- Green Door
"(The) Green Door" is a
1956 popularsong with music by Bob Davie andlyrics byMarvin Moore . The lyrics describe a nondescript establishment with a green door behind which "a happy crowd" play piano, smoke and "laugh a lot", and in which the singer is not allowed.Possible inspirations
According to the website
Songfacts the lyrics were inspired by a popular music club in Dallas, Texas where the kids who were not allowed in hung around outside a yellow door. [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=5692 The Green Door by Jim Lowe] The colour was then changed to green in the song because it "sounded better".The song has also been said to refer to the lesbian
Gateways club (first opened in 1930), which had a green door and featured in the movie "The Killing of Sister George ". [Stephanie Theobold, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2027273,00.html "Great lesbian songs? Here's our top five"] , "The Guardian ",6 March 2007 .] [Brian Boyd [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1866720,00.html "The truth behind The Green Door"] , "The Guardian ",8 September 2006 .] though this seems unlikely. [Mitch Mitchell [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/page/0,,1862237,00.html "Doors of Perception" Film & Music letters: September 2006] , "The Guardian ",29 September 2006 .]Possible literary origins
"The Green Door" is also a short story by
O. Henry from his 1906 book "The Four Million " [ [http://www.literaturecollection.com/a/o_henry/38/ "The Green Door" by O. Henry ] ] , in which a man namedRudolf Steiner , though apparently not theAustria n esotericist, is handed an advertisement for an establishment named "The Green Door". He enters a green door where he meets a starving young woman, buys her dinner, and they talk (nothing explicit happens); finally Steiner tells her that he will visit her again the next day and there is romance in the offing. Eventually it turns out that the advertisement was for an entirely different "Green Door", a theatre. O. Henry uses the eponymous green door as a symbol for everyday adventures which he encourages us to seek out.It is also possible that the song is a reference to a
H. G. Wells short story, "The Door in the Wall" [http://www.online-literature.com/wellshg/5/ H.G. Wells: The Door in the Wall] ] .Another possible origin comes from the green colour of a certain union card. Without a union card, one could not experience work and income, the 'happy times behind the green door'.
Cultural impact
The song's title inspired the title of a short story that was made into a pornographic film, "
Behind the Green Door ". People "in the know" realize that the Mitchell brothers were inspired by an anonymous underground short story that circulated (via xeroxed copies) from the time of the second world war.It is also behind the name of a live album by
Irish American punk bandFlogging Molly , "Alive Behind the Green Door ".It is also the name of a letter by
David Berg , the former leader of the cultChildren of God —he used it as a term for molesting little children. [David Berg, [http://www.thefamily.org/word/mls/index.php3?letterid=27 "The Green Door"] , The Family, August 1973. Accessed18 July 2008 .]Psychobilly bandThe Cramps covered the song on their 1981 album, "Psychedelic Jungle ".The Spanish
pop-punk groupLos Nikis made a Spanish version of this song in 1986.Recordings
The hit version of the song in the
United States was recorded byJim Lowe (backed by theorchestra of songwriter Davie, with Davie also playingpiano ), and it reached #1 on theBillboard charts in 1956.In the
United Kingdom , Lowe's version reached #8 on the charts, but a version byFrankie Vaughan was even more popular, reaching #2. Another UK recording, byGlen Mason , reached #24 on the UK chart. The most popular version was by rock and roll starShakin' Stevens which spent four weeks at number one in July 1981.The Cramps have also recorded the song on the 1981 album, "Psychedelic Jungle ". In 1964,Bill Haley & His Comets recorded a version for a single release onDecca Records during an unsuccessful attempt to make a comeback with the label that had made them famous with "Rock Around the Clock " (this version was produced byMilt Gabler ).Crystal Gayle recorded the song in1977 , and it has since become a fan favorite at her concerts.Other versions have been recorded by
Roland Alphonso , Wynder K. Frog, Houston and Dorsey, Ray Hamilton, Danny Colfax Mallon, Gene McDaniels, Country Dick Montana, Eskew Reeder, Jumpin' Gen Simmons, Skip & Flip, and Skitzo. Country humorist Mayf Nutter re-charted the song in 1973.References
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