THE DOORS’ “I’M TROUBLED”: THE LOST INTRO OF “THE SOFT PARADE” SUITE

The title track of The Doors' fourth LP "The Soft Parade" (released in July 1969) is famous among fans of the Californian group.

It is a suite that lasts about eight minutes that closes the album, consisting of several musically different sections tied together.

During the recording sessions of this song, which took place in early 1969, the introductory part was deliberately cut.

So, the official version of the song "The Soft Parade" begins with Jim Morrison's voice alone reciting some verses from one of his poems ("When I was back there in seminary school...").

Originally, however, the introduction of the suite was different. It reappeared on the 2019 edition of the album "The Soft Parade", included among the bonus tracks, and therefore not reinstated in its original position at the beginning of the suite.

Entitled "I'm Troubled", this short intro is a very significant addition to the material produced for the album "The Soft Parade", as well as a fragment of music and poetry capable of deeply moving the listener and evoking great charm.

"I'm Troubled" adds just thirty-nine seconds to the original song, in which Jim Morrison's voice flows bitterly and tenderly at the same time over a carpet of sound discreetly woven by Manzarek's electric organ.

The poem, interpreted by The Doors singer, is of remarkable beauty, surely one of the most moving love lyrics he wrote and recorded.

Sitting in front of his beloved, he describes her gestures and words with subtle metaphors and poetic imagery, drawing attention to the effect they have on Morrison himself.

The last part of the text, in which the sound of a toast hides what the beloved's eyes are fighting to express, is particularly brilliant.

A concise text that needs to be listened to and read several times in order to grasp all the nuances of meaning implied by each of the verses. They follow one another with a soft cadenza and are at once tenderly absorbed and saddened.

The letters "S" are pronounced with a kind of ethereal echo applied to the voice, while the rest of the words are softly rested by Morrison on the subdued despair conveyed by the poem's poignant interpretation.

Manzarek's electric organ accompanies the voice with a floating, dreamy sound achieved through one of the distortions built into the electric organ the keyboardist was using at the time (a Gibson G-101).

The sound extracted by Manzarek, while acting as a backdrop to the reciting voice, remains in perfect balance between the sentimental desolation felt by the poem's protagonist and the sweetness that finds its way through his pain.

"I'm Troubled," the first tile in the mosaic consisting of the song/suite "The Soft Parade," was eliminated at the time of the recording session presumably because the effect of Morrison's voice alone ("When I was back there in seminary school....") was deemed more incisive.

While we must acknowledge the correctness of the decision made by producer Rothchild and the band, it remains a shame this brief but magnificent poetic and musical gem was excluded from the final version of the tune.

It confirms that Morrison was a poet of depth as well as a great musician, extremely adept at combining these two arts, distilling a result that, in this case, is as heartbreaking as it is suave.

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