View source for Five to One

{{For|the 1963 film|Five to One (film)}}
{{short description|Song by the Doors}}
{{Infobox song
| name     = Five to One
| cover    =
| alt      =
| type     =
| artist   = [[the Doors]]
| album    = [[Waiting for the Sun]]
| released = July 3, 1968
| recorded = February–May 1968
| studio   = <!-- Genres sourced in the "Composition" section, clarified with an actual description--> 
| genre    = [[Proto-metal]], [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]]
| length   = 4:24
| label    = [[Elektra Records|Elektra]]
| writer   = The Doors
| producer = [[Paul A. Rothchild]]
}}
"'''Five to One'''" is a song by American rock band [[the Doors]], from their 1968 album ''[[Waiting for the Sun]]''. The song's lyrics were written by lead singer [[Jim Morrison]] but officially credited to the whole band.<ref name="Liner">{{cite AV media notes |title-link=Waiting for the Sun |title=Waiting for the Sun |type=liner notes |others=[[The Doors]] |year=1968 |publisher=[[Elektra Records]] |location=New York City |id=EKS-74024}}</ref>

==Composition==
{{quotebox|"One of the predecessors to [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]]."<ref name="Weidman" />|source=–Guitarist [[Robby Krieger]]}}
Unlike some of the Doors tracks, "Five to One" was created in the studio.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robby Krieger Recalls Doors' Battle with ''Waiting for the Sun'' |url= https://ultimateclassicrock.com/robby-krieger-doors-waiting-for-the-sun/ |first=Martin |last=Kielty |date=September 7, 2018 |website=[[Ultimate Classic Rock]] |accessdate=April 16, 2021}}</ref> According to music journalist Gillian G. Gaar, the song originated during a session when Morrison asked drummer [[John Densmore]] to lay down a [[time signature|4/4]] beat to which he inserted the lyrics.<ref>{{cite book |first=Gillian G. |last=Gaar |year=2015 |title=The Doors: The Illustrated History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xu76CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 |publisher=[[Voyageur Press]] |page=55 |isbn=978-1627887052}}</ref> The song is consistently applied at 4/4 time signature,<ref>{{cite web |title=Digital Sheet Music – The Doors – 'Five to One' |website=Musicnotes.com |date=15 February 2016 |publisher=[[Sony/ATV Music Publishing]] |url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0159889  |access-date=April 16, 2021}}</ref> accompanied by a [[distortion|distorted sound]] of drums and bass.<ref>{{cite AV media notes |first=Bruce |last=Botnick |author-link=Bruce Botnick |title=Waiting for the Sun |section=Introduction by original Doors engineer-producer |page=4 |type=CD booklet |publisher=Rhino Records}}</ref>

The tune features a [[rhythm and blues]] vibe,<ref name="Miller">{{cite magazine |last=Miller |first=Jim |date=September 28, 1968 |title=''Waiting for the Sun'' – Review |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/waiting-for-the-sun-19680928 |access-date=March 21, 2021}}</ref> and has been considered as an origin of the [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] genre.<ref name="Cinquemani">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/the-doors-waiting-for-the-sun |title=The Doors: ''Waiting for the Sun'' |last=Cinquemani |first=Sal |date=April 18, 2007 |magazine=[[Slant Magazine]] |access-date=April 28, 2021}}</ref> Critic Matthew Greenwald of [[AllMusic]] described [[Robby Krieger]]'s guitar playing as "a menacing, proto-heavy metal", and on "top of that, John Densmore's relentless, almost march-rhythm drums take the song through various sections with a convincing power."<ref name="Greenwald">{{cite web |first=Matthew |last=Greenwald |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/five-to-one-mt0045067811 |title=The Doors: 'Five to One' – Review |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=April 16, 2021}}</ref>

===Lyrics===
Morrison asserted that the song's lyrics are not political.<ref name="Weidman" /> Part of the song ("Your ballroom days are over, baby/ Night is drawing near/ Shadows of the evening/ crawl across the years"), was seemingly lifted from the 19th-century hymnal and bedtime rhyme "Now the Day Is Over" ("Now the day is over/ Night is drawing nigh/ Shadows of the evening/ Steal across the sky") by Morrison.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/now_day_over.html |title=Now the Day is Over |website=[[Encyclopedia Titanica]] |date=October 12, 2005 |access-date=July 5, 2013}}</ref> Similarly, Morrison quoted the "[[Christian child's prayer]]" in a live version of "[[Soul Kitchen (song)|Soul Kitchen]]" sung in 1969,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Now_I_Lay_Me_Down_To_Sleep |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707234922/http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Now_I_Lay_Me_Down_To_Sleep |title=Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep |date=July 7, 2010 |archive-date=July 7, 2010 |access-date=March 12, 2021}}</ref> and also seemingly altered the children's rhyme "[[Jack Be Nimble|Jack be nimble]], Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick" to suit part of his poem "Curses, Invocations" in ''[[An American Prayer]]'' ("Words dissemble/ Words be quick/ Words resemble walking sticks").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://morrison-the-lizard-king.blogspot.com/2011/05/album-american-prayer-lyrics.html |title=''An American Prayer'' Lyrics |website=Morrison.com |access-date=December 1, 2021}}</ref>

==Public performances==
The song's most famous performance was at the 1969 Miami concert at the [[Coconut Grove Convention Center|Dinner Key Auditorium]].  Towards the end of the performance, a drunken Morrison declared the audience "idiots" and "slaves".  The concert would end with Morrison being accused of "attempting to incite a riot" among the concert goers, resulting in his arrest, and later conviction, for indecent exposure.<ref name="Weidman">{{cite book |first=Richie |last=Weidman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wNCGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT193
|title=The Doors FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Kings of Acid Rock |date=October 2011 |page=193 |publisher=[[Backbeat Books]] |isbn=978-1617131103}}</ref>

During the post-Morrison appearance of the Doors on ''[[VH1 Storytellers]]'' in 2000, [[Scott Weiland]] of [[Stone Temple Pilots]] accepted the role of lead vocalist. Densmore said Weiland was one of the few frontmen who could "fill Jim's leather pants". Weiland said that "Five to One" inspired him to begin his career in rock music.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1428331/stps-weiland-talks-doors-influence-storytellers/ |title=STPs Weiland Talks Doors Influence |publisher=[[MTV]] |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808213949/http://www.mtv.com/news/1428331/stps-weiland-talks-doors-influence-storytellers/ |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2012, [[Ray Manzarek]] and Krieger recorded a live version of "Five to One" in the [[Sunset Strip Music Festival]] with [[Marilyn Manson]] on vocals.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/marilyn-manson-sings-people-are-strange-doors-flna955059 |title=Marilyn Manson sings 'People Are Strange' with The Doors |last=Chan |first=Anna |newspaper=[[NBC News]] |date=August 21, 2012 |access-date=July 7, 2022}}</ref>

==Legacy==
The guitar solo on [[Pearl Jam]]'s "[[Alive (Pearl Jam song)|Alive]]" was based on [[Ace Frehley]]'s guitar solo on the [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] song "[[She (Kiss song)|She]]", which was in turn based on Robby Krieger's solo in "Five to One".<ref>{{cite web |last=Gilbert |first=Jeff |url=http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/gs0595.shtml |title=Prime Cuts: Mike McCready - The Best of Pearl Jam! |website=Guitar School |date=May 1995}}</ref> In 2001, producer [[Kanye West]] sampled the song to form the beat of [[Jay-Z|Jay-Z's]] [[Diss (music)|diss song]] of [[Nas]] and [[Mobb Deep]] called "[[Takeover (Jay-Z song)|Takeover]]", also used in the [[Lordz of Brooklyn]] song "[[White Trash]]".<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Erin |last=Coulehan |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jay-z-wrote-letter-to-the-doors-john-densmore-243997/amp/ |title=Jay Z Wrote Letter to the Doors' John Densmore |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=February 18, 2021}}</ref>  The lyric featured in the track, "No one here gets out alive", was used as the title for the 1980 Morrison biography ''[[No One Here Gets Out Alive]]''.<ref name="Weidman" /> ''[[Stereogum]]'' declared "Five to One" the "best song the band ever recorded",<ref>{{cite magazine |last2=Leas |first2=Ryan |first1=Michael |last1=Nelson |date=July 29, 2015 |url=http://www.stereogum.com/1819986/the-doors-albums-from-worst-to-best/franchises/counting-down/attachment/ |title=The Doors Albums From Worst To Best |magazine=[[Stereogum]] |access-date=August 1, 2022}}</ref> while the British daily newspaper, ''[[The Guardian]]'', ranked it fifth on their 2015 respective list.<ref>{{cite news |first=Dave |last=Simpson |date=June 17, 2015 |title=The Doors: 10 of the Best |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/17/the-doors-10-of-the-best |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=February 15, 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.snopes.com/music/hidden/5to1.htm Snopes webpage discussing the meaning of the song's title]

{{The Doors}}
{{The Doors songs}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:The Doors songs]]
[[Category:1968 songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Jim Morrison]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Paul A. Rothchild]]