SONG OF THE DAY The Doors – The Changeling

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Mr Morrison would have been 74 today had he lived beyond his (far too) brief 27 years, so today’s song is for you Mr Mojo Risin, wherever you are still rocking!

When I was 16 and just getting into The Doors, LA Woman was probably one of my least favourite albums.  That’s not to say I didn’t love it because this band could do no wrong or bad song in my eye, but it wasn’t one of my favourite records.  Over the years this status has changed and evolved and I now regard LA Woman as one of the my all-time top albums!

The Changeling was an important song for it served as an announcement that Jim Morrison was moving into a new phase in his life, one in which the main goal would be to immerse himself in the creation of poetry.  The line in this song about leaving town may have originally been figurative, but this was something he was getting ready to do once LA Woman was completed.

I have a book that outlines the stories behind every Doors song ever written read how Jim Morrison was “something of a broken spirit by the time he recorded The Changeling.”  This song signified his need for change and his desire to evolve and grow and at the time Patricia Kennealy Morrison had reported how, “A lot of people had written Jim off by the summer of ’68.  People weren’t really willing to let him grow – they wanted him to be this icon forever.  When I heard The Changeling I thought, that’s it, he’s out of here.  It was a very autobiographical song and he was telling us that he’s already gone.  The whole album was like a goodbye”

Sadly, LA Woman became a farewell album as this was the last record that Jim Morrison was ever to record.  It was released in April 1971, just a month after Jim left for Paris with The Changeling released in June as the B-side of Riders On The Storm. By the July of 1971 Jim was gone, before many fans even had the chance to get hold of the album or single and hear Jim shout “see me change.”   ….Happy Birthday Jim Morrison!

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