THE DOORS' "UNHAPPY GIRL” AND YOUNG WOMEN IN 1967 POP-ROCK

In the United States and England in the 1960s, the image and life of women was changing rapidly. Girls of the new generation began to break away from the values and lifestyles that characterized conservative Anglo-Saxon society. These changes led to family conflicts as well as the realization that the times were about to open up new social and cultural perspectives.

In the music scene, Jim Morrison captured this moment of transition in one of the poetic lyrics he wrote for the Doors' second LP, "Strange Days", released on September 25, 1967. On that album, track number 4 is "Unhappy Girl", which describes the sad life of a girl trapped in the routine imposed by her social role.

The context in which she is trapped is not specified, but it is clear that she is unable to escape it. At the same time, this situation drains her vitality and thwarts her aspirations. This lyric prompt deep reflections on the role of young women and how each of us, perhaps unwittingly, is the most keen warden of our own desires.

The sound picture painted by the Doors on this track is not the only one to grace the dazzling musical gallery of the second half of the 1960s. Along this enchanting path, we find two other musical paintings of young girls struggling against the rigid society shaped by previous generations.

The first of these girls is the one whose story is sung by Ray Davis and the Kinks in "Big Black Smoke", the B-side of the November 1966 single "Dead End Street" (not included on any of the British band's albums). A song that makes pop-rock a refined art, detailing the pleasant melodies of the verse, chorus and middle eight with a mainly acoustic arrangement.

A country girl, dissatisfied with the narrow horizons offered by the small town in which she lives, escapes to London.

Here she experiences her liberation from heavy family and social constraints by throwing herself into vice and wild fun, indulging in street drugs and spending all her money with a dishonest man.

The sad story that leads the girl to ruin is both a warning and a description of the phenomenon that occurred in English families in those years: young girls wanted to find out what was beyond the fate their parents had prepared for them.

We can find a middle ground between these two extremes, remaining imprisoned ("Unhappy Girl") or heading towards total dissolution ("Big Black Smoke"), in a marvelous composition written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney for the Beatles' historic 1967 LP "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".

"She's Leaving Home" is a song that shapes ethereal music with an originality unknown to other musical groups. Continuing in the vein of such absolute masterpieces as "Eleanor Rigby" and "For No One", this song is backed by a small chamber orchestra and the elusive sound of a harp. 

The vocal parts of McCartney and Lennon, which can be both considered lead vocals, tell the touching story of a girl who runs away from home, leaving her parents in despair and remorse. They wonder what they have done wrong, despite the great sacrifices they have made to give her all that money can buy.

The lyrics of the final refrain make the story clear: the young girl was just looking for happiness that could not come from the conformist and predictably safe life her parents had carefully built around her.

Three stories of girls in the 1960s, confronted with a new role that was finally possible to achieve, albeit with difficulties and setbacks. The most complex and fascinating of the three images we observed, however, remains the one Morrison sketched in "Unhappy Girl".

The singer shows his ability to carefully highlight feelings that are difficult to deal with, inserting them in the process of women's social and cultural liberation through a great song.