The Lizard King died fifty years ago today.

[PlanetBev]

Ironically, I was driving south on Laurel Canyon, just approaching the Canyon Country Store and the house the Jim Morrison had lived in, when the news came over the radio that he died in Paris. I had already seen The Doors twice in concert. I loved that group.

I’ve been thinking that the 60’s and the 70’s was a time of great forward motion in this country and now I’m seeing it all go into reverse. I’m so frightened by advancing Fascism and climate change that I wouldn’t want to be twenty-one again, like I was in 1971. I sure hope another generation can figure out a way out of the damage that’s being done.

[Walleye]

1. I am with you. Great Doors fan. Glad I was 21 back then, not now

I’m sorry if the generations that followed resent us for the good fortune of being alive, and young, at that great creative time in American history.I lived in L.A., Hollywood, when he did the song “L.A. Woman”. Loved it. Still sing along with it.

[PlanetBev]

4. Yeah, great music and memories then

I remember going back East to visit some friends and I was greeted with “L.A. Woman” playing on the stereo when I walked in the front door.

[Thtwudbeme]

11. Not one ounce of resentment here-

Tons of jealousy! I wish I had been born 10 years earlier- I was born in 1964. And yes- that youth- was so creative and amazing.

I majored in history and religious studies in college, and I cannot pinpoint when things started going "wrong" in the US. I will tell you that sometime in the late 90's, I realized that things were starting to crash down.

As a librarian, I believed that the internet would help us overcome racism, hyper-patriotism- that we would become more "liberal" as a society could "meet all" online. I never dreamed that the trashiest among our population would unite and start one of the most widespread nastiest cults I hope to ever witness again.

[PlanetBev]

12. Well thought out observation, thtwudbeme

For me, I think the long slide backwards started with the election of November 1980. The GOP hitched their wagon to the Christian Right in order to consolidate power. The Republicans knew these people were nuts, but they thought they could control them. That never happens. Once you let the camel stick it’s nose in the tent, eventually that camel will take over the whole tent.

There’s a reason that Barry Goldwater hated them and warned the GOP not to cozy up to them.

[Thtwudbeme]

15. The Moral Majority- Hadn't thought about them in years

Yes, you are correct. And thank you for the reminder; they certainly have managed to get a stronghold into the GOP, and destroy it from the inside.

[Fullduplexxx]

2. R.i.p?jim

[Harker]

3. No one here gets out alive. n/t

[Walleye]

5. The future is uncertain and the end is always near

[Harker]

7. Let it roll, baby, roll!

[PlanetBev]

6. You're right

Not if we don’t do something about climate change. I still live in SoCal and of all the things I miss from those times, I miss rain the most. ☔️

The rain and the Top 40.

[Harker]

8. I've been listening to The Doors a lot lately.

There are some interesting and rewarding interviews with Jim Morrison on YouTube.

We still have the music. I find the meanings change completely, sometimes, as I grow older. The emphasis. Which songs touch me.

[hamsterjill]

9. What a talent.

The whole group actually. Riders on the Storm!!!

[BelieveCassandra]

10. Time to rewatch Apocalypse Now

Using The Doors' music in the movie was so perfect.

[PlanetBev]

14. Gonna watch Oliver Stone's "The Doors" today

Pretty good film, as well.

[rockfordfile]

13. One of the best

[nuxvomica]

16. There was always advancing fascism

It may seem more overt now, more unabashedly promoted, but it was always there. And the vast majority of Americans reject it despite how loud its promoters.