3 Songs From The Doors That Make You Feel Like You’re on Shrooms

Music is a wonderful thing. It plays with your physiology, oftentimes without your notice. You press play on a song and your toes begin to tap involuntarily. Your heartbeat increases. Your mind is transported to another day, another place. It’s as if the song reaches into your soul and rearranges your total state of being. It can even make you feel like you’re tripping.

For a perfect example of this phenomenon, look no further than the Los Angeles-born psychedelic rock band, The Doors. Led by lead vocalist Jim Morrison and backed by the all-world keys player Ray Manzarek, the band’s music makes you feel as if you’re floating through a melting tunnel. Lights flicker on and off all around you. Your whole being is wobbly.

We wanted to explore three songs from The Doors that bring about this sensation. A trio of tracks that make you feel like you’ve ingested some philosopher’s stones. These are three songs by The Doors that make you feel like you’re on shrooms.

“Break On Through (To the Other Side)” from The Doors (1967)

When you’re tripping, there’s a feeling that it’s all building to something. The psychedelic journey begins in one place and grows and grows, crescendoing in a wave of psychological bliss. That’s what this song sounds like. It’s a meandering, love-sick battle toward something. What that is can only be discovered as you go through the madness that is the music, the madness that is the trip of your life. Jim Morrison knows this, knows that any drug, from shrooms to sex, is all about smashing through the tempestuous wall.

“Riders on the Storm” from L.A. Woman (1971)

Stone sober? No problem. Want to feel like you’re a giant candle dripping down in the hot sun of love? Sure! We’ve got just the prescription for you: “Riders on the Storm” from The Doors. Just as the above song was like a wave crashing at the perfect moment, this song is another kind of journey. Our legs are wrapped around the rain clouds. We are riding the torrential rains. We see the world below us, and we laugh at the madness that we call day-to-day life. Where was I? What was I saying? Nothing makes sense anymore. Just turn the music up. And ride on through.

“People Are Strange” from Strange Days (1967)

Anyone who’s tripped on psychedelics knows the feeling. Say you’re walking down a city street. Suddenly, a limousine of high school teenagers comes through the intersection. The kids hang out the windows. They are dressed up, on their way to prom. Who knows. But everything about them—everything about their youthful glow—is insane. Strange. Yes, people are strange. That’s the only clear thought. The whole world is a carnival. Get in, get out, just get home safe!