Celebration of the Lizard
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"Celebration of the Lizard" is an epic performance piece written by Jim Morrison, frontman of The Doors. Composed as a series of poems, they include musical sections, spoken verse, and passages of allegorical storytelling.
[edit] Poems
- Lions in the Street
- Wake Up!
- A Little Game
- The Hill Dwellers
- Not to Touch the Earth
- Names of the Kingdom
- The Palace of Exile
[edit] Description
The poem was supposed to be a full side of a vinyl record or album, but the other members of the band thought that the extended poetic sections and overall length of the piece made a complete recording impossible. The band did attempt to record the full piece several times, but abandoned the idea when they were dissatisfied with the results. One musical passage from "The Celebration", Not to Touch the Earth, was put onto their third studio album Waiting for the Sun of 1968, the rest of the poems were published in the liner notes of the album
"Celebration" was performed in its entirety at a handful of Doors shows. A performance of "Celebration" can be heard on the band's 1970 live album Absolutely Live. The first recorded version wasn't released until the 2003 best-of album Legacy: the Absolute Best.
The Doors show at the Felt Forum in New York City, January 1970, captures Morrison making history on stage and on tape for eternity. Before reading the opus, he encourages the audience to use uncouth language loudly and clearly so that it will be recorded along with the performance.
- "I don’t know if you are aware of it, but this whole evening is being taped for eternity and beyond that too... and so listen man, if you want to be represented in eternity, with some uncouth language... then I hope you’ll stand up on the top of your seat and shout it out very clearly or we’re not gonna get it on tape, right ? Don’t worry, the operation won’t take long and you’ll be much better in the morning."
