Back Door Man

Listen while you read:  The Doors

Wha, yeah! C'mon, yeah
Yeah, c'mon, yeah
Yeah, c'mon
Oh, yeah, ma

Yeah, I'm a back door man
I'm a back door man
The men don't know
But the little girl understand

Hey, all you people that tryin' to sleep
I'm out to make it with my midnight dream, yeah
'Cause I'm a back door man
The men don't know
But the little girls understand
All right, yeah

You men eat your dinner
Eat your pork and beans
I eat more chicken
Than any man ever seen, yeah, yeah
I'm a back door man, wha
The men don't know
But the little girls understand

Well, I'm a back door man
I'm a back door man
Whoa, baby, I'm a back door man
The men don't know
But the little girls understand

~ Willie Dixon (The Doors version)

Fifty years ago today, The Doors were scheduled for a concert in New Haven, Connecticut. There was a contingency of police hired to protect them. Prior to the show, a cop, not recognizing lead singer Jim Morrison, found him "making out" with a female fan in a shower backstage and told them to leave. Morrison's reply? "Eat it!" Still unaware that this was Morrison, the cop pulled out a can of Mace and said, "Last chance." Morrison retorted, "Last chance to eat it!" and was summarily maced. The concert was delayed to give Morrison time to recuperate. Meanwhile, the cop was informed that he had just maced the man he was hired to protect, and he apologized.

But Morrison, ever the antagonist, could not let it go. During a performance of "Back Door Man," he delivered a profanity-laced tirade against the cops, tormenting them from the stage, and referring to the mace-wielding cop as "a little blue pig." It didn't take the cops long to retaliate with an arrest, charging Morrison with inciting a riot, indecency, and public obscenity. It may have been the first time that a performer was ever dragged off the stage in the middle of a show. Indeed, there was some rioting in the streets, resulting in another 13 arrests. The charges against Morrison were later dropped.

Note: this event is not to be confused with the March 1, 1969 concert in Miami when Morrison was arrested for exposing himself on stage, a charge whose truth is still under dispute. In 2010, Charlie Crist, governor of Florida, granted a posthumous pardon to Morrison, the result of a fan request. Morrison, as you know, was found dead in his bathtub in Paris on July 3, 1971. He was 27 years old.

The song was an old blues standard written by Willie Dixon, but the Doors' version added to Morrison's reputation as a licentious performer. Although a "back door man" is commonly interpreted as a roue who frequents the bedroom of a married woman while her husband is at work, there are other definitions which may apply to Morrison's sexual preferences.

In regard to Morrison's dalliance in the shower with a presumably young female fan, there is much in the news today about men acting inappropriately with girls and women, and Morrison's behavior would certainly gain him admittance to the Wall of Shame. It is fair to note, however, that Morrison was not running for or serving in the United States Senate at the time. Nor was he occupying the Oval Office. Nonetheless, the day is here when the little girls understand more than they used to, or at least more than they were once willing to accept.

And it only took fifty years.