Five to One
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"Five To One" is a song by the band "The Doors". "Five to one" is rumored to be the approximate ratio of whites to blacks, young to old, or non-pot smokers to pot smokers in the US in 1967, depending on whom you ask. A further urban legend has it as the ratio of Viet Cong to American troops in Vietnam. [1] Jim Morrison said the lyrics were not political. He was so drunk when he recorded this song, he needed help from the studio staff on when to begin singing. If you listen closely, you can hear someone in the background say "One more time" before Jim starts his first verse. The opening part ("Yeah, c'mon - I love my girl. She lookin' good...") is some of Jim's nonsensical drunk rambling. Morrison got the idea for this while waiting in the audience before performing a concert in 1967. On bootlegs of live recordings, Morrison included the phrase "fucked up" in the spoken word section at the end. He swore a lot at live shows, but the studio albums were originally either curse-free or censored, with exceptions like the climax of The End.
- Robbie Krieger recorded a version of this with Marilyn Manson for the 2000 Doors tribute album Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors. It did not end up on that album, but was featured on Manson's singles 'Disposable Teens' and 'The Fight Song' as b-sides.
- In 2000, the surviving members of the Doors taped a VH1 Storytellers episode with guest vocalists filling in for Morrison. Scott Weiland from Velvet Revolver (ex-Stone Temple Pilots) sang on this recording.
- Jay-Z sampled this on his 2000 song "Takeover." The track was produced by Kanye West, who often uses old rock or R&B songs in hip-hop records.
- Five To One is also a band's name for a local band in buffalo New York that has been on the rise since 1998, and has just released their first major album Five To One The Band
