Rimbaud and Morrison

     Contrary to what many people thought, or think, 1960s underground/countercultural musicians read voraciously. The Doors took their name from Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception. They envisioned themselves as the doors opening to new realities.  i carried a German edition purchased on my fir

st trip there in 1973; I had been told that the book was banned in the USA, but then how did the Doors read it? Maybe it was "banned in Boston" for a time.

     It was natural that Jim Morrison gravitated toward Arthur Rimbaud. Both wanted to turn the artistic world of their time upside down, and both also led lifestyles that went against the grain. Rimbaud lived longer, of course. Morrison could not read French, but read all of Rimbaud he could find in translation.

     Of course, Morrison died young in Paris, and is buried in Père-Lachaise cemetery there, where many artists rest. Rimbaud traveled throughout Europe, Africa, and the Middle East,, but returned home to France to die.

     I post a few links about these two poets for you to read, and also a video, where Morrison speaks at  the end, perhaps to Rimbaud. "o you remember when we were in Africa?"

http://rimbaud6b.blogspot.com/  - On the two poets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjRQxRREIqk- video of "Wild Child"

http://www.mag4.net/Rimbaud/Poesie.html   The English translation I checked had spelling errors.

http://www.mag4.net/Rimbaud/Biography2.html  about Rimbaud

http://www.biography.com/people/jim-morrison-9415576   - about Morrison