The Unknown Soldier

Annotation

Psychedelic rock group, formed in July 1965 in Los Angeles, California, USA, featuring Robby Krieger (guitar), John Densmore (drums), Ray Manzarek (keyboards, bass pedals, vocals), and Jim Morrison (vocals, 1965-71). Note that the group released the song "Peace Frog" on their 1970 album Morrison Hotel, which contained a minor reference to the 1968 Chicago demonstrations. See: . While the Doors 1968 song "Unknown Soldier" (Elektra Records # EK-45628) could apply to any war - as seen with those vast graveyards from the First, and Second World War, where crosses stood with no names - there is a clear reference to Vietnam, the "television war", with the line "breakfast where the news is read, television children fed" - a reflection on both the media portrayal of the war, and the delivery of war images directly into the homes of Americans in the 1960s. At the end of the song Jim Morrison cried out: "it's all over, the war is over" - similar to the Phil Ochs song The War Is Over (below), imaging a future where the Vietnam conflict had ended. The Doors released a 16mm publicity film for this single, which included a shot of Jim Morrison tied to a cross. The song featured in Billboard's spotlight singles on 23 March 1968, reporting that it was "one of the most unusual and intriguing disks of the week in both arrangement and material".1 It reached # 39 in the Billboard Hot 100 on 4 May 1968, featured on the album Waiting for the Sun (Elektra Records # EKS-74024).2 Sources1Billboard, 23 March 1968↩2Billboard, 4 May 1968↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Wait until the war is over and we're both a little older, the Unknown Soldier / Breakfast where the news is read / Television children fed / Unborn living, living, dead / Bullet strikes the helmet's head... / And, it's all over, the war is over / It's all over, the war is over

Notes

Elektra EK-45628-A, red and black Elektra logo label; "The Unknown Soldier" (The Doors), 2:51, Nipper Music, ASCAP; produced by Paul A. Rothchild; Elektra Records, 1855 Broadway, N.Y., N.Y. [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

formed in July 1965 in Los Angeles, California, USA, featuring Robby Krieger (guitar), John Densmore (drums), Ray Manzarek (keyboards, bass pedals, vocals), and Jim Morrison (vocals, 1965-71).

Themes

Anti-War · TV War

In collections

Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years] · 1968 Chicago Seven / Eight Songs