"The Lizard King", Jim Morrison
Stephen Devine
Eng 102 D
Fall, 06
The Lizard King:
Jim Morrison
“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors.”
Jim Morrison was an American poet who played a major role in the revolution of rock music in the U.S. throughout the late sixties and part of the seventies. His music has influenced millions and changed the way that people looked at rock as a whole. His poetry, often written under the influence of mind-altering substances captured the minds of his listeners allowing his vivid imagery to be displayed in every piece of music he wrote.
Born in Melborne, Florida in 1943 as the son of Stephen and Clara Morrison, Jim, along with his two younger siblings, lived under the harsh command of his parents and was often subject to his father’s military-style discipline know as “dressing down”. “This consisted of yelling and berating Jim and his siblings until they were reduced to tears and acknowledged their failings” (Jim Morrison, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Though this had a serious effect on his siblings, Morrison himself always seemed to be unfazed by it. This could possibly be the root of Morrison’s blatant disrespect for authority during his adolescent and short- lived adult years. Upon entering high school, Morrison, like many teenagers at the time quickly familiarized himself with drugs and alcohol, with his grades suffering tremendously as a result. His once honorable grades had dwindled down to far below his potential, and when he actually attended class he was often loud and disruptive leaving the teacher with no other option but to exclude him from any lessons. By the end of is high school career Morrison was forced to move out of his parents house, and was sent to live with his grandmother in Clearwater, Florida. From this point on Morrison “embarked on a life long pattern of alcoholism and substance abuse” (Jim Morrison, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), which inevitably
Eng 102 D
Fall, 06
The Lizard King:
Jim Morrison
“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors.”
Jim Morrison was an American poet who played a major role in the revolution of rock music in the U.S. throughout the late sixties and part of the seventies. His music has influenced millions and changed the way that people looked at rock as a whole. His poetry, often written under the influence of mind-altering substances captured the minds of his listeners allowing his vivid imagery to be displayed in every piece of music he wrote.
Born in Melborne, Florida in 1943 as the son of Stephen and Clara Morrison, Jim, along with his two younger siblings, lived under the harsh command of his parents and was often subject to his father’s military-style discipline know as “dressing down”. “This consisted of yelling and berating Jim and his siblings until they were reduced to tears and acknowledged their failings” (Jim Morrison, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Though this had a serious effect on his siblings, Morrison himself always seemed to be unfazed by it. This could possibly be the root of Morrison’s blatant disrespect for authority during his adolescent and short- lived adult years. Upon entering high school, Morrison, like many teenagers at the time quickly familiarized himself with drugs and alcohol, with his grades suffering tremendously as a result. His once honorable grades had dwindled down to far below his potential, and when he actually attended class he was often loud and disruptive leaving the teacher with no other option but to exclude him from any lessons. By the end of is high school career Morrison was forced to move out of his parents house, and was sent to live with his grandmother in Clearwater, Florida. From this point on Morrison “embarked on a life long pattern of alcoholism and substance abuse” (Jim Morrison, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), which inevitably
Cited: "Jim Morrison." Wikipedia. 2006. 15 Dec 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Morrison>. "The Doors." Lyrics.com. 15 Dec 2006 <http://www.lyrics.com/Lyrics.aspx?AlbumID=988>. Hopkins, Jerry. The Lizard King, The Essential Jim Morrison. New York: Fireside, 1992.