What is the doors song "5 to 1" about?

de la mocha · #1 10-06-2005, 08:58 PM

I don't get it. Can someone explain? I don't understand the lyrics. What is he talking about? A party? A fight? What's the theme?

Matt Till · #2 10-06-2005, 10:26 PM

Drugs.

I dunno...

Mark Latimour · #3 10-06-2005, 10:30 PM

The odds, at any given time, of Jim Morrison finishing a night with his pants on.

de la mocha · #4 10-07-2005, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

The odds, at any given time, of Jim Morrison finishing a night with his pants on.

Matt Till · #5 10-07-2005, 08:38 AM

He's saying the song is generally about fighting the odds.

And odds are, Jim Morrison had trouble making it through the evening with his pants on for one reason or another.

JimK · #6 10-07-2005, 08:51 AM

IIRC-

It's about Race(relations).

FunkKing · #7 10-07-2005, 08:59 AM

I think its generally about the turbulent social upheaval of the late 60s/early 70s. The riots and stuff.

Hence the whole 'they've got the guns but we've got the numbers' part.

And the 'Five to One' meaning five rioters to one riot cop.

**baba** · #8 10-07-2005, 09:02 AM

http://www.snopes.com/music/hidden/5to1.htm

dougjwray · #9 10-07-2005, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FunkKing

I think its generally about the turbulent social upheaval of the late 60s/early 70s. The riots and stuff.

Hence the whole 'they've got the guns but we've got the numbers' part.

And the 'Five to One' meaning five rioters to one riot cop.

That's what I've always figured, although I never took the number "five" literally-- I just assumed Morrison liked the sound of it more than "six", "four", or whatever.
You got to understand that for a brief time (maybe 1968-1970), no rocker had credibility unless he or she acknowledged the "revolution" at least once, somehow.

Matt Till · #10 10-07-2005, 09:09 AM

First time I heard this song, I was walking with headphones on in a dark area. When Jim Morrison screamed, I jumped.

de la mocha · #11 10-07-2005, 10:26 AM

Why does he say "I love my girl man" in the beginning of the song?

What does he mean when he's talking about some onewalking across the room with their flower in their hand?

And "gonna make it in our prime"

"Come together, one last time...."

I'm trying to get this song

Matt Till · #12 10-07-2005, 11:08 AM

Also the "I'm going to go out in this van with these people..."

weird.

de la mocha · #13 10-08-2005, 08:34 AM

Can someone break this song down for me?

Matt Till · #14 10-08-2005, 08:47 AM

In some cases, I think a song can only be "broke down" by the artist who wrote it.

cdef · #15 10-09-2005, 04:49 AM

Although the song appears militant in tone, Morrison always denied it was supposed to be political. In their Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive, Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman have this to say:

"Listened to in its entirety, the song seems to be a parody of all the naïve revolutionary rhetoric heard on the streets and read in the underground press of the late sixties. This interpretation is strongly supported by the final verse, [in which] Jim addressed some of the young people in his constituency, the 'hippie/flower child' hordes he saw in growing numbers, panhandling on the city sidewalks outside every concert hall."

The Doors' producer Paul Rothchild speculated about the unexplained statistic of the title: "Five to one is the same as one in six, the approximate rate of blacks to whites in the U.S., and one in five I remember was being reported as the dope-smoking ratio in Los Angeles."

de la mocha · #16 10-09-2005, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmoh

Although the song appears militant in tone, Morrison always denied it was supposed to be political. In their Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive, Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman have this to say:

"Listened to in its entirety, the song seems to be a parody of all the naïve revolutionary rhetoric heard on the streets and read in the underground press of the late sixties. This interpretation is strongly supported by the final verse, [in which] Jim addressed some of the young people in his constituency, the 'hippie/flower child' hordes he saw in growing numbers, panhandling on the city sidewalks outside every concert hall."

The Doors' producer Paul Rothchild speculated about the unexplained statistic of the title: "Five to one is the same as one in six, the approximate rate of blacks to whites in the U.S., and one in five I remember was being reported as the dope-smoking ratio in Los Angeles."

Interesting! I love this song though!

Petary791 · #17 10-09-2005, 07:28 PM

http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=35135