For as long as I can remember I've had this obsession with Jim Morrison. My earliest memory of this man was hearing his voice for the first time ever when I was 5. I remember my dad singing along to Light my fire and telling me a little about the band. What I didn't know at the time was how much of an influence he would have later on in my life. By the time I was 12 in 7th grade my love for music started growing rapidly and the band I fell for was of course The doors. I'm 21 now and most people who remember me from middle school always bring up how much I loved the doors or they remember me wearing this Doors shirt with Jim's face on it. You know the one thats practically on every Doors shirt that you can find? Well that shirt was a favorite of mine that was given to me from an ex boyfriend. Pretty embarrassing, I know but I remember wearing that shirt with pride because of how much I loved the music and how intrigued I was with the man himself. Every time I saw Jim's faces plastered anywhere I was instantly captivated. To this day I'm not sure what it is that draws me to him or keeps me intrigued enough to follow his spirit around. But whenever I think about the time when I was 15 in Paris, I think about how disappointed I was that I couldn't visit his grave at Père Lachaise (if he's really there) to pay my respects to him. I've yet to go back to Paris, I know I will one day especially now that I have a stronger love for the city and for Jim himself. However it is here in the heart of LA where I feel his spirit even more. These days I've found myself visiting locations where he used to hang out at. It's usually with my friend Justin because we always end up taking pictures lol, but It was at the Jim Morrison cave where I've felt his spirit the most. I can't explain it exactly, but when you go or if you've gone before you'll know exactly what I mean.
So just yesterday Justin and I decided to drive to Laurel Canyon in hopes of getting good pictures. It's something that we do and enjoy. And in the long run I'm glad that I do this consecutively because in the future I have something to look back on and remember the memories I made. And also to savor those moments when I've visited all of Jim's locations. On the way there he played Lana Del Rey; i'll admit, I'm not a fan. In fact I don't really understand her fanbase or her "aesthetic" or even her music. But I get it, I get what she's doing even though I think it's really mediocre and pretentious, but I'm sure many people felt that way about Jim and his music/poetry during his prime and probably still do. While Pawn shop blues was playing in the background I was basking it all in and enjoying the chords to the song. The drive up there was beautiful and we both agreed that it felt like we weren't even in LA, it was almost as if we were transported to some other place. But I guess thats just how magical Laurel Canyon is. We eventually made it all the way up the Canyon and stopped to enjoy the view and take some pictures. Once we got out the wind felt so cool and crisp and for once it finally felt like fall. The view from the canyon is something else, it felt like time had just stopped in that moment and nothing else was going on around us. I'm sure that's why The doors chose this location for their Waiting for the sun album cover. While we were up there we noticed a lot of those tourist site buses that are all over Hollywood. As an LA native I never really understood why people or outsiders are so caught up with this whole idea of the superficial lifestyle most people in this city live in. I still don't get it or why most angelenos are so damn pretentious. But at the same time there really is something magical about Los Angeles. My point is, yes this city is really flashy and glamorous at most but theres also so many hidden gems in this city that people should appreciate more rather than this whole mediocre picture people paint when they think of LA.
Anyways we eventually made our way back down and right before we stopped at The Laurel Canyon store we passed by Amor St and this little flutter in my chest rose up. I then had Love Street playing in my head all the way down. We found the perfect parking spot, which is quite rare. We parked right behind the store and the instant I got out of the car I was transported to another time again. Except this time I tried to envision what Jim would see when he lived there and what his thoughts were when he would walk these streets and back to his house. I really like to believe that he envisioned and saw many things that were greater than life and that he was just a misunderstood soul. I think that a lot about other poets and many writers.
"She has wisdom and knows what to do, she has me and she has you"
" I see you live on love street theres this store where the creatures meet"
-Laurel Canyon store
I remain clueless as to why I'm so intrigued and obsessed with Jim but you know how everyone has that one specific artist they like to relate to the most? Well, he is that artist for me. I still have so many other locations to visit but this one was the second location that I've felt his spirit so alive. The first being the cave but Laurel Canyon still remains magical. For now I'll just live off that little high I get when people sing the song Gloria to me but in Jim's version/style of course, and also when my friend tells me that every time he sees me he automatically thinks of The Doors; quite possibly one of the greatest things anyone has ever told me. I'm sure once I get my answer or discover it ill let you all know why I'm drawn to him. Until then, thank you for stopping by -xoxo Gloria
footnote: sorry to the owner of the beautiful benz, but I couldn't blur out the license plate.
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