Music can speak to us in ways that no human can. It can soothe us, energise us or give us purpose. The concept of music being a ‘special friend’ proliferates throughout many forms of culture. Another potent lyricist of his time, Eminem also made the same suggestion as Morrison here, in the song Sing for the Moment

Morrison dismisses established religious beliefs, namely Christianity. This sentiment is echoed in Nietzche’s The Antichrist, where the concept and practice of ‘pity’, which is at the core of Christian values, is presented as a weakness of human nature.

Morrison was known to have read much of Nietzsche’s works. The influence is apparent is much of his lyrics.

Danger is something we fear; the ‘edge of town’ refers to something that is outside of our everyday knowledge or unfamiliar.

The ‘unfamiliar’ or ‘unknown’ is a classic device in literature for portraying something of danger, or that which may cause fear or harm.

Polarising public opinion(us vs them) is an effective and traditional method for those in power to mobilise their subordinates towards directing productions solely towards political objectives, using fear of an enemy or outcome as the ‘bait’. This concept is utilised by governments of today, a very good example being Bush’s War on Terror.

More contextually the Vietnam War was fought upon this idea. Where today the danger is the “terrorists”, back then it was Communism. The idea was the “Domino theory” whereby Korea would fall to Communism, and then Vietnam, and so on until India completed Asia’s fall. United State’s public reasons for engaging in Vietnam was this “danger on the edge of town”.

This whole verse, ending with “Mother? I want to…”, draws a parallel between the drafted US soldiers sent to Vietnam, and the anti-hero of Ancient Greek Mythology: Oedipus; both of whom were essentially murderers with unresolved psychological issues that led them to unpleasant endings. Both these narratives employ the moral thread of ‘suffering develops the soul’, a process extolled by Friedrich Nietzsche in his path to ‘Super-human’ or ubermensch.

Morrison was more than familiar with Nietzsche’s literature and its correlations with ancient mythological literature, and its similarity in terms of philosophical concepts.

From “Break on Through: The Life And Death of Jim Morrison” by J. Riordan and J. Prochnicky

“It is to the forbidden fantasy of incest and patricide that the bus travels. The long hall is reminiscent of the womb and the ancient gallery of masks is a thinly veiled reference to Greek tragedy”