Land Ho
by The Doors

Album: Morrison Hotel (1970)
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Songfacts®:

  • "Land Ho" is an expression used by sailors when they saw a land after being surrounded with nothing except the ocean for a long time. The song is a story of the sea that represents a quest for freedom.
  • Doors frontman Jim Morrison adapted the lyrics from a modified poem of his, and guitarist Robbie Krieger came up with the lick and the drop tuning. Morrison's father and his grandfather were both naval men, and "Land Ho" goes together with "Ship Of Fools."

    "They're both about seafaring and pioneer spirits and life on the ocean, Krieger told Louder Sound in 2023. "They're about people leaving earth, and the idea of the first people to come to American shores. 'Land Ho!' sounds biographical. I always thought he wrote it about his own grandfather, but you'd have to ask him."
  • Drummer John Densmore created a skiffle beat for the song. In the '50s, skiffle was a popular style in England, with amateur musicians using jugs, washboards, and whatever else they had handy to make music.

Comments: 2

  • Mark from Byrdstown, TnDamn I love it when Morrison screams 'LAND HO!' in the middle of the song.....what a pure voice he had even when screaming at full volume.Ive read he started out with a rather thin timid voice but built it up trying to sing over the din in the clubs The Doors started out in.He built it into the definitive rock voice of all time.
  • Dustin from Waycross, GaThis song represents a return to adventure that has come after years of living in boredom and enduring an unadventurous lifestyle. It reminds me of someone like Ulysses, who when returned to Ithaca found that he entirely missed the adventures he once had and decided that he wanted to venture out once again in his elder age. Perhaps the numbers at the end of the song "If i get my hands on a number 5 gonna skin that little girl alive" refer to grading women on a number scale. 5 being the best or most attractive and 2 being an average looking woman whose best characteristic is that of her provisions, such as making a good wife. Thats why "if i get my hands on a number 2, come back home and marry you". Perhaps the elder adventurer, "grandpa", will find a new love on his new adventures.
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