Old school question

[Truckin]

I was watching my PBS station the other night and they were showing the Best of Ed Sullivan. One of the clips was of The Doors infamous 1967 performance of "Light My Fire" where Morrison sang the actual lyrics "girl we couldn't get much higher" after the producer asked them to change those lyrics when they sang the song because the sponsors weren't comfortable with the word "higher" and its' association with drugs. As history tells us, The Doors were never invited back to the show despite having a scheduled 7 future shows.

Now, the very next year (Dec 1968) Sly and the Family Stone performed on Sullivan and sang a medley of "Everyday People" and "Dance to the Music". Part of this performance had Sly and his sister out in the audience singing, "I wanna take you higher". The entire crowd was in to it. Sly even says at the end, "Thank you for letting us be ourselves".

I actually read that the song "Light My Fire" was a 60's answer to Fats Dominos' "Blueberry Hill". Which would make one think that the reference to the word "higher" was more of a reference to strong feelings of love, not drugs.

My question is: What was the difference in a little over a year between Morrison's performance and Sly's? Did people's perception of the word "higher" change in that time span? Just wondered what you think of it? Do you think the Sullivan show showed unnecessary discrimination towards The Doors?

 

[AboutAGirl]

I can't tell you why Ed let Sly do what he did. But I can tell you I never understood how anyone could have misconstrued Light My Fire's lyrics as having anything to do with drugs. Out of all the music The Doors have ever played, Light My Fire has to be some of the most obvious and straight-forward lyrics. There's nothing about the use of higher that points to drug use and in context it couldn't be more plainly about their love and not about drugs.

*shrug*

 

[Harkat]

I can't tell you why Ed let Sly do what he did. But I can tell you I never understood how anyone could have misconstrued Light My Fire's lyrics as having anything to do with drugs. Out of all the music The Doors have ever played, Light My Fire has to be some of the most obvious and straight-forward lyrics. There's nothing about the use of higher that points to drug use and in context it couldn't be more plainly about their love and not about drugs.

*shrug*

Seconded, the lyrics are blatantly obvious!

 

[METALPRIEST]

 

[Magic]

Morrison was perceived as a 'loose cannon' on stage in those days, the lizard king, who was able to do some wild antics and gothic drama on stage. The Sullivan Show was family oriented, and I believe they were bias against the Doors and Morrison, fearful of what antics he may do on the show. The outrage against the word "higher" was not the actual lyric, but how Morrison performed those lyrics. He had a way of involving his audience in his music, and I believe this is what was the bias against Morrison.

The Sullivan show tried to harness Morrison's theatrics, which didn't work, obviously. Sly Stone on the other hand, didn't have that reputation of stage theatrics, and therefore, it was not necessary to sensor the lyrics.

 

[snakes&ladders]

Imagine that in our time there's a song out there called H.W.C = Hot White Cum by Liz Phair......how times change!!!! I wonder what 'ol Ed would have thought of that!!!, see and listen to BELIEVE!!...HEHHEHEEH
YouTube - Liz Phair"Hot White Cum"

Give it to me, don't give it away
Don't think about what the others say
My skins getting clear, my hairs so bright
All you do is **** me every day and night

You're my secret beauty routine
Na, na, na, na, what my body has seen
I am lookin' good and I'm feeling nice
Baby you're the best magazine advice

Gimme your hot white cum
Gimme your hot white cum
Gimme your hot white cum
Gimme your hot white cum

I'm gonna pull you back down between the sheets
Everything is fresher when the day is sweet
In the morning light when you're already on the phone

Face it, one of these days
Without you I'm just another Dorian Gray
It's the fountain of youth
It's the meaning of life
So hot, so sweet, so wet my appetite

Gimme your hot white cum
Gimme your hot white cum
Gimme your hot white cum
Gimme your hot white cum

Face it, one of these days
Without you I'm just another Dorian Gray
It's the fountain of youth
It's the meaning of life
Baby you're the best magazine advice

Gimme your hot white cum
Gimme your hot white cum
Gimme your hot white cum
Gimme your hot white cum
Gimme your hot white cum
Gimme your hot white cum
Gimme your hot white cum
Gimme your hot white cum
Your hot white cum

 

[METALPRIEST]

Morrison was perceived as a 'loose cannon' on stage in those days, the lizard king, who was able to do some wild antics and gothic drama on stage. The Sullivan Show was family oriented, and I believe they were bias against the Doors and Morrison, fearful of what antics he may do on the show. The outrage against the word "higher" was not the actual lyric, but how Morrison performed those lyrics. He had a way of involving his audience in his music, and I believe this is what was the bias against Morrison.

The Sullivan show tried to harness Morrison's theatrics, which didn't work, obviously. Sly Stone on the other hand, didn't have that reputation of stage theatrics, and therefore, it was not necessary to sensor the lyrics.

This all makes perfect sense

 

[snakes&ladders]

The Sullivan show tried to harness Morrison's theatrics, which didn't work, obviously. Sly Stone on the other hand, didn't have that reputation of stage theatrics, and therefore, it was not necessary to sensor the lyrics.

Quite silly

 

[Truckin]

Morrison was perceived as a 'loose cannon' on stage in those days, the lizard king, who was able to do some wild antics and gothic drama on stage. The Sullivan Show was family oriented, and I believe they were bias against the Doors and Morrison, fearful of what antics he may do on the show. The outrage against the word "higher" was not the actual lyric, but how Morrison performed those lyrics. He had a way of involving his audience in his music, and I believe this is what was the bias against Morrison.

The Sullivan show tried to harness Morrison's theatrics, which didn't work, obviously. Sly Stone on the other hand, didn't have that reputation of stage theatrics, and therefore, it was not necessary to sensor the lyrics.

I know that Morrison did do some crazy things on stage but I wasn't aware that he was known for that at the time of the Sullivan show. That show was in 1967 and not too long after the song "Light My Fire " was released. It seems the Sullivan show did some liberalizing between the Doors appearance and Sly's because if you watch the video of Sly he starts it off by reciting a little diddy about black and white. Now, remembering 1967, this was pretty outspoken for a family show even if it was a gesture of good will on Sly's part. And did you notice he high five's a black dude in the audience? Why not the older white guy who was really getting in to the music? Hmmmm... just makes me wonder. Sly was eventually persecuted by the Black Panthers for trying to unite the races. I feel bad for Sly because he got into drugs really heavy from taking so much heat trying to bring folks together.

video Sly The Family Stone - Ed Sullivan Show (1968) - sly the family stone, ed sullivan show - videos kewego

The Doors - Light my fire - Live - Ed Sullivan Show on Yahoo! Video

 

[snakes&ladders]

Sly was eventually persecuted by the Black Panthers for trying to unite the races.

Same thing happened to Jimi Hendrix