Later on in '68, The Doors began rehearsing for their next album, The Soft Parade. This album was going to be a much different-sounding Doors album than fans were used to hearing. Having reached a somewhat stale period of songwriting, the band put their heads together again and wrung out as much material as they could at the time. 1968 was a year in which The Doors played a great many shows, touring North America and Europe. Coupled with the increasingly erratic behavior and unreliability of Jim Morrison, the band may have lost some inspiration for writing. But this changed once the sessions were underway.
The feature of the new album was to be different instrumental arrangements. Instead of just the standard drums, keyboards, guitar, and vocals, The Doors were augmented with a classical orchestra and jazz brass section in some of the songs. In addition to these elements was a slicker overall sound, a more polished shine, whereas in earlier Doors albums there was more reverbs and echoes present. These combined values were a unique blend for The Soft Parade. The result was a strangely upbeat and fun sounding Doors record. Gone, for the time being, was the general air of darkness and hard psychedelic leanings. The album wasn't a critical success upon release in 1969, being almost completely dismissed by rock critics, although it sold fairly well. In it's aging, it's gained a reputation as sort of an experiment The Doors attempted. Maybe it wasn't as grand an experiment as "The Celebration Of The Lizard," but it was still important for them to try something like this and mix their sound up a bit.
The album begins with the blaring Ben Hur horns of "Tell All The People," a Robby Krieger-penned jazz-pop tune that sounds perfectly suited for AM radio. "Touch Me" follows with an insistent keyboard part to go with a fast beat, until after the buildup Morrison cuts in with his famous "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon now touch me, babe" line (this song was written by Krieger). The song is an orgy of sound; horns, strings, bass, keys, guitar, all interwoven and shifting around each other. The short verses slow down a bit, where Ray Manzarek adds a Baroque melody with a harpsichord, as Morrison's vocal and the string section float above. In the final buildup, jazz sax man Curtis Amy plays a wild Coltrane-like solo to end the song. "Touch Me" proved to be the one big hit from The Soft Parade. "Shaman's Blues" follows with a dense, deep instrumental sound rolling and lilting below Morrison's poetry. The time signature of the song is waltz-like, giving the song a haunting but warm climate. "Shaman's Blues" is usually regarded as one of the more under-appreciated Doors songs, and one of Morrison's best rock poems. "Do It" is a playful, lyrically pleading ditty highlighted with a neat organ and guitar riff which drive the song. "Easy Ride" is another simple tune with a fun, country-blues romp sound. "Wild Child" is a return to a more typical Doors sound- swampy, bluesy, uneasy, another haunting poetic portrait of the future. The song is built around a dirty slide guitar riff, and the band builds in around the riff. It continues The Soft Parade idea of a full and heavy production, sounding loud and rich. "Runnin' Blue" is a hybrid of rock, jazz, pop, and bluegrass country. It moves into different territories quick enough to almost disorient the listener. It is held together by the bluegrass choruses, sung by Krieger. There is a verse featuring an avant-garde jazz battle between a honky saxophone and a screeching trombone, one of the more unique moments on the entire album. "Wishful Sinful" is another Krieger tune (he had four of his own and one co-write on the album) revolving around a dreamy atmosphere and lyrical images written in a Morrison-esque style. The soaring strings and woodwinds combine with Krieger's arpeggiated chords to make "Wishful..." an ethereal and underrated song in The Doors canon. Ending the album is the Morrison poem "The Soft Parade," a four-part montage that doesn't seem to have any particular meaning. After a declaration by Morrison that "you cannot petition the Lord with prayer," the suite starts with a dreary, Far East folk motif with Morrison singing softly. The song suddenly shifts into a spiraling , psychedelic area, which then morphs into a slow, bubblegum pop theme which sounds more like Nancy Sinatra than Doors; probably the lightest Doors moment on record. At the tail end of this piece, Morrison exclaims "the monk... bought... lunch" which launches into the last section, a groovy, jungle funk part that grooves on for a awhile under Morrison's abstract and almost disjointed poetry. The song is a brilliant look into the humorous and serious side of Morrison's poetry, and just exactly what the poetry means is left to the listener's discretion. It seems mostly based on Morrison's lament of his own falling apart, a slow and cruel malaise that ended with his death in 1971. At times he wants to hide, escape somewhere where he can't be bothered anymore. In conflict with this is the second part of the montage, "Peppermint..." which seems like a cut-up that doesn't make much sense in relation the other parts of the song. The final part has layers of Morrison vocals blaring all at once in a display of confusion and madness amidst the slow funk.
The Soft Parade ended up being a drain on The Doors, taking months to complete and costing a lot of money to produce and arrange. It can be argued that the album is the one weird anomaly within the discography of an already unpredictable band. Who would have thought, back in 1969, that The Doors would essentially forget all they knew, sound and theme-wise, to create an album bearing little resemblance to their previous albums? This just proves that The Doors took risks and didn't fear doing something different.
The 2007 40th anniversary mixes reveals a couple of little oddities previously buried in the standard mix. In "Runnin' Blue" Krieger's chorus vocal during the final chorus is done solo. Morrison's vocal has been lowered way down in the mix. At the start of "The Soft Parade" is a short Morrison poem set to music. This piece was previously unreleased and doesn't have it's own known credit. One has to wonder if this was a part of "The Soft Parade" that was left out of the standard mix for some unknown reason. Nevertheless, it is a nice little surprise that hardcore fans will appreciate. In addition to the new mixes are the haul of bonus tracks included. "Who Scared You" is a definite outtake for The Soft Parade. Heavy with an organ-based groove, the song teeters along at a weird, jazzy pace, with a funky bridge part that has Morrison stuttering to the groove. This song was released in the early '70's on a compilation, and again in 1997 as a part of The Doors Box Set. "Whiskey, Mystics, And Men (Version 1)" is the rough take of this jug band chantey, setting a great tone and mood. "Whiskey, Mystics, And Men (Version 2)" is the final master of this song, as it would have sounded had it been selected for inclusion on The Soft Parade. This song was also included on a '70's compilation, and then the 1997 box set. "Push Push" is a loose jam centered around a piano riff that has a calypso vibe going. It sounds like another experiment for The Soft Parade that didn't make it to an advanced rehearsal stage. In 1968 and '69, The Doors would play "Push Push" a couple of times before live audiences. "Touch Me (Dialogue)" and "Touch Me (Take 3)" are connected snapshots of the studio work of the song. Take 3 is essentially the final take, but the final verse (with the sax solo) is extended and hadn't been edited down yet.
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