Saturday, October 5, 2013

VIDEO: Best Fall Song: “Indian Summer” by The Doors

The Doors
by The Music Court: http://musiccourtblog.com/2013/10/04/best-fall-song-indian-summer-by-the-doors/

There is nothing quite like the long drawl of hazy hot day in New York … in October.

I wore a pair of blue jeans today, and my legs felt like they were covered in heating pads.

I’m certainly not complaining, as inevitably the icy grasp of winter will soon chill the air and my steering wheel, but I do find weather’s mercurial nature odd.

Since many others do as well, there is a term to describe a string of days like the one New York experienced today: Indian Summer.

In my brief search for best Fall song, I noticed that there are not many great Fall songs. Summer and Winter - the two polar extremes - dominate the music landscape. But seasonal songs are popular, and Fall does have a few good ones.

I listed some in the poll and have chosen one from that list as my personal favorite Fall song, which, as the above paragraph suggests, is “Indian Summer” by The Doors, a subdued track off of the 1970 album, Morrison Hotel. 

The song, like many songs by the Doors, is strange - much like a patch of Indian Summer. The lyric is punctuated by Jim Morrison’s sensual - almost uncomfortable - voice. It’s soothing in a creepy way. Typical Morrison! He sings:

I love you the best
Better than all the rest.
I love you the best
Better than all the rest.
That I meet in the summer.
Indian Summer.
That I meet in the summer.
Indian Summer.
I love you the best
Better than all the rest.

“Indian Summer” has the feel of a song that can drag on forever. It is hypnotizing. It has the feel of a hypnopompic hallucination.

The skilled percussion, plucked guitar, and understated keyboard wakes me up, but Morrison’s voice maintains a lulling quality. In that way, it is almost mystical and ethereal. It is metaphor for an Indian Summer - hazy, drowsy, and unexpected. Excellent stuff.

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