“Alabama Song" (aka "Whisky Bar") (1966 – original from 1930, composed 1925)

The history of “Alabama Song” dates back to 1925, in Germany, when the German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht wrote the original German poem. The poem was translated into English, after which the German version was abandoned and essentially lost to history.

Prostitutes Pursue Little Boys

In 1927, the composer Kurt Weill set the poem to music, for a play which he and Brecht had co-authored. In 1930, they again used it, in an opera they had written.

Even though both the play and the opera were in the German language, they retained the English lyrics for this song. In the opera, it is sung by a group of prostitutes, who croon that they want to find “the way to the next little boy.”

Poets and Little Girls

In certain ways, this is a characteristic Doors song. In fact, some people – even some fans of The Doors – believe that “Alabama Song” was actually written by the band.

In The Doors’ version, lead singer Jim Morrison left out one verse, altered the song’s melody somewhat, and changed the phase “the next little boy” to “the next little girl.” _{(Image source)}

The Doors

One day in 1965, university mates Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek bumped into each other on the beach in Venice, California. Jim told Ray that he had been not only writing songs, but also taking notes about a “fantastic rock'n'roll concert going on in my head.”

Sleaze and Whisky and Exotica

They soon formed The Doors. In early 1966, the band had a gig at a “sleazy” LA dive bar called London Fog, where they shared billing with “Rhonda Lane Exotic Dancer.” By May that year, they had moved on to the more respectable bar Whisky a Go Go. (As for Rhonda, she probably stayed behind.)

By January 1967, The Doors had released their debut album, which included the hit song “Light My Fire” and the 12-minute-long epic “The End.”

50 Years Later, No End in Sight

Over the following 4 years, they released several more albums, to popular and critical acclaim. The Doors became a pre-eminent rock band of the 1960s. _{(Image source)} With the death of Morrison in 1971, the band dissolved. However, they remain one of the most influential bands of that era, and one of the few whose music still resonates, 50 years on.

Oh, show us the way to the next whiskey bar!

Oh don't ask why,

Oh don't ask why!

For we must find the next whiskey bar

For if we don't find the next whiskey bar,

I tell you we must die!

Oh moon of Alabama

We now must say goodbye

We've lost our good old mamma

And must have whiskey

Oh, you know why.

Oh show us the way to the next pretty boy!

Oh don't ask why

Oh, don't ask why!

For we must find the next pretty boy

For if we don't find the next pretty boy

I tell you we must die!

Oh moon of Alabama

We now must say goodbye

We've lost our good old mama

And must have boys

Oh, you know why.

Oh show us the way to the next little dollar!

Oh don't ask why,

oh don't ask why!

For we must find the next little dollar

For if we don't find the next little dollar

I tell you we must die!

Oh moon of Alabama

We now must say goodbye

We've lost our good old mama

And must have dollars

Oh, you know why.

Lotte Lenya – “Alabama Song”
_{_{(Right-click to hear on YouTube)}}

Original Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht, courtesy of – Muzikum.eu

(Lyrics translated by Elisabeth Hauptmann)

Reference – Wikipedia

Reference – SongFacts.com

Into your ears … through 5 channels

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