the organ intro. Structure. The song can be divided into five parts, where the fifth returns to the lyrics and theme of the first. Lyrics . According to author Stephen Davis, the lyrics "When the music's over, turn out the lights" originated from a comment made by the owner of the London Fog, a Los Angeles music venue where the Doors played late night live shows early in their career. Davis also points out that the passage starting with the line "what have they done to the Earth?" is an early example of environmental themes in rock music. References. Citations Sources