"Moonlight Drive" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

the Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...

, released in 1967 on their second album '' Strange Days''. It was edited to a 2:16 length for the 45 rpm single B-side of " Love Me Two Times". Though a conventional blues arrangement, the track's defining feature was its slightly off-beat rhythm, and

Robby Krieger Robert Alan Krieger (born January 8, 1946) is an American guitarist and founding member of the rock band the Doors. Krieger wrote or co-wrote many of the Doors' songs, including the hits " Light My Fire", " Love Me Two Times", " Touch Me", and ...

's "bottleneck" or slide guitar, which creates an eerie sound.

Composition

Beach bikepath in the Venice Beach park, California

The song is one of the first written by the lead singer

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredictable and err ...

. According to the Jerry Hopkins and

Danny Sugerman Daniel Stephen Sugerman (October 11, 1954 – January 5, 2005) was the second manager of the Los Angeles-based rock band the Doors. He wrote several books about Jim Morrison and the Doors, including ''No One Here Gets Out Alive'' (co-authored with ...

biography ''

No One Here Gets Out Alive ''No One Here Gets Out Alive'' (1980) was the first biography about Jim Morrison, lead singer and lyricist of the L.A. rock band the Doors. Its title is taken from the Doors song " Five to One", and the book is divided into three sections: ''The ...

'', Morrison wrote "Moonlight Ride" during his halcyon days on a rooftop in

Venice Beach Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

, Los Angeles, California, in 1965. Later on, when he happened upon his friend and future band member, Ray Manzarek, he uttered the memorable lines, "Let's swim to the moon, let's climb through the tide, penetrate the evening that the city sleeps to hide." Reportedly Manzarek was awestruck, and they decided to form a band. Morrison already had a band name picked out: the Doors. "Moonlight Drive" was recorded along with other songs during the group's first demo recordings at Trans World Pacific Studios. It was recorded the following year for the band's eponymous debut album, but eventually did not appear; this was due to the band members' dissatisfaction with the result, which differ from the later album version. This version was finally released as an outtake, on the 40th Anniversary edition of the debut album.

Performances

Recordings of live performances of the song reveal a link to a sort of death by drowningwhether murder, suicide or simply going too far. Morrison sings in live performances, probably improvising, referring to "fishes for your friends" and "pearls for your eyes" conjuring an image of a rotten corpse lying at the bottom of the ocean while simultaneously referring to

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

. Morrison also read the ''Strange Days'' poem "Horse Latitudes" during live performances of the song, before repeating the final lines of the song's third verse, as demonstrated on the version that first appeared on '' Alive, She Cried''.

Personnel

The Doors *

– vocals * Ray Manzarek –

hohner clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

tack piano A tack piano (also known as a harpsipiano, jangle piano, and junk piano) is an altered version of an ordinary piano, in which objects such as thumbtacks or nails are placed on the felt-padded hammers of the instrument at the point where the ha ...

–

bottleneck guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

John Densmore John Paul Densmore (born December 1, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, author and actor. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band the Doors, and as such is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He appeared on every recordi ...

– drums Additional musicians * Doug Lubahn – bass guitar *

Paul Beaver Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

– moog synthesizer sound effects

References

{{authority control The Doors songs 1967 songs Songs written by John Densmore Songs written by Robby Krieger Songs written by Ray Manzarek Songs written by Jim Morrison Song recordings produced by Paul A. Rothchild