Released September 25, 1967 Length 1:37 | Recorded 1967 Label Elektra | |
Genre Psychedelic rock, spoken word, avant-garde Writer(s) Jim Morrison (but credited to The Doors) | ||
"Horse Latitudes" is the fifth song from The Doors second album, Strange Days. The song is a spoken word piece by Jim Morrison with the band providing spooky noises as a backdrop. Morrison speaks the lyrics, telling of a ship at sea forced to jettison the onboard horses to lighten its load. The words are taken from one of the first poems Jim Morrison wrote, inspired by a book cover he saw at a local bookstore as a child.
Keyboardist Ray Manzarek mentions in his book Light My Fire he never believed Morrison wrote "Horse Latitudes" at such a young age, claiming the words were "too mature".
This song often segued into "Moonlight Drive", or vice versa, which follows it on the album.
The lyric is a synthesis of Morrison's interests in maritime life thus the title Horse Latitudes and is also an obvious allusion to his naval upbringing.