In a pop music scene in which groups disavowing their biggest hits is practically a cliche, it's nice to see that The Doors refused to disown "Hello, I Love You". Many fans of the group do not feel it captures the wild chaos and primal poetry of that defines them. It was a song that predated them, a throwback to 1965 and proto-Doors Rick and the Ravens. It is often dismissed as the closest they ever came to pop with its simplistic lyrics. Yet, Jim Morrison refused to take the bait. While he acknowledged that it wasn't their finest moment, he claimed to like it and was even proud of it. The singer did admit, however, that he had wished that B side "Love Street" had been the promoted single instead.
The thing is, it nearly happened in Canada. Actually, scratch that: it did happen in Canada, albeit only briefly. On the week of July 6, 1968 there were a dozen new entries on the RPM hit parade. (Somehow, "Autumn of My Life" by Bobby Goldsboro was the highest newcomer) Entering at number eighty-eight was "Love Street" by The Doors. The following week it had shot up to number fifty-three — the highest climber — and was now listed as "Hello, I Love You". (Curiously, the same thing happened to the Canadian/American group Steppenwolf, who debuted on July 6 at number seventy-one with "Everybody's Next One" only for it to replaced by a little tune called "Born to Be Wild" a week later; more on them real soon)
"Love Street" is a fine track but it's no "Hello, I Love You". Dismissed by hardcore fans of The Doors, as I have already mentioned, and knocked a bit by the band themselves — in spite of their refusal to disown it — amid overstated charges of plagiarism, it's an easy target. And sure, there's not much to it. The story goes that a twenty-year-old Morrison had noticed a young woman who he fancied and was smitten like the sex-crazed shit heel he was. He evidently hadn't started exploring Blake at this point (or hadn't started to incorporate him into his lyrics at any rate) because the words are very simple and to the point - and are repetitive too. Easily its most memorable lyric is "do you hope to pluck this dusky jewel?" which was inspired by this girl being black. (I don't know whether to be creeped out by the racism or the sexual fetishism of the verb to pluck or if I should critique just how incorrect it is; I mean, who the hell describes African Americans as 'dusky'?)
Yet, Morrison's energy as a performer and the trio of Krieger, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore backing him make it a strong single, perhaps the best they ever released. The charismatic frontman is in top form with his customary swagger while the basic tune leaves room for their musical element to thrive, which they eventually do. Through most of it, they sound like their going through the motions but then just as Morrison begins his repeated screams of "Hello!" they start in on some frantic jamming which should have been the basis of it all along: a gradual rise from mundane playing into lunacy rather than such an abrupt shift. Plus, hard rock was something The Doors could only flirt with — which, to be fair, wasn't really an established subgenre during much of their heyday — which is a shame since it would have suited them and this is a prime example: sometimes the best hard rock comes out of the tamest pop.
At this point we might as well get to the thing that "Hello, I Love You" is now best known for, its status as an alleged rip off of The Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night". Of course, the chorus is unmistakable and the chords have more than a passing resemblance. Yet, I don't much care. Pop groups borrowed from one another and oftentimes it was intended as a tribute rather than being outright theft. The Kinks admitted to ripping off The Doors as well so it wasn't a one way street either. If such practices end up producing better pop than I'm all for it.
Finally, I would like to say how taken I've been by the official lyric video for "Hello, I Love You" up on YouTube. It is presented as a series of texts sent from "Jim's phone" to this "Dusky Jewel" of his. (Not sure how he got her phone number and/or social media handles without learning her name but I'm willing to overlook it for now) He shoots off the lyrics accompanied by some imojis, all of which end up going unreplied by her. Yeah, I'd say this tracks. It is certainly easy to imagine an octogenarian Jim Morrison being obsessed with Twitter and Instagram. It's not even all that difficult to picture him as an avid MAGA supporter — although he could just as easily have ended up a nutjob survivalist, a conspiracy theory freak, a follower or leader of a dangerous cult or a barely coherent casualty of his era; the one thing he could never have ended up was becoming a halfway normal human being.
Score: 7
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