"The Unknown Soldier" was the first single from The Doors

The Doors

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...

' 1968 album Waiting for the Sun

Waiting for the Sun

Waiting for the Sun is the third studio album by the American rock band The Doors. It was released in 1968 and became the band's first and only number one album and spawned their second US number one single, "Hello, I Love You". It also became the band's first hit album in the UK, where it peaked...

, and was also the subject of one of the band's few music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

s.

Lyrics

The song was Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison

James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...

's reaction to the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 and the way that conflict was portrayed in American media at the time. Lines such as, "Breakfast where the news is read/Television children fed/ unborn living, living dead/bullets strike the helmet's head", concern the way news of the war was being presented in the living rooms of ordinary people.

Structure

In the beginning, as well as after the middle of the song, the mysterious sounds of the organ is heard, depicting the mystery of the "Unknown Soldier".
In the middle of the song, the Doors produce the sounds of what appears to be a marching cadence. It begins with military drums, plus the sound of the Sergeant counting off in 4s, (HUP, HUP, HUP 2 3 4), until he says "READY? HALT, PRESENT ARMS, being followed by the sounds of loading rifles, and a long military drum roll, a pause, and then the rifleshots; in live performances Robby Krieger

Robby Krieger

Robert Alan "Robby" Krieger is an American rock guitarist and songwriter. He was the guitarist in The Doors, and wrote some of the band's best known songs, including "Light My Fire," "Love Me Two Times," "Touch Me," and "Love Her Madly."...

 would point his guitar towards Morrison like a rifle, drummer John Densmore

John Densmore

John Paul Densmore is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer of the rock group The Doors.-Early life and The Doors:Born in Los Angeles, Densmore attended Santa Monica City College and Cal...

 would emulate a gunshot by producing a loud rimshot

Rimshot

A rimshot is the sound produced by hitting the rim and the head of a drum simultaneously, with a drum stick. Rimshots are usually played to produce a more accented note, and are typically played loudly. However, soft rim shots are possible....

, by hitting the edge of the snare drum

Snare drum

The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...

, therefore, breaking the sticks to the drum set, Manzarek

Ray Manzarek

Raymond Daniel Manzarek, Jr., better known as Ray Manzarek , is an American musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, Nite City from 1977–1978 and Manzarek-Krieger since 2001.Manzarek is listed #4 on Digital Dreamdoor's "100...

 would raise his hand and drop it as if to release the signal, and Morrison would fall screaming to the ground. After this middle section, the verses return and the song ends with Morrison's ecstatic celebration of a war being over. In the studio version of the song, the sounds of crowds cheering and bells tolling can be heard.

Release and reception

The single release was edited in which a different gunshot sound was used and does not include the cheering crowds and tolling bells at the end. It became the band's fourth Top 40 hit in the US, peaking at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. "We Could Be So Good Together

We Could Be So Good Together

"We Could Be So Good Together" is a song by American rock band The Doors, appearing as the ninth song on their 1968 album, Waiting for the Sun, but was initially released as the B-side of the single The Unknown Soldier...

" served as the B-side.

Chart (1968)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	39