10 Legendary Rock Songs That Were Insanely Controversial
3. The End - The Doors
Not every controversial song is built the same way. Some songs only seem to get some bad press due to bad timing, and there are a few that tend to just come under fire for a few lyrics that might rub some people the wrong way. As far as the Doors were concerned though, the End was controversial in the most practical sense of the word: it cost them their gig.
Being bred in the California rock scene, the Doors started playing the Whisky A Go Go, with The End being a prominent part of their live set, where Jim Morrison would spend the elongated second act of the song reciting different poetry that he was working on. Though the first few parts of the song had some disturbing images like a killer awaking before dawn and putting his boots on, he had something different in mind for the record and what would eventually unfold onstage, as Jim started to play the character of Oedipus Rex, wanting to kill his father and...have relations with his mother.
When they first played it live, they didn't even make it through the end of the song before the manager brought everything to a close, banning the group from ever playing the bar ever again. For Jim, this was never about shocking someone for the hell of it though. There may have been some pretty crude imagery laced throughout his lyrics, but Jim was looking to open his audience's mind to what else was out in the world.