Jim Morrison was a fan of the nineteenth century French poet, Arthur Rimbaud. Long before he became a star, Morrison was so impressed by a translation of RimbaudÆs poetry that he wrote a letter to the translator in which he expressed his own belief in the necessity of using language in a visionary and self-revelatory manner (Shreffer, 1994). This report will discuss MorrisonÆs lyrics in one of his songs, The End, and the question of whether or not these lyrics can be characterized as surrealistic û a concept embraced by Rimbaud who was one of MorrisonÆs influences (Riordan & Prochnicky, 2003).
The first indication that The End bears a strong relationship to the surrealistic literary genre is the actual length of the song (Goldstein, 2003). Morrison, according to Richard Goldstein (2003), was following other musical artists such as Bob Dylan and surrealistic poets in recognizing that the form-follows-function dictum which had guided folk-rock music applied to time as well.
The End is 11 and one-half minutes, hinting of sitar and tabla and raga counterpoint balanced by a blues foundation. Goldstein (2003, p. 1) states that ôthis is Joycean pop, with a stream-of-consciousness lyric in which images are strung together by association. The End builds to a realization of mood rather than a sequence of events."
Surrealism is generally defined as the use of images and incongruous juxtapositions in order to represent unconscious thoughts and dreams (Surrealism, 2003). This definition seems particularly relevant to The End which begins with the stark statement that ôThis is the endà the end of everything that standsö and ends with the assertion that ôthe end of nights we tried to die/This is the end" (Crisafulli, 2003, p. 1). Following the image of time coming to an end, the lyrics move to a description of a place that is ôso limitless and freeö which is located in a ôdesperate landö and in which the pers...