The Doors: The End Meaning

The End Lyrics

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again

Can you picture what...

1. anonymous

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   Jan 25th 2006 !⃝

   This song is about being near death probably in a war (Vietnam), and knowing it is inevitable you are about to die.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
2. anonymous

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   Jan 8th 2006 !⃝

   I already interpreted this at bit, but I have more to add:
   The symbolism in this song is heavier than people realize and it would take a while to explain it all, and a lot of research perhaps, or prior knowledge but... everyone seems to overlook the Blue Bus and Snake and how Jim sings "driver where you takin us?" at this point the song is sorta hypnotic and it's trance-like, very drugged-out sounding, like Jim's saying they're all so high they don't know where they're going anymore or where life's taking them, and they don't care. It could also mean everyone just goes with the flow of society and does what they're told and doesn't care. But then he says "STOP! I don't want to do this anymore," or "I can't take this anymore", or something like that (which isn't in the lyrics listed here, btw, maybe that should be fixed?) and then it goes into the whole heavily cinematic sequence where "the killer awoke before dawn (heavy chord) he put his boots on.." and I think you all know what happens after that. This could mean Jim has decided he's not riding either "the blue bus" or "the snake", which is also mentioned. He's not just along for the ride anymore, he's gonna do something, and the protagonist of the song goes and... well, you know the rest. But then he goes back to singing about doing a "blue rock on the blue bus" (drugs!, maybe crack but probably some hallucinogen, in Jim's case) and this seems to represent drugs, free love, and the whole stoned perspective on life that was the 60s and 70s.
   
   anyway, I don't know if this is right, but maybe this will add another layer of meaning to the words.
3. anonymous

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   Jan 6th 2006 !⃝

   The name of the band does not refer to death, but the enlightening effects of drugs. The name is taking from "The Doors of Perception" written by Aldous Huxely after trying pyoete. I am not saying that death isn't a part of the song, however, it obviously is, as are drugs, change, and everything else that was mentioned. This is obviously a very broad song, with many meanings.
4. anonymous

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   Dec 13th 2005 !⃝

   This song's about death, obviously. Jim Morrison was obsessed with death. In the book, "No one here gets out alive" by an author whose name I forget, he says that Morrison was not afraid of death because he believed, "at the point of death, all pain stops."
   
   Even their band name is a symbol of death. The doors between the known (life as we know it) and the unknown (the after life). The song break on through to the other side is about breaking through to the other side of that door. Morrison believed that drugs could take you to the other side, that's why he did do so many drugs. "So limitless and free" death was freedom to Morrison. This whole song is about death.
5. anonymous

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   Nov 6th 2005 !⃝

   Yes, this song contains the whole Oedipus complex thing, but it's about more than just wanting to kill/screw your parents.
   
   This song is also about the feeling that something (a relationship, a friendship, a stage in your life) is over and things will never be the same. It will never come back. Hence, "this is the end, beautiful friend". It really is about change and "the end of everything that stands, the end." It also reflects the troubled time period of the 70s and the Vietnam war and how everyone back then was kind of wondering if this was truely the end of the world as they knew it, because of all the change going on.
6. anonymous

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   Oct 5th 2005 !⃝

   It is about the whole Oedipus Rex thing, "kill your mother, fuck your father." Its meaning is very deep which I dont feel like going into dept about it right now but you should discover it for yourself.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
7. BeAHippie

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   Sep 26th 2005 !⃝

   Many of the band members have stated that the song used to be a very nice song. alot of people danced along with it, but at a club one night when the band was supposed to be playing jim was around getting high and the band ended up just trying to keep the crowds happy by playing "jimless." when that didnt work jim came on stage and told the band that he wanted to do "the end." they said to him that they usally save that for last, but jim said that he wanted to do it then. so thats when all the screaming and what not came into play. at least thats about what rolling stone said.
8. anonymous

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   Sep 12th 2005 !⃝

   The End is about the Oedipus complex. The Oedipus complex is a psychological term meaning that a man's destiny is to grow up and kill his dad and "fuck" his mom. Hence "hello father I want to kill you", and "hello mother I want to fuck you".
9. jim morrison

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   Jun 18th 2005 !⃝

   The End was about rebirth and how many times the doors almost broke up and it was about a girl that Jim broke up with.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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