Wake Up

The Doors' song 'Wake Up' is a surreal and haunting exploration of consciousness, fear, and the passage of time. The lyrics, penned by the enigmatic Jim Morrison, are rich with vivid imagery and metaphors that evoke a sense of disorientation and existential dread. The opening command, 'Wake up!', immediately thrusts the listener into a state of confusion, as the narrator struggles to recall a dream that has left a lingering sense of unease. The 'pale gold' snake, 'glazed & shrunken,' symbolizes something once vibrant and alive that has now withered, perhaps reflecting the decay of dreams or aspirations over time.

The song's narrative shifts to a more intimate and unsettling scene, where the narrator describes a woman lying beside him. Her 'dark, red hair' and 'white soft skin' paint a picture of beauty, yet her numbness and the 'hot dead prisons' of the sheets suggest a stifling, lifeless relationship. This juxtaposition of beauty and decay underscores the theme of entrapment and the suffocating nature of unfulfilled desires. The narrator's sense of urgency and fear is palpable as he runs to the bathroom mirror, only to be confronted by the slow, inexorable passage of time, embodied by the woman's slow movements.

The final lines of the song are particularly evocative, as the narrator seeks solace in the cold, smooth tiles of the bathroom. The 'good cold stinging blood' and 'smooth hissing snakes of rain' create a sensory experience that is both painful and cleansing. This imagery suggests a desire to escape the oppressive weight of time and memory, to find a moment of clarity and relief amidst the chaos. 'Wake Up' is a powerful meditation on the human condition, capturing the tension between dreams and reality, life and decay, and the relentless march of time.