FACE AS A METAPHOR: THE DOORS’ "I CAN'T SEE YOUR FACE IN MY MIND" AND OTHER SONGS

 

Jim Morrison was a poet and a musician, capable of expressing himself in both fields with great warmth and arousing strong emotions.

This quality is reflected in the lyrics he wrote for The Doors, just like the light of the stars reflects in the eyes of a lonely fisherman on a lake at night.

On the band's second LP, "Strange Days" (September 1967), we find many examples of his expressive quality.

Take, for instance, "I Can't See Your Face In My Mind", track number nine on this wonderful record. In it, the singer composes a monologue to the girl he is about to leave using words steeped in sadness.

To indirectly express his feelings, he uses the image of the girl's own face, which he cannot visualize in his own mind.

In this way, Morrison summarizes the fading of his love for her: the face represents both the girl and the love they once shared.

Morrison was not the only one to use this poetic-narrative technique in this golden age of modern music. Although less effective in capturing the listener's imagination, other musicians also used the face of the beloved girl to embellish their lyrics.

A good example of this trend is "Have You Seen Her Face" by the Byrds, where the same metaphor is used, but this time in a positive way.

This song, written by bassist Chris Hillman, was released in early 1967 on the album "Younger Than Yesterday", the last LP of the American group with the original line-up.

Here, the face of the loved one is a window into the narrator's feelings of attraction.

The lyrics maintain a relevant point of contact with those of "I Can't See Your Face In My Mind": the use of the word "Face" as a verbal device to indicate the beloved.

Musically, "Have You Seen Her Face" is a medium paced Pop-Rock that combines its fine melodies with the undercurrent of slightly distorted guitars characteristic of The Byrds.

A couple of short but lively electric guitar solos round off a very pleasing band performance.

Another example is given by The Beatles' "I've Just Seen A Face", where, as before, the face of the title is a representation of the person the protagonist has fallen in love with and cannot forget.

The song was written by Paul McCartney and appeared on “Help”, the Beatles' fifth LP released in August 1965.

Here, the bassist, displaying his well-known versatility, switches to the acoustic guitar to write an intense song that is fast and poetic at the same time and of great overall quality and impact.

“I’ve Just Seen A Face” can be placed in the realm of Folk-Rock: a musical genre that in 1965 was at the height of its popularity on both sides of the Atlantic.

In particular, it’s the verse that stands out for its beauty and smoothness. Moreover, it is repeated in the solo, also played on acoustic guitar.

As we have seen, Morrison and other famous artists of the time tended to see girls' faces as a means of expressing their feelings.

Sometimes they were sad, like the end of a love affair (as in "I Can't See Your Face In My Mind"), and other times they were celebratory of a strongly desired feeling.