On this day, 8th December, in 1943, Jim Morrison was born. The little boy who would later become the self-entitled Lizard King had a relatively rough childhood, moving from town to town and feeling out of place anywhere he went. The teenager Jim (or Jimbo, as his friends would call him) seemed to be a full-out prankster, always joking fooling around – a period followed by what is now legend.
Being incredibly well-read and highly intelligent, Morrison’s big dreams and high hopes of finding like-minded people in the beat culture that dominated the era led him to leave home and hitchhike through America and reach the west coast: Los Angeles. Here, it all started and happened for Jim, who started a band on a beach with his good friend Ray Manzarek. Listening to the soulful lyrics when Jim sang ‘Moonlight Drive’ a capella in front of him, they both decided then and there to try to create meaningful music – which they did so well.
Let’s swim to the moon, uh huh
Let’s climb through the tide
Penetrate the evenin’ that the
City sleeps to hide
Let’s swim out tonight, love
It’s our turn to try
Parked beside the ocean
On our moonlight drive
This is how it all started for Jim Morrison – courage and talent seemed to take him a long way. But what is much more interesting about his story is the strange mix of darkness and hope in his view of the world – seeing everything as being doomed and still wanting to enjoy life like a true hedonist. The legend of Jim Morrison will live on and on to remind people to ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ.
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