The End es una canción de The Doors, editada en 1967, que cierra su álbum debut.La letra de Jim Morrison habla de una "triste despedida", escrita con motivo de su ruptura con Mary Werbelow, si bien el propio Morrison dijo que cada vez que la escuchaba significaba algo diferente para él.Lo cierto es que la letra puede admitir varias interpretaciones y tocar diferentes fibras en el que la escucha.
La canción se transformaría a lo largo de las actuaciones hasta la grabación definitiva.
En una presentación en el Whisky a Go Go, Morrison improvisó un cambio obsceno en la letra , lo que causó su despido como número residente, pero resultó en un contrato con la Elektra, ya que su dueño estaba entre el público.
The End
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again
Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...stranger's hand
In a...desperate land
Lost in a Roman...wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah
There's danger on the edge of town
Ride the King's highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west, baby
Ride the snake, ride the snake
To the lake, the ancient lake, baby
The snake is long, seven miles
Ride the snake...he's old, and his skin is cold
The west is the best
The west is the best
Get here, and we'll do the rest
The blue bus is callin' us
The blue bus is callin' us
Driver, where you taken' us
The killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall
He went into the room where his sister lived, and...then he
Paid a visit to his brother, and then he
He walked on down the hall, and
And he came to a door...and he looked inside
Father, yes son, I want to kill you
Mother...I want to...WAAAAAA
C'mon baby,--------- No "take a chance with us"
C'mon baby, take a chance with us
C'mon baby, take a chance with us
And meet me at the back of the blue bus
Doin' a blue rock
On a blue bus
Doin' a blue rock
C'mon, yeah
Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill
This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
It hurts to set you free
But you'll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die
This is the end
Es un clásico la utilización que de "The End" hizo Francis Ford Coppola en "Apocalypse Now" (1979), en la secuencia inicial y durante la muerte de Kurtz. La asociación entre la canción y dicho film bélico ha sido también parodiada en muchas ocasiones.
The Doors
Robby Krieger - Gibson SG
Ray Manzarek - Vox Continental, keyboard bass
John Densmore - Drums
This is the end!!!