Five to One

Song infobox
Name = Five To One


Artist = The Doors
Album = Waiting for the Sun
Released = July 13, 1968
track_no = 11
Recorded = February-May 1968
Genre = Psychedelic rock
Length = 4:24
Label = Elektra
Writer = Jim Morrison
Robby Krieger
Ray Manzarek
John Densmore
Producer = Paul Rothchild
prev = Yes, the River Knows
prev_no = 10
next =
next_no = "Five To One" is a song by The Doors, from their 1968 album Waiting for the Sun. "Five to one" is rumored to be the approximate ratio of whites to blacks, young to old, or non-pot smokers to pot smokers in the US in 1967, depending on whom you ask. A further urban legend has it as the ratio of Viet Cong to American troops in Vietnam. However, when asked, Jim Morrison said the lyrics were not political. He was so drunk when he recorded this song, he needed help from the studio staff on when to begin singing. If you listen closely, you can hear someone in the background say "One more" before Jim starts his first verse. The opening part ("Yeah, c'mon - I love my girl. She lookin' good...") is some of Jim's nonsensical drunk rambling. Morrison got the idea for this while waiting in the audience before performing a concert in 1967. On bootlegs of live recordings, Morrison included the phrase "fucked up" in the spoken word section at the end. He frequently swore at live shows, but the studio albums were originally either curse-free or censored.

The song's most famous performance was at the 1969 Miami concert at the Dinner Key Auditorium. Towards the end of the performance, a drunken Morrison declared the audience "idiots" and "slaves". The concert would end with Morrison being accused of "attempting to incite a riot" among the concert goers, resulting in his arrest, and later conviction, for indecent exposure. This performance can be heard on Disc 1 of and is depicted in Oliver Stone's film 'The Doors'.

Trivia

*Robbie Krieger recorded a version of this song with Marilyn Manson for the 2000 Doors tribute album . It did not end up on the album, but was featured on both Manson's singles: 'Disposable Teens' and 'The Fight Song' as a b-side.
*In 2000, the surviving members of the Doors taped a "VH1 Storytellers" episode with guest vocalists filling in for Morrison. Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots sang on this recording. Weiland stated the song is what inspired him to begin his rock career.
*Jay-Z sampled "Five to One" on his 2001 "Takeover". The track was produced by Kanye West, a well known producer whose production often uses old rock or R&B songs in hip-hop records. Mos Def also sampled the song on the track The Rape Over off his 2004 album The New Danger.
*A very drunk Jim Morrison after some extremely obscene verses (later entitled "Uranus Rock" which describes quite accurately the subject matter) groaned the last verse of this, during a blues Jam with Jimi Hendrix, Lester Chambers & others at the Scene Club NY in 1968 Fact|date=August 2008
*The song has also been covered by Alien Sex Fiend

External links

* [http://www.snopes.com/music/hidden/5to1.htm Page discussing the meaning of the song's title]