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Poetry

Massive New Collection of Jim Morrison Writings to See Release in June

May 3, 2021 by LizardKing
Jim Morrison, Poetry

‘The Collected Works of Jim Morrison’ will feature unrecorded lyrics, excerpts from handwritten notebooks, a film treatment, and more from the late Doors frontman

Jim Morrison, singer of the US rock band “The Doors”, 1968 in Germany. | usage worldwide Photo by: Manfred Rehm/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

At some point before his death in July 1971, Jim Morrison handwrote a list, titled “Plan for Book,” that laid out his thoughts on a collection of his poetry, lyrics, and other work. Now, 50 years after his passing and the release of his last album with the Doors, that blueprint is coming to fruition in what promises to be the most exhaustive collection of his writing to date.

To be published June 8th by HarperCollins, The Collected Works of Jim Morrison: Poetry, Journals, Transcripts and Lyrics promises to be something of a Morrison motherlode. At nearly 600 pages long, the book — compiled with the cooperation of his estate — pulls together most of his previously published work, from song lyrics to poetry (“Horse Latitudes,” “The Celebration of the Lizard”), as well as the entirety of the posthumously published writing collections Wilderness and The American Night. 

[Pre-order the Book Here]

But roughly half the book consists of previously unpublished material, including unrecorded lyrics, handwritten excerpts from 28 recently discovered notebooks, and 160 photos and drawings (including rarely seen family photos). Among the excerpts from Morrison’s notebooks will be his thoughts on his trial in Miami in 1970 (he was found guilty of indecent exposure and open profanity), as well as what are believed to be Morrison’s final writings — the contents of a Paris notebook from shortly before his death, “reproduced in full reading size,” according to the publisher.

Other rarities include Morrison’s treatment for The Hitchhiker, a movie project in which he played a murderous drifter; parts of it were eventually filmed as his experimental movie HWY. An accompanying audiobook includes the first-ever release of Morrison’s final poetry recording session, held in an L.A. studio on his 27th birthday in December 1970; it’s accompanied by a transcript of that tape.

Author and longtime Doors fan Tom Robbins, who reviewed a Doors show in 1967 for Helix magazine, has written a foreword, and Morrison’s sister, Anne Morrison Chewning, contributed a prologue. Plans to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Doors’ L.A. Woman album are also in the works.

Collected Works has the potential to kickstart another Morrison revival, but it may also serve as the culmination of Morrison’s own dreams to be taken seriously as a writer. In a 1969 interview with Rolling Stone, he was asked, “Do you see yourself going more toward print?” Morrison replied, “That’s my greatest hope. That’s always been my dream.”

Poem of the week

October 9, 2019 by LizardKing
Jim Morrison, Poetry

Poem of the Week

August 12, 2019 by LizardKing
Jim Morrison, Poetry

This poem is included in The American Night: The Writings of Jim Morrison, Volume 2.

 

Poem of the week

July 15, 2019 by LizardKing
Category 1, Jim Morrison, Poetry
Poem of the week, poetry, writing

From: The Lords – Notes on Vision

Surround Emperor of Body.

Bali Bali Dancers

Will not break my temple.

Explorers

suck eyes into the head.

the rosy body cross

secret in flow

controls its flow.

Wrestlers

in body weights dance

and music, mimesis, body.

Swimmers

entertain embryo

sweet dangerous thrust flow.

Copyright: JAMES DOUGLAS MORRISON 1969 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

 

Poem of the Week

July 8, 2019 by LizardKing
Category 1, Jim Morrison, Poetry
Poem of the Day

Today’s snippet comes from “The Ghost Song.” Check back next week for a new excerpt from Jim’s writings.

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Awake
Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one
Choose the day, choose the sign of your day
The days divinity
First thing you see
A vast radiant beach in a cool jeweled moon
Couples naked race down by its quiet side
And we laugh like soft, mad children
Smug in the woolly cotton brains of infancy
The music and voices are all around us
Choose they croon the ancient ones
The time has come again
Choose now, they croon
Beneath the moon
Beside an ancient lake
Enter again the sweet forest
Enter the hot dream
Come with us
Everything is broken up and dances
Indians scattered,
On dawns highway bleeding
Ghosts crowd the young childs,
Fragile eggshell mind
We have assembled inside,
This ancient and insane theater
To propagate our lust for our life,
And flee…

10 Poems By Jim Morrison That Will Turn Your World Upside Down

February 28, 2018 by LizardKing
Jim Morrison, Poetry

 

This poet-prophet rock idol flung the doors of perception wide open and as we read his poetry, for an instant we become infinite…

“Let’s just say I was testing the bounds of reality. I was curious to see what would happen. That’s all it was: just curiosity.”

— Jim Morrison

The decade of the nineteen sixties was a melting pot of subversive young people who sought the perfect, free Utopia and who clashed against the boundaries imposed by the capitalist system. The arts and especially music were imbued by these feelings. Counterculture movements surged forth with the hippies leading the way, feeding their dreams with LSD and marijuana. In this explosion of sensations and colors, a mythical rock figure was born: Jim Morrison.

The Lizard King, as he was known, shoved the doors of the psychedelic wide open, wanting to find enlightenment through meditation stimulated by the consumption of drugs. He shared his feelings and his journeys to the boundaries of reality in the lyrics of the legendary band, The Doors.

One of the lesser known attributes of Jim Morrison’s rock star persona was that he was a poet at heart. People flocked to him as if he were a prophet who would lead his people to the mystical state he spoke of in his poetry. The following ten poems will be your guides to the world Jim Morrison constructed, which thrives beyond the borders of what is known.

Click here to read on…

Extinct Lizard Named After The Doors’ Singer Jim Morrison

September 27, 2017 by LizardKing
Jim Morrison, Poetry, The Lizard King

A newly described 6ft lizard that roamed South East Asia from 36-40 million years ago has been named after The Doors singer Jim Morrison.

The choice of name Barbaturex morrisoni is a play on the late frontman’s epithet “The Lizard King”.

Higher temperatures at the time are thought to have helped the lizard evolve to its unusual size.

The scientists were surprised to find that the reptile successfully competed for food against mammals.

You can’t fully understand the evolution of ecosystems in the modern world without looking at the ones that preceded them

Dr Jason Head, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Read More

 

© 2021 The Estate of Jim Morrison. All Rights Reserved.