The Changeling

When you dive into *The Changeling*, the first thing that grabs your attention is its pulse. There's an energy that captivates you, a kind of groove that recalls James Brown, but with that particular touch of The Doors. The lyrics, written by Jim Morrison, seem to foreshadow his departure from Los Angeles, with lines like "I'm going out of town on the midnight train." Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist, described it as prophetic, noting how Morrison had already lived through different stages, with money and without it, and that his adventure in L.A. was coming to an end. Musically, the song fuses elements of blues rock with funk, and was recorded in the key of A minor. Morrison himself, during the session, expressed his affection for this track, asking the band to give it their all.

This track was the first piece that The Doors recorded for the sessions of their album *L.A. Woman*. The title idea, *The Changeling*, comes from one of Morrison's notebooks from 1968 and refers to a European folkloric creature. It has been interpreted as a possible allusion to the singer's childhood. The band recorded it in their own studio in Los Angeles, California, in December 1970. The version we hear on the album lasts 4:20, although for its release as the B-side of the single *Riders on the Storm* in June 1971, it was edited to 3:27. The album *L.A. Woman*, which was the last with Jim Morrison, was released in April 1971. Even though the band wanted *The Changeling* to be the first single, the record label Elektra Records chose *Love Her Madly*. However, the song had its moment, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 as a B-side.