stination to the driver of the "blue bus". The promise of wisdom for those who are willing to go to the "ancient lake." But the wisdom is sad, hopeless forbidden knowledge-the knowledge of evil. Violence, guilt, misguided love and most of all death.To forbidden fantasy of incest and patricide is to where the bus travels. The Oedipal section says, "Kill the father" it means kill all of those things in you that are drilled in you and not of yourself. Those things must die. "Fuck the mother" means get back to the essence, get back to reality. Nature can't lie to you. "The End" contains dark and alluring secrets. The long hall is reminiscent of the womb and the ancient gallery of masks is a reference to Greek tragedy. The primal scream that follows, links the casually delivered lyrics to the inner rage that promoted them. Then these images are followed by the bluesy "come on baby, take a chance with us". "And meet me at the back of the blue bus" indicates that there are even more bizarre journeys waiting for those who dare travel on the blue bus. Apparently, Morrison feels that no one is likely to go back with him on the bus or maybe the "set you free" is a reference to the murder of those who would dare to try such an adventure. In any case, when the end comes he is alone.Of course the real value of a piece like "The End" is its freedom of imagery that lets the listeners come up with a bunch of different meanings. So any kind of formal interpretation is meaningless in the attempt. Jim Morrison and The Doors' lyrical thrusts were designed to penetrate our minds and souls first and then the analytical part of us. "The End" deals with myths. The Greek tragedy....the Oedipal love...patricide, or maybe just a simple goodbye song to some girl or goodbye to a kind of childhood. I really don't know. Its sufficiently complex and universal in its imagery that it could be almost anything you want it to be. ...
