YOU'RE LOST LITTLE GIRL: A SONG IN THE DOORS' EUROPEAN TOUR

 

On the Doors' second album, "Strange Days", there are some songs that have remained relatively unknown within the band's repertoire. These include "You're Lost Little Girl", track number two, sandwiched between two rock songs that have remained in history, "Strange Days" and "Love Me Two Times". This track still captivates fans today without, however, being known to a wider audience.

While it is an articulate and charming composition, it has been often left out from concerts, except sporadically and as an interlude between moments of greater audience appeal. Despite this, the Doors played it during their September 1968 European tour, which took them to London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Stockholm. A tour, this one, rather turbulent and marked as much by Jim Morrison's excesses as by his on-stage extroverted genius. It should be noted that Jefferson Airplane also participated in the tour.

Among the cities that hosted these memorable and historic concerts, Stockholm is the one where the best audio recordings were made as well as the last episode of the tour (9/20/1968). As anticipated, within this tape we also find "You're Lost Little Girl", which a year after being released on “Strange Days” becomes part of the songs chosen for Swedish audiences.

This version of "You're Lost Little Girl" begins with Morrison's voice unceremoniously shouting: "Stop that!" at the audience, who were rhythmically clapping their hands following the end of the previous song. An attitude dictated by the desire to free the group's performance from the commonplace of Rock concerts. In fact, they preferred to be perceived instead as a cultured and elevated show, in direct contact with the theater.

The song is played in much the same way as the album version, but it is the vocals that are particularly in evidence. Robby Krieger's brief solo fails to contend with Jim Morrison's singing, making it apparent that this piece is used to highlight the singer's expressive and vocal gifts. The solemn and dark progression of the vocal line is intended to emphasize the deep content of the lyrics, an aspect that is often underestimated in live performances in favor of the immediate excitement provided by the music.

This composition also reveals the attitude with which the Doors arrived in Europe for this short tour. Unlike many groups of the time, they did not intend to inflame crowds of young spectators by relegating music and words to the background.

On the contrary, with their striking performances the band wanted to engage young Europeans in a moment where they could experience unusual emotions and develop profound and articulate reflections. An artistic form that starting from music was able to suggest conceptual interpretations usually belonging to poetry and theater.

To attract attention through the most popular art, rock music, and then using that same attention to lead viewers to investigate themselves and the reality around them. This was the spirit that inspired the Doors' European concerts, within which the figure of Jim Morrison served as a catalyst for instant emotion as much as a source of ideas and introspective thoughts. With the live performance in Stockholm of "You're Lost Little Girl” they take viewers along an artistic journey leading to intense emotions and highly interesting content.