8. People Are Strange
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq9oR9x171w On The Record One day in 1967, Morrison and Krieger took a walk to the top of Laurel Canyon to watch a sunset. Upon their return to lower ground, they brought with them the blueprint for this classic ode to the outsider in all of us. Mooted from the get go to be a key single from their then eagerly-awaited sophomoric release, Strange Days, People Are Strange has risen to the ranks of fan favourite and one of the band's most covered tracks. The song itself conjures up vivid images of isolation and rejection, which play out in stark contrast against instrumentals that are influenced by upbeat European cabaret. Like all of the band's best assaults on the airwaves, the song ends with an amplified, heavier chorus where all of the band sing - plus added vocals from longtime producer Paul Rothchild and engineer Bruce Botnick - creating a wall of sound that topples onto the senses. Waxing Lyrical People are strange when you're a stranger The Doors were always experts at putting lines out there that were both simple and catchy. Whether you believe People Are Strange is a comment on the drug users view of things, or hippies versus the man, this opening to the verse is a great example of their ability to get the mind ticking and the toes tapping.
Shaun Davis
Contributor
Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing.
He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.
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