"The Crystal Ship" is a song by American rock band the Doors, from their 1967 debut album The Doors, and the B-side of the number-one hit single "Light My Fire". It was composed as a love song to Jim Morrison's first serious girlfriend, Mary Werbelow, shortly after their relationship ended.
| "The Crystal Ship" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side B of the original US single | ||||
| Single by the Doors | ||||
| from the album The Doors | ||||
| A-side | "Light My Fire" | |||
| Released | April 1967 | |||
| Recorded | August 1966 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:30 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Jim Morrison | |||
| Producer(s) | Paul A. Rothchild | |||
| The Doors singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The song borrows from elements from baroque music.[2] The lyrics in the opening verse resemble a conventional love song, while the later verses are vague in intention and contain more challenging imagery. A music video was later compiled from footage of the band performing on American Bandstand, coupled with film of Morrison and Pamela Courson at Kern River, near Bakersfield, California.
Lyrics
editMorrison's lyrics are often deliberately vague, and this, coupled with the song's dreamlike atmosphere,[3] has led to speculation as to the meaning of "The Crystal Ship". According to Greil Marcus, the opening lines "Before you slip into unconsciousness, I'd like to have another kiss" could be about "sleep, it could be an overdose, inflicted by the singer or the person he's addressing; it could be murder suicide, or a suicide pact."[4] Critic James Perone noted that the song's title is open to wide interpretations, and that the crystal ship "could just as easily represent sleep as a drug trip". He conceded that "in 1967 the latter would probably have been the more common interpretation".[3] Authors David Luhrssen and Michael Larson formulate in their book that sex could be expressed as "the lucid dream of 'The Crystal Ship'."[5]
A January 1990 letter to the Los Angeles Times claimed that the song was about crystal methamphetamine, with the ship representing a hypodermic needle, and the kiss the act of drug injection.[6] John Densmore responded by saying that although Morrison was aware that "crystal" is slang for methedrine, he "wrote 'The Crystal Ship' for Mary Werbelow, a girlfriend with whom he was breaking up: it was therefore intended as a goodbye love song."[6][7] According to Rolling Stone critic Narendra Kusnur, the lines "The days are bright and filled with pain, enclose me in your gentle rain, the time you ran was too insane, we'll meet again, we'll meet again" reflect the breakup.[7]
Inspired by William Blake's poem The Crystal Cabinet, it is one of many of Morrison's songs inspired by Blake's poetry.[8] Portion of the lyrics is suggested that borrows from the 12th-century Irish Lebor na hUidre (Book of the Dun Cow) manuscript.[9] According to local Santa Barbara, California, lore, Morrison wrote the song after taking LSD on an Isla Vista beach one night as he stared at the blinking lights of an offshore oil rig named Platform Holly.[10]
Reception
editCritics Richie Unterberger, Samb Hicks and Jennifer Dempsey have declared "The Crystal Ship" as one of the great band performances of The Doors.[11] Kusnur considered it one of Morrison's 10 most underrated songs, particularly praising his soulful vocal performance and "[Ray] Manzarek's steady keyboard interlude and the song's gradual build-up."[7] Michael Nelson of PopMatters also wrote that the song "boasts one of Morrison's best vocal performances".[12] Cash Box called it a "slow rocker with an imaginative lyric."[13] BBC Music lauded it one of the "glittering" gems of the album.[14]
Louder Sound ranked "The Crystal Ship" the 14th best Doors track,[15] while The Guardian placed it second on their 2015 list, only behind "Light My Fire".[16]
Personnel
editPer The Doors album liner notes:[17]
- Jim Morrison – vocals
- Ray Manzarek – electric piano[18] or organ,[19] piano[20]
- Robby Krieger – guitar
- John Densmore – drums
References
edit- ^ Womack 2009, p. 93.
- ^ Jones 2015, p. 52.
- ^ a b Perone 2012, p. 113.
- ^ Marcus 2012, p. 67.
- ^ Luhrssen & Larson 2017, p. 96.
- ^ a b Densmore, John (January 28, 1990). "The Last Doors Letter". latimes.com. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
- ^ a b c Kusnur, Narendra (July 3, 2021). "On his 50th Death Anniversary: The Underrated Gems of Jim Morrison". Rolling Stone India. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
- ^ Davis 2005, p. 69.
- ^ Crisafulli, Chuck (2003). "The Doors Song Notes: The Crystal Ship". Waiting for the Sun Archives. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ Hughes, Karna (February 11, 2007). "The Lore of the Doors: Celebrating Santa Barbara Connections as Legendary Rockers Mark Milestone" (PDF). ucsb.edu. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
- ^ Unterberger, Hicks & Dempsey 1999, p. 392.
- ^ Nelson, Michael (July 29, 2015). "The Doors Albums From Worst To Best". Stereogum. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
- ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. May 20, 1967. p. 26. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
- ^ "The Doors – review". BBC Music. Archived from the original on March 21, 2016.
- ^ Bell, Max (August 2, 2021). "The Top 20 Greatest Doors Songs". Louder Sound. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
- ^ Simpson, Dave (June 17, 2015). "The Doors: 10 of the Best". The Guardian. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
- ^ The Doors (Album notes). The Doors. New York City: Elektra Records. 1967. Back cover. ELK-4007.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Everett 2008, p. 356.
- ^ Matijas-Mecca 2020, p. 76.
- ^ Gallucci, Michael (February 12, 2016). "Top 10 Ray Manzarek Doors Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
Sources
edit- Davis, Stephen (2005). Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend. New York: Gotham Books. ISBN 978-1-59240-099-7.
- Everett, Walter (2008). The Foundations of Rock: From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199718702.
- Jones, Dylan (2015). Mr Mojo: A Biography of Jim Morrison. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1408860571.
- Luhrssen, David; Larson, Michael (2017). Encyclopedia of Classic Rock. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1440835148.
- Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
- Marcus, Greil (2012). The Doors. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-5712-7996-8.
- Matijas-Mecca, Christian (2020). Listen to Psychedelic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre. Hardcover. ISBN 978-1440861970.
- Perone, James (2012). The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations. Praeger. ISBN 978-0-3133-7906-2.
- Unterberger, Richie; Hicks, Samb; Dempsey, Jennifer (June 1, 1999). Music USA: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1858284217.
- Womack, Kenneth (2009). The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521689762.