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The Soft Parade (song)

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"The Soft Parade"
Song by the Doors
from the album The Soft Parade
ReleasedJuly 18, 1969 (1969-07-18)
StudioElektra Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California
Genre
Length8:40 (original)[4]
  • 9:41 (40th Anniversary edition)[5]
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)Jim Morrison
Producer(s)Paul A. Rothchild

"The Soft Parade" is a song composed by the American rock group the Doors, though credited to lead singer Jim Morrison only.[4] It was recorded for their fourth studio album, also titled The Soft Parade (1969), appearing as the closing track. It has been considered as one of the most musically diverse compositions by the band.[6]

The 40th Anniversary remastered edition of the album reinstates an intro before the 'Petition the Lord with Prayer' section of the song, where Jim Morrison laments he's "troubled immeasurably" by the eyes of an unknown figure or subject.[5] This piece was subsequently included as a bonus track on the 50th Anniversary release under the title "I Am Troubled".[7]

Composition

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The main body of "The Soft Parade" is notated in 4/4 time.[8] The song was completed with the help of record producer Paul A. Rothchild by helping Morrison to organise pieces of his poetry books.[9] As Rothchild himself recalled, "I'd ask Jim to get out his notebooks of poetry and we'd go through them and find a piece that fit rhythmically and conceptually. A lot of the fragments there were just bits of poetry we put together."[10] The lyrics draws comparison to William Blake as well as T. S. Eliot's poem "Ash Wednesday",[11] much like many other selections of Morrison's poetry, which are heavily influenced by other poets and authors, notably "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" and "Not to Touch the Earth".[12]

"The Soft Parade" itself was an expression coined by Morrison to indicate the bizarre and varied humanity that populated Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles daily.[13] His lyrics express need and pursuit for sanctuary, escape, and pleasure from his point of view.[9] At the beginning of the song, Morrison starts out defiantly with spoken words reminiscent of a Christian revivalist preacher. The track then goes into a harpsichord driven semi-introductory piece with lyrics such as, "Can you give me sanctuary? / I must find a place to hide" referencing Morrison's then-current problems, most notably his arrests during the Miami and New Haven concerts. Afterwards, the beat picks up and the song progressively gets faster, followed by an upbeat and soft section before going into a wild psychedelic part that ends the song. Morrison remarks at the beginning of that section in ecstasy, "This is the best part of the trip!"[5]

Live performance

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A rare performance of the song in its entirety was filmed for a PBS Doors television documentary, and later included on other Doors compilation DVDs. The band performed it along with "Tell All the People" and "Wishful Sinful".[14] Keyboardist Ray Manzarek cited the performance decades later as "all four Doors in perfect sympatico".[5] It also features a rare filmed appearance of a bearded Morrison, who usually shaved off his beard for publicity shots and television appearances. After the show, the band were interviewed by host and Village Voice music critic Richard Goldstein.[14][15]

Critical reception

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In a contemporary review of The Soft Parade, Rolling Stone critic Alec Dubro found the title track to be a highlight of the album; however, he also expressed that "the thing is so mangled, so jammed together and frequently so silly that it’s kind of hard to listen all through its 8:40 for the good."[16] Author David V. Moskowitz, formulated that "The Soft Parade" marked "a return to the band's bluesy roots".[17] The English band the Electric Soft Parade borrowed their name from the song's title.[18]

Writing for AllMusic, Richie Unterberger described "The Soft Parade" as "a multi-part suite" and praised it as "one of the band's best attempts to mix rock with poetry".[3] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, negatively derided the lyrics to the final segment as "probably the most insightful of all".[19] Stereogum's Ryan Leas found it one of the Doors' weirdest lengthy album closers, adding that its final section sounds "like the kind of thing that should've soundtracked a lot of weird druggy late-'60s parties in the woods, or something".[20] The New Rolling Stone Album Guide dismissed the effort as a "long concept" that "doesn't work".[21]

Personnel

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Details are taken from the 2019 The Soft Parade reissue album booklet and The Doors – Sounds for Your Soul – Die Musik Der Doors book:[7][22]

The Doors

Additional musicians

References

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  1. ^ Pipes, Rusty (January 2002). "Part 4 of the Golden Age of Art Rock". Cosmik Debris Magazine. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  2. ^ Goldsmith, Melissa Ursula Dawn (2020). Listen to Classic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre. ABC-CLIO. p. 94. ISBN 978-1440865787.
  3. ^ a b Unterberger, Richie. "The Soft Parade – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  4. ^ a b The Soft Parade (Liner notes). US: Elektra Records. July 18, 1969. EKS-75005. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |people= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b c d Fricke, David; Botnick, Bruce (2007). The Soft Parade (Album notes). The Doors. Rhino Records. pp. 7, 11, 16. 8122-79998-1.
  6. ^ Sundling, Doug (1990). The Doors: Artistic Vision. Castle Communications. pp. 115–116. ISBN 1-86074-139-8.
  7. ^ a b Botnick, Bruce; Fricke, David (2019). The Soft Parade (50th Anniversary edition CD booklet). The Doors. Rhino Records & Elektra Records. R2-596001, 603497851324.
  8. ^ "'The Soft Parade' Sheet Music by the Doors". Sheet Music Now. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Riordan, James (1991). Break on Through: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison. Harper Collins Publishing. p. 337. ISBN 978-0-688-11915-7.
  10. ^ Jackson, Blair (July 3, 1981). "BAM Interview with Paul Rothchild". Waiting for the Sun Archives. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  11. ^ Knap, Joe. "STI Lesson 23 - Break on Through: The Poetry of Jim Morrison". Summer Teacher Institute Lesson Plans. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved May 19, 2007.
  12. ^ Sugerman, Danny; Hopkins, Jerry (1995). No One Here Gets Out Alive. Warner Books. p. 179. ISBN 0-446-60228-0.
  13. ^ Crisafulli, Chuck (1995). Moonlight Drive: The Stories Behind Every Song. Da Capo Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-1560252665.
  14. ^ a b Weidman, Rich (2011). The Doors FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Kings of Acid Rock. Backbeat Books. p. 206. ISBN 978-1-61713-017-5.
  15. ^ "Films Soundstage Performances". Raymanzarek.com. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  16. ^ Dubro, Alec (August 23, 1969). "The Soft Parade – Review". Rolling Stone. No. 40. New York City. p. 35. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  17. ^ Moskowitz, David V. (2015). The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time: A Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood. p. 224. ISBN 978-1440803390.
  18. ^ Larkin, Colin (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music. Virgin Books. p. 918. ISBN 0-7535-0149-X.
  19. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (April 18, 2007). "The Doors: The Soft Parade – Album Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  20. ^ Nelson, Michael; Leas, Ryan (July 29, 2015). "The Doors Albums From Worst To Best". Stereogum. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  21. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (January 2008). "The Doors". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 255. ISBN 978-1439109397.
  22. ^ Gerstenmeyer, Heinz (2001). The Doors – Sounds for Your Soul – Die Musik Der Doors (in German). p. 97. ISBN 978-3-8311-2057-4.
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