The Doors
The Soft Parade

THE REVIEW

Miami, March 1, 1969.

Morrison is there, on stage. Blinding lights and serpents envelop him. He dances frenetically. He writhes. He incites the audience to get excited, to dance, copulate.
The shaman still dances. The lit fires seem to incite him, intoxicate him. Again, now, again. Chrome steel, black leather.
But the poet now appears tired. He collapses. He simulates fellatio and masturbation.
Silence...

"When I was back there in seminary school
There was a person there
Who put forth the proposition
That you can petition the Lord with prayer
Petition the lord with prayer
Petition the lord with prayer
You cannot petition the lord with prayer!"

"The Soft Parade" was born in 1969 and is situated, in terms of impact with the public and critics, in a rather difficult and controversial context. The path towards self-destruction of Jim Morrison, the continuous excesses, the alcohol, and the long meditations in the desert, in addition to the echo of the Miami events, seriously endanger the artistic journey of the Doors.

The album certainly represents the lowest point in the discography of the Lizard King and his associates. The lack of concrete ideas and content seems to be continually hidden by the extensive use of wind instruments, strings, and sax. It is less gritty, more commercial. Songs like "Tell All The People", "Touch Me" or "Easy Ride" have very little of the sound that so characterized the band in its early works. Internal conflicts, then, Jim's psychic collapse, and the commercial push "imposed" by the production spill over almost the entire duration of the record.

Greater interest should be paid to "Shaman’s Blues", "Wild Child" and "Do It", which certainly do not represent peaks of composition, and to the title track, a long song/poem divided into four musically different parts that perfectly marry with the content of the lyrics. Essentially, four songs strung together in a single track.
The rest, unfortunately, is of little consequence.

Only a die-hard fan of the Doors can fully appreciate it.

"When all else fails
We can whip the horses’ eyes
And make them sleep
And cry..."