Hyacinth House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Hyacinth House" | |
|---|---|
| Song by the Doors | |
| from the album L.A. Woman | |
| Released | April 1971 |
| Recorded | December 1970 – January 1971 |
| Studio | The Doors Workshop, Los Angeles |
| Genre | Rock |
| Length | 3:10[1] |
| Label | Elektra |
| Songwriter(s) | The Doors[1] |
| Producer(s) |
|
"Hyacinth House" is a song written and performed by the Doors. It appears on the band's final album with frontman Jim Morrison, L.A. Woman (1971). Its lyrics were written by Morrison, while the music was composed by keyboardist Ray Manzarek.
Lyrics
Contrary to all the other album tracks which were recorded on a professional-quality 8-channel tape recorder,[2] "Hyacinth House" was recorded on a 4-track machine.[3] Morrison recorded his vocals in the studio's bathroom for the isolation it provided and for the reverberation of the tiled walls.[4][5]
As with the other songs on L.A. Woman, the album liner notes list the track's songwriters as the Doors;[1] but the performance rights organization ASCAP shows the writers as the individual Doors members.[6] However, the music has also been attributed to keyboardist Ray Manzarek, which references Frédéric Chopin's Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53 during the organ solo,[5][7][8][9] and the lyrics to Morrison, written while Morrison was at guitarist Robby Krieger's beach house.[8][10]
"Hyacinth House" contains analogies to the upheaval in Morrison's personal life and relationships. The line "someone who doesn’t need me", refers to his troubles with girlfriend Pamela Courson.[8] According to Krieger, the line heard in the song's bridge: "I see the bathroom is clear" is a reference to an occurrence when Morrison's friend Babe Hill left the studio's bathroom so Morrison could use it to record his vocals.[5] Krieger has also said that the line "To please the lions" was inspired after Morrison was in Krieger's house and saw a baby bobcat that Krieger was keeping as a pet.[8][10] Doors' drummer John Densmore said about Morrison's interpretation and lyrics, "He was re-examining, but not with regret. Toward the end, Jim said, 'Probably next time, I'd be a little solitary, Zen gardener working in his garden.' I don't interpret that as a regret, but he had a hunch."[10][11]
