Notes on the Enduring Popularity of a Signature Doors Song

Abstract

Recordings by the Doors remain remarkably popular, but the constituents of the lasting popularity of Doors texts for contemporary audiences remain unexamined. This study of the Doors' first single and first track on their first album reviews both scholarly and popular criticism dating from the song recording's 1967 release and argues that it remains popular due to (1) its lyrics, which thematically appeal to today's U.S. adult because of their mythic significance and to today's U.S. adolescent as they appealed to the U.S. adolescent of the 1960s; (2) its nonverbal musical variables, such as vocal performance and contrapuntal instrumental ostinatos; and (3) its links to Jim Morrison's image. This study grasps all of the above as communication phenomena that communication theories can help elucidate. Conversely, the study shows that communication inquiry into popular music can benefit from some musicological terms of analysis rarely encountered in communication literature.

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