The Verse of The Lizard King: An Analysis of Jim Morrison’s Work
Most have heard of the legendary musical group The Doors and their lead singer/front man Jim Morrison, who tragically died in Paris in 1971. What many do not remember is that Morrison had numerous problems to contend with during his short life. Among them were issues with his father, drug and alcohol abuse, and problems with people and the idea of fame in general.
Who Is Jim Morrison?
Jim Morrison was born James Douglas Morrison, December 8, 1943 in Melbourne, Florida USA, the son of Clara Virginia (née Clarke) and future Rear Admiral George Stephen Morrison. According to Wikipedia, early in his life he was inspired by the writings of philosophers and poets. He was influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche, whose views on aesthetics, morality, and the Apollonian and Dionysian duality would appear in his conversation, poetry and songs. He read Plutarch’s “Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans” and also read the works of the French Symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud, whose style would later influence the form of his short prose poems. He was influenced by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Charles Baudelaire, Molière, Franz Kafka, Honoré de Balzac and Jean Cocteau, along with most of the French existentialist philosophers.
Morrison lived a brief life. Here is a man who was at the top of the popular music scene at the time, and had all the fame and all the chicks he could want, but still found his muse not in being a rock star, but rather in poetry. He aspired to write and get published, but despite his popularity as a musician he was at a loss to find a publisher who would take him seriously enough as a poet and put his work out there.
Retrieved on 31 December 2018 from http://www.returnofkings.com/21445/the-verse-of-the-lizard-king-an-analysis-of-jim-morrisons-work
