In Jim Morrison’s own words:

” This is 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 “

(Part of the song text from “The end” by The Doors. Revived by the movie “Apocalypse now”, they used it in their opening credits and during a pivotal moment in the movie)

Ray Manzarek, keyboard player extraordinaire, has sadly passed away but he has left his mark on the world. Although Manzarek was the lesser known “Doors” founding member, compared to lead singer Jim Morrison, he played an integral part in their elaborate plans.

His famous counterpart, Jim Morrison who sadly died in 1971, Manzarek used his undeniable keyboard talent to complement Morrissons voice and to take the musical experience to a whole new level. They decided during life to leave safety behind and to always surprise their audience. For their fans The Doors stood for the LA way of life but seen from the Backdoor, in their and the bands opinion they were “more” than a rock band. They weren’t a shiny, happy, merry band of sandy beaches and high waves. The Beach Boys had a patent on that style. The Doors were edgy and talked about how love can hurt, drugs and death but they also wanted to be have a different instrumental sound. They combined blues, classical and Eastern styles in order to create something brand new, unique and unknown at that time. That befitted the borderline poem style song texts from Morisson. Another band member, Densmore, had this to say in a statement about the combination of Jim and Ray:

“There was no keyboard player on the planet more appropriate to support Jim Morrison’s words.” Densmore continued: “Ray, I felt totally in sync with you musically. It was like we were of one mind, holding down the foundation for Robby and Jim to float on top of. I will miss my musical brother.”

In 1969 Jim Morrison was asked about his opinion surrounding the eerie and somewhat morbid song text of “The end”, little did he know that in 2013 this song lyric and his quotes were so very well phrased when talking about the passing of his band brother.

Morrison said: “Everytime I hear that song, it means something else to me. It started out as a simple good-bye song…probably just to a girl, but I see how it could be almost anything you want it to be.”

He continued with: “Sometimes the pain is too much to examine, or even tolerate….That doesn’t make it evil, though – or necessarily dangerous. But people fear death even more than pain. It’s strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over. Yeah – I guess it is a friend.”

Ray Manzarek died yesterday in Rosenheim, located in Germany. His family was there with him. This has been confirmed by his publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald. Tom Vitorino, Ray’s manager, informed her that Manzarek died after being afflicted with bile duct cancer.

We will remember Ray for his keyboard genius, his uniqueness and for the following quote:

“Well, to me, my God, for anybody who was there it means it was a fantastic time, we thought we could actually change the world — to make it a more Christian, Islamic, Judaic Buddhist, Hindu, loving world. We thought we could. The children of the ’50s post-war generation were actually in love with life and had opened the doors of perception. And we were in love with being alive and wanted to spread that love around the planet and make peace, love and harmony prevail upon earth, while getting stoned, dancing madly and having as much sex as you could possibly have.” This quote has been featured in : “The Republican” in Massachusetts.

His wife Dorothy, his son Pablo and his two brothers Rick and James are left behind but not without a great legacy. “This is the end, beautiful friend”