"Not to Touch the Earth"
Single release in 1980 as B-side of "People Are Strange" from Greatest Hits
Song by the Doors
from the album Waiting for the Sun
ReleasedJuly 3, 1968
RecordedFebruary–May 1968
Genre
Length3:54
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)The Doors
Producer(s)Paul A. Rothchild

"Not to Touch the Earth" is a 1968 song by the Doors from their third album Waiting for the Sun. It is part of an extended performance piece called "Celebration of the Lizard" that the band played live multiple times. A 17-minute studio recording of the complete piece was attempted during the sessions for Waiting for the Sun, and the lyrics were printed in their entirety on the gatefold LP sleeve, but only the musical passage "Not to Touch the Earth" was included on the LP.[5][6]

The full 1968 studio recording of "Celebration of the Lizard" was released in 2003 on the Legacy: The Absolute Best compilation[7] and the 40th Anniversary Edition CD re-issue of Waiting for the Sun.[8]

Lyrics

In the 2020 book Listen to Classic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre, author Melissa Ursula Dawn Goldsmith compares "Not to Touch the Earth" to "Shaman's Blues" (from the 1969 The Soft Parade), since both songs lyrically seem to indicate that "Morrison was fascinated by shamanism".[1] A portion of the lyrics refer apparently to John F. Kennedy's assassination: "dead president's corpse in the driver's car".[9] Music journalist Greil Marcus on the other hand, elaborates that the line may not be "necessarily about JFK," but "an image floating over the tableau of everyday life."[10]

The song begins with the line, "Not to touch the earth, not to see the sun", these are subchapters of the 60th chapter of The Golden Bough by James Frazer. The chapter is called "Between Heaven and Earth", with subchapter 1, "Not to Touch the Earth", and subchapter 2, "Not to See the Sun".[5][11] These subchapters detail taboos against certain people (generally royalty or priests) walking upon the ground or having the sun shine directly upon them. Frazer had noted that these superstitions were recurring throughout many primitive cultures, and appeared to be related to traditions and taboos concerning menarche and the following female initiation rites.[11] Frazer's work had an influence on Morrison, according to the Doors biography No One Here Gets Out Alive (1980).[12]

Musical style

"Not to Touch the Earth" has received many characterizations and definitions by both authors and critics, concerning its musical style. Writing a review for the compilation album Perception, critic Stuart Berman characterized it as an acid rock track.[2] Author Melissa Ursula Dawn Goldsmith wrote that the song represents a conventional psychedelic track on Waiting for the Sun, but "musically it is real part of the Doors' art[4] and progressive rock effort."[1] The tune has also been classified as avant-rock song, notably by British journalist Mick Wall.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Goldsmith, Melissa Ursula Dawn (2020). Listen to Classic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre. ABC-CLIO. pp. 93–94. ISBN 978-1440865787.
  2. 1 2 Berman, Stuart (December 5, 2006). "The Doors: Perception Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Wall, Mick (October 30, 2014). Love Becomes a Funeral Pyre. UK: Hachette. p. 201. ISBN 978-1409151258. 'Not To Touch the Earth' ... nearly four minutes of avant-rock.
  4. 1 2 Pipes, Rusty (January 2002). "Part 4 of The Golden Age of Art Rock". Cosmik Debris Magazine. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2021. Even "Not to Touch the Earth" ... are good examples of Art Rock
  5. 1 2 Weidman, Rich (October 1, 2011). The Doors FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Kings of Acid Rock. Backbeat Books. p. 197. ISBN 978-1617131103.
  6. ↑ Moskowitz, David (2015). The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time: A Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood. p. 223. ISBN 978-1440803390.
  7. ↑ Peterson, Gary (2003). Legacy: The Absolute Best (CD booklet). The Doors. Burbank, California: Elektra Records. R2 73889.
  8. ↑ Waiting for the Sun (liner notes). The Doors. Rhino Records. 2007. R2-101191.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ↑ Gruner, Oliver (2016). Screening the Sixties : Hollywood Cinema and the Politics of Memory. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 144. ISBN 978-1137496324.
  10. ↑ Marcus, Greil (2011). The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years. PublicAffairs. p. 50. ISBN 978-1610393300.
  11. 1 2 Frazer, James George (2009-05-01). The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion. The Floating Press. ISBN 978-1775410560.
  12. ↑ Hopkins, Jerry; Sugarman, Danny (1980). No One Here Gets Out Alive. New York: Warner Books. p. 179. ISBN 978-0446602280.
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