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The Doors — When The Music's Over
Album: Strange Days
Avg rating:
7.7

Your rating:
Total ratings: 2533









Released: 1967
Length: 10:54
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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 getting 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 yet 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
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

Eh? Okay, let's do one more.
Comments (150)add comment
One of the best Psychedelic rock jams ever 
Where is the "11 Button" ??
Used to love this when I was a teen. Not as much these days, but still a decent song.  
The Alpha and the Omega. One moment we are denying Christ and in the end we are begging for His saving grace. This song is incredibly human on so many different levels. More than a half a century later, it's still a 10.
One of a kind music
This trash stopped being anywhere near interesting about 50 years ago. And so did the Doors.
 niseywee wrote:

My Mom exposed me to movies about Vietnam and music from that era when I was very young (pretty sure I was the youngest person in the theater in Apocalypse Now). My Mother was a battlefield nurse in Vietnam,  1969, a perspective that no one really ever thought much about (meaning the perspective of a woman, nurse, and volunteer).  I asked her once, "Mom, what were you most afraid of over there?". Her answer . . "dengue fever". I laughed because I thought she would say something else. I asked, what was the thing that you were most frustrated by when you returned from Vietnam". Her response "having to ask a doctor to start an IV".  She saved many people's lives and also formed meaningful relationships that lasted her entire lifetime. I'm so proud that she did that . She was way more bad ass than any of my other friends' mom's. oh and I effing LOVE The Doors. 



with the holiday coming up this weekend, happy mother's day to  your mom! thank her for her service. for me.
 MrStatenIsle wrote:

i'm sure I've mentioned it before, but there was no band like The Doors, –before or since. One of kind, unusual, quirky, musical wonders.


AGREED!  A combination of Morrison's poetry (and eventual derangement), Manzerak's killer compositions and orchestrations, Krieger's searing guitar work (a master!), and Densmore's solid jazz mastery on drums.

What a combo!
 Montreal_Mort wrote:

And then there’s the album cover … so apropos for this (one) song …




For the ENTIRE ALBUM!!
And then there’s the album cover … so apropos for this (one) song …
Stunning even after 55 years. Chillingly in control of its intended poetic forcefulness. 
perfect soundtrack to octopus footage
My first group recognition and album--The Doors--in college.  

Their radio presence was  almost strictly FM. He was gone before anyone heard of Morrison.  The Doors were clawing through everybody's attention to Beatles and Motown. I think "Light My Fire" could have put Doors on the map, but I thought it was some other singers claim.

Everyone was pitching the ubiquitous mono player and single speaker radio then. I think Moody Blues were one of the last to convert to stereo. 

Just some 1960's music time bits.
 kcar wrote:


When the Iraq war stared I knew a guy who worked in the WH. I told him it would be the same thing again. He said there was no comparison. ??
can you call this a "one of a kind" song?

Ain't nobody trying to do this now or 50 years ago.
 RC_in_Bezerkeley wrote:


HiFiman Sundara's through a Schiit Asgard.  Helped to keep me sane working from home the last two years.



Sundara phones are great! But a little too heavy for me. I have neck & upper spine problems. Asgard is superb!  Great combination, ENJOY!
 hayduke2 wrote:

didn't give The Doors any appreciation until I went to a friends in D.C. one weekend and we saw "Apocalypse Now" on it's opening night 




At the Uptown theater?! I was there, front row, opening night! Who is this 🤣
Great tune, but I was just reflecting that listening to the RP Main mix, it's been a long time since I've hears something new. One of the things I loved the most about RP is how regularly they introduced me to New Music. But it's been a long time since I heard something new. The MainMix seems to play the same old oldies over and over again. MIX IT UP!!
 eileenomurphy wrote:

Same Here! Except AKG K712 phones!


HiFiman Sundara's through a Schiit Asgard.  Helped to keep me sane working from home the last two years.


The Doors could create such intense imagery within their songs that it bothered lots of folks, but I appreciate that; to me, it never gets old. 
 garylawrence wrote:

listening to this on Sennheiser 660 S with a tube amp and wondering if I could get a one-way ticket back to 1967 and see them in concert? awesome .....


Same Here! Except AKG K712 phones!
listening to this on Sennheiser 660 S with a tube amp and wondering if I could get a one-way ticket back to 1967 and see them in concert? awesome .....
SUPER EXCELLENT!!!
i'm sure I've mentioned it before, but there was no band like The Doors, –before or since. One of kind, unusual, quirky, musical wonders.
I have loved this tune since 1968! It is amazing how great this sounds in FLAC with excellent phones, amp & DAC! ...Bruce Botnick was an exceptional recording engineer, way ahead of his time! ...in 1968, there was not much consumer audio gear available that could do this song, justice! ...LETS NOT FORGET THE BAND, they were GREAT!
Ray, he can stay.  But that Morrison fellow...he's gotta go...
The way the tension builds in this song is just... wow.  
Evidently based on the comments on several songs now it’s WEED Day.
 KevinM wrote:

I can’t wait until ‘The Music’s Over’. This song is about 10:55 too long.




Then hit the SKIP BUTTON, zippy! ...and shut up!
 Lemmes wrote:

Damn, just changed my rating twice during the course of the song, started with an 8 and eventually becoming a 10!
Forgot how strong and intense the song gets towards the end.




You bet! ...actually 11!
Damn, just changed my rating twice during the course of the song, started with an 8 and eventually becoming a 10!
Forgot how strong and intense the song gets towards the end.
This band walked the wire without a net in every performance and did it better than anyone else could. 
That opening scream is so distinct...A trademark of Jim..It would shake my walls.
The man sure could roar !  
Let’s roll another fat one and enjoy our poet Jim✌️
The perfect song to smoke weed to. This is a straight 10 for me.
"When the music's over"... although it feels like it will never be... 
 stevesaw wrote:

I remember, at the time, this song had quite the effect on 15 year old me. I've been noticing a lot of stuff from 1967 on RP lately.  Go look at what came out in 1967. Incredible year for rock.


1967, 1977, 1997


I'm sure there was some kind of style-over-substance cocaine nonsense in 1987 too. 
I remember, at the time, this song had quite the effect on 15 year old me. I've been noticing a lot of stuff from 1967 on RP lately.  Go look at what came out in 1967. Incredible year for rock.
 niseywee wrote:

My Mom exposed me to movies about Vietnam and music from that era when I was very young (pretty sure I was the youngest person in the theater in Apocalypse Now). My Mother was a battlefield nurse in Vietnam,  1969, a perspective that no one really ever thought much about (meaning the perspective of a woman, nurse, and volunteer).  I asked her once, "Mom, what were you most afraid of over there?". Her answer . . "dengue fever". I laughed because I thought she would say something else. I asked, what was the thing that you were most frustrated by when you returned from Vietnam". Her response "having to ask a doctor to start an IV".  She saved many people's lives and also formed meaningful relationships that lasted her entire lifetime. I'm so proud that she did that . She was way more bad ass than any of my other friends' mom's. oh and I effing LOVE The Doors. 



GREAT insight. Thanks. Your mom is awesome.
 jmsmy wrote:

sorry Jim - we got the world - but then we messed it up even more - maybe our  grandkids will get it right



not the way they are currently being taught
sorry Jim - we got the world - but then we messed it up even more - maybe our  grandkids will get it right
"yeah, c'mon"
I can’t wait until ‘The Music’s Over’. This song is about 10:55 too long.
This cut is a frickin' late 60's acid-rock apotheosis.  And Morrison was singing about neither his mother nor his snake!  The Doors were waaay talent-heavy and the only headliners who knew who Francoise Villon was, much less imagined themselves in his criminal-jongleur image.  One of my very few 10's. 
So many quotable lyrics in this song. 

We want the world and we want it... Now!
you must have to be really high to like this song.  It goes on forever as well.
This sounds like a parody of a Doors song! (Don't drag me...I love the Doors!)
I love the guitar solo!
 Shipp wrote:
This is something out of the ordinary.  Not unusual on this particular channel. Thank you Bill and 'Becca. I wish my $15 were $150. When my book becomes a best seller.
 
If it helps the RP cause, I'll buy your book in hardback at full price...or "when the writing's over?"
LLRP!#
This is something out of the ordinary.  Not unusual on this particular channel. Thank you Bill and 'Becca. I wish my $15 were $150. When my book becomes a best seller.
This would be much better if it was 10:55 shorter
Still outstanding after all these years,the lizard king rocks on this track 🎸😎👍
 Johnny_Wave wrote:
Enough with the Doors.  Their time has passed, probably at least 20 years ago
 

So... 30 years after recording this song.
The Doors is not only about music, it's about magic
Sadly, the lights will all go out  someday  
One of Morisson's best songs....."10"
A battle cry in a shaky world
 Bleyfusz wrote:
Wonder what it would sound like if you cut out the bass line.
 
Hey now, that's a baseless comment!  Oddly, I noticed that a lot of the comments on this track are at least several lines each, more discussion than the average song on RP, and your comment stuck out for the shortness.  

Another thing I like about this tune is how Oliver Stone handled it in the movie, this was around when Jim started getting REALLY crazy, and John Densmore gave a great description of the circumstances in his book about the band and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who cares about the cultural phenomenon that was (is?) the Doors.  Long Live RP and all the Doors' music that make people uncomfortable!!  
This song makes you think this was  Morrison's vision of his pending premature death, similar to the way Jeff Buckley seemed to sing of his own many years later.
Born in 1960 and the Doors were a huge part of gaining my independence  as a teenager.  Brilliant poetry and musicianship.
52 years after listening to this too many times on too many drugs, it now comes across as a bit tedious and pretentious. But it's certainly of its time and place and still a classic trip down memory lane. Is there a note, phrasing or lyric that you of a certain age don't remember? Be curious to know what a millenial thinks of it.
So good. The Doors' musicianship is so often overlooked due to JM's legendary persona.
Keyboards and drums are absolutely perfect on this one.
Wonder what it would sound like if you cut out the bass line.
My Mom exposed me to movies about Vietnam and music from that era when I was very young (pretty sure I was the youngest person in the theater in Apocalypse Now). My Mother was a battlefield nurse in Vietnam,  1969, a perspective that no one really ever thought much about (meaning the perspective of a woman, nurse, and volunteer).  I asked her once, "Mom, what were you most afraid of over there?". Her answer . . "dengue fever". I laughed because I thought she would say something else. I asked, what was the thing that you were most frustrated by when you returned from Vietnam". Her response "having to ask a doctor to start an IV".  She saved many people's lives and also formed meaningful relationships that lasted her entire lifetime. I'm so proud that she did that . She was way more bad ass than any of my other friends' mom's. oh and I effing LOVE The Doors. 
Do Don and Kim ever hear the scream of a butterfly?
 rednred wrote:
I agree that the music in "Apocalypse Now" was very powerful, and
appropriate for the Vietnam War. For the younger people in the RP
universe, that music was the soundtrack of my generation's life. I
worked for Francis Ford Coppola and Zoetrope Studios, in San Francisco
and Hollywood, at the very beginning of the decade of the 1980s. I got
to know many of the people who had just returned from spending three
years of their lives in the Philippines filming "Apocalypse Now". To a
person they felt like they had lived through the Vietnam War while
making that film. There was actually a war going on in the Philippines
during the filming, such that on any given day the helicopters that were
featured in the film could have been taken away by the Philippines
government to go fight the rebels. I was of the age where I could have
been going to Vietnam to fight in that horrible, totally unnecessary
war, if not for the college deferment I had from 1969-1973. And I
marched at the first million people anti-war march in Washington DC. If
you have not seen it check out the outstanding documentary about the
making of "Apocalypse Now", "Hearts of Darkness". https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0...
 
Thanks for sharing your story, rednred, very interesting.
God! This sux!
Nobody does music like this anymore. Do they?
Gosh what a swell song! 8
I agree that the music in "Apocalypse Now" was very powerful, and
appropriate for the Vietnam War. For the younger people in the RP
universe, that music was the soundtrack of my generation's life. I
worked for Francis Ford Coppola and Zoetrope Studios, in San Francisco
and Hollywood, at the very beginning of the decade of the 1980s. I got
to know many of the people who had just returned from spending three
years of their lives in the Philippines filming "Apocalypse Now". To a
person they felt like they had lived through the Vietnam War while
making that film. There was actually a war going on in the Philippines
during the filming, such that on any given day the helicopters that were
featured in the film could have been taken away by the Philippines
government to go fight the rebels. I was of the age where I could have
been going to Vietnam to fight in that horrible, totally unnecessary
war, if not for the college deferment I had from 1969-1973. And I
marched at the first million people anti-war march in Washington DC. If
you have not seen it check out the outstanding documentary about the
making of "Apocalypse Now", "Hearts of Darkness". https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0...
 hayduke2 wrote:
didn't give The Doors any appreciation until I went to a friends in D.C. one weekend and we saw "Apocalypse Now" on it's opening night - FFFUUUUUUCCCKKKK!!!  That film blew my mind, and the use of music throughout was astounding, but The Doors realized the Hell of it man, the need for dope and mystic escape from that nasty shit we are so responsible for in our human-infected world .. awesome, makes me tear up
 

I was 16 when Apocalypse Now came out, and had just read Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" for English class. My two friends and I got to the theater late and the only empty seats left were in the first row. We spent the whole movie with our heads tilted way back to see the whole screen. The power and intensity of the film and our extreme proximity to a very large screen made me feel like the whole experience was being overloaded into my brain--something like out of "The Matrix." 

We stayed in our seats after the movie ended, trying to make sense of it. Then we watched the whole damned film again at the very next showing. Later in life, when others were watching "Apocalypse Now" on TV, I start watching it intending only to take in the first ten minutes...and wind up staying for the whole damned thing. 


Many of you may not remember or know how difficult it was for Americans in 1979 to discuss or even acknowledge the failure and tragedy of the Vietnam War. Even though the last US troops left in 1973, the chaotic fall of Saigon in 1975 seared the futility of our presence there into American minds. "The Deer Hunter" and "Apocalypse Now" were the first movies to capture the brutality and chaos of war in Vietnam, and even then only as a secondary focus of each movie. The way I remember it, "Platoon" in '86 finally pushed the war itself into America's consciousness. 

I've watched much of Stanley Karnow's "Vietnam: A Television History" and about half of Ken Burns' documentary. Both documentaries, especially Burns', really hammer home how the US never had any chance to "win" that war or save the South Vietnamese government. Sadly, we had forgotten that lesson by the time we blindly marched into invading Iraq. 
The Doors kinda wear me out. But you do have to admire the ability to play/record music while tripping one's brains to the next galaxy and back. 
One of my all-time favorite Doors tunes.
I used to fall asleep listening to the doors with headphones as youngster. Fondly remembering a time, waking up in a panic to the part when Jim comes screaming in
 GTT wrote:
It's hard to find words to describe how much I love the Doors!

 
agreed, GTT....somehow when other's comment about how "lame" they are or how much of a bully Jim was...well that's fine by me....I for one really enjoy how uncomfortable Jim and the Doors made people....and apparently still doing so.  I'm also a fan of the structure of their 6 studio efforts....LONG and EPIC songs for the final track....yeah....this one's up there - definite 10!!  LONG LIVE RP!!
 funkyalfonso wrote:
Can you imagine what it was like seeing them play this live one month in to being 14 yrs old? I remember this number like it was yesterday.

 
I was 16, but yeah.  Still awesome.
Hallo alle miteinander ,einfach so richtig schöner kaputter psychadelischer Sound zum inhalieren .....{#Chillpill}{#Clap}
 hayduke2 wrote:
didn't give The Doors any appreciation until I went to a friends in D.C. one weekend and we saw "Apocalypse Now" on it's opening night - FFFUUUUUUCCCKKKK!!!  That film blew my mind, and the use of music throughout was astounding, but The Doors realized the Hell of it man, the need for dope and mystic escape from that nasty shit we are so responsible for in our human-infected world .. awesome, makes me tear up

 
Well that's one way to look at it!  Heck, that's the way I look at it too....in fact I like the dichotomy of the band, where really only Jim was the druggie and the band (esp. John) just wanted to make music, man.  Ray, in his later years, really enjoyed showing off the keyboard/organ parts of songs, etc.  May he, Jim and Pam rest in peace!  PEACE!!
It's hard to find words to describe how much I love the Doors!
didn't give The Doors any appreciation until I went to a friends in D.C. one weekend and we saw "Apocalypse Now" on it's opening night - FFFUUUUUUCCCKKKK!!!  That film blew my mind, and the use of music throughout was astounding, but The Doors realized the Hell of it man, the need for dope and mystic escape from that nasty shit we are so responsible for in our human-infected world .. awesome, makes me tear up
 bodyschool wrote:
Thought the time in the shower would be enough, but unfortunately it wasn't.
 
tmi
Enough with the Doors.  Their time has passed, probably at least 20 years ago
Doesn't get any better than this! {#Clap} One of the best song intros ever!
Strange days indeed we are living in. 
remarkable artistic composition

{#Hearteyes}
Thought the time in the shower would be enough, but unfortunately it wasn't.
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

Eh? So wicked cool  : ) 
These guys (at least for the first two albums) were proto-Goths. Jim's dark vision sometimes got a bit turgid but they had real power in their prime. Compare this song (not their best) to The Rolling Stones' darker stuff at the time, like "Paint it, Black." To my ears the Stones sound a lot more dated. 
Got this on PSD today - nice revisiting of an epic Doors tune!
 Papernapkin wrote:

Yeah, being sober doesn't help this song.

 
{#Clap}
 hempmandan wrote:

Ray was the man...

 :)
 LowPhreak wrote:

Yeah it was, and still is.  {#Bananapiano}

 
Ray was the man...
 rdo wrote:
It's a little hard to believe that that organ sound was ever cool.

 
Yeah it was, and still is.  {#Bananapiano}
Last one to leave, TURN OUT THE LIGHTS!
transcendant   godlike
Average rating 7.3 — to all the Doors haters and people that just don't get it drugs or no drugs lol majority rules! {#Nyah}
Can you imagine what it was like seeing them play this live one month in to being 14 yrs old? I remember this number like it was yesterday.
glorious, powerful and the words are timeless.
Absolutely perfect!
It's a little hard to believe that that organ sound was ever cool.
I love the part in this song where Jim says "we want the world and we want it now...NOW!" and then Robby's guitar, Ray's keyboards, and John's drums kick in.  I remember listening to this song over and over when I was younger waiting for this section in the song.
 kylemichael wrote:
So timeless and one of my favorites. I literally had to go to the fridge and open up a beer to listen to them properly.
 
Yeah, being sober doesn't help this song.
"Cancel that subscription to the resurrection"?  JM, meet MJ.  {#Sad}
So timeless and one of my favorites. I literally had to go to the fridge and open up a beer to listen to them properly.

 tnt_thomas wrote:
LSD and an untimely death have made him soooo much more than a MINOR MINOR Blip. He's the ABBA of his time. Or worse.
 
Much worse. ABBA could eventually write music and didn't pretend their pop songs were anything else then pop songs.

off topic link to what Björn and Benny are doing now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POky4woIaH4

What have they done to the earth? Morrison's question still resonates and the music works just fine without acid or beer. Love it! One of the best by the Doors. 
The popularity of the Doors puzzles me. I think Morrison is DREADFUL. The songs are immature (not in a good way) and the lyrics could have been written with fridge poem magnets in a drug house. They are nonensical in a not-poetic way. He's showing off. He's guessing. He's faking it.

Morrison is the ultimate in cheese factor. He gets a 1 becuase he can carry a tune, a little.

LSD and an untimely death have made him soooo much more than a MINOR MINOR Blip. He's the ABBA of his time. Or worse.

This song in particularly dreadful, by the way.

Close the Doors. Just stop. {#Puke}

Hmmmm,  I'd have to agree with the Lester Bangs character in "Almost Famous".
 BC_Night_Heron wrote:
The Doors weave an aura of timeless mysticism that will endure beyond the shallow perspectives of this more facile era.
 



What he said.

This tune is unique, that's for sure.

And when I first bought this album at the ripe old age of 12, I played it until the grooves wore out.



“Love cannot save you from your own fate.” -Jim Morrison

Jim was a poet. Sure he clowned around, stayed f*cked up, and was an unrepentant "ham".

But we all loved him for it, because we saw it for what it was: a front.

The guy was paralyzed by stage fright, and the only way he could deal with it was to "become" someone else. Jim just got a little too deep into it.
{#Skull}

"Weird Jim", me and my friends called him. He was, is, and always will be in my personal pantheon of musical heroes.
{#Clap}
Bleh.  Some music just doesn't transcend into a new age.  Sorry, raced for the -mute- button.
 dctrpunda wrote:


Oh I drank that koolaid, I was there.  He has lost his power, like watching your kid do a somersault for the first time, you're really proud of him the first time he does it, but get a little bored after he makes you watch it for the 59th time.

I've seen the somersault Jim, yea, that was really a good one Jim, no.. that one was much better than the other one Jim.  What? you want me to watch you do it again?  umm okay ah.. sure...
 
I too, drank the koolaid. My first album was the doors. To my older ears, nowadays the words to seem a bit, um, well you know, better when your stoned. Adolescent? I wrote pomes like this when I was 13. And stoned.
The music is timeless. Kreiger was my guiter hero!

Cancel my subscription to the .. something something

 Blasserman wrote:
 I'll admit, they do sound better to me after a couple beers, but then, what doesn't!
  Ah, the police coming by and telling you to turn the sound down. Sorry son, but the music's over.{#Drunk}


The Doors are fantastic - but it's funny that as I get older - and having heard these tunes hundreds of times by now - the musicianship stands taller and taller, but some of Jim Morrison's lyrics and posturing - what was mind-blowingly profound when I was a teenager, now starts to sound overblown and at times ridiculous. But obviously the best Morrison is brilliant - LA Woman, Crystal Ship, etc etc....

First, I was initiated to the Doors as a child. I remember liking it even then (when it came out), and I wasn't doing any drugs or drinking. Yah, they did lots of drugs, but their music is remarkable. It's a ORIGINAL blend of blues and, well, rock kind of. How can you not think the organ is amazing!  I'll admit, they do sound better to me after a couple beers, but then, what doesn't!

gjeeg wrote :  "You had to be there."

 So true ... but gjeeg,  even when I was there, I wasn't "there."

 gjeeg wrote:
I'm surprised people can't hear the power and haunted poetics of the Doors, their unique sound, the demented and acid tinged grooves. You had to be there. If you were born too late, sorry. 
 

Oh I drank that koolaid, I was there.  He has lost his power, like watching your kid do a somersault for the first time, you're really proud of him the first time he does it, but get a little bored after he makes you watch it for the 59th time.

I've seen the somersault Jim, yea, that was really a good one Jim, no.. that one was much better than the other one Jim.  What? you want me to watch you do it again?  umm okay ah.. sure...
In its time this was groundbreaking. Now, what is 40 years later, no body still can pull this off. Saw the guitarist, Robbie Krieger forgive my spelling about five years ago, solo. He is a great player and did a tremondous version of some Doors tune on his own. Curiously he had two guys from the Knack playing with him and they were not slouches either