The Crystal Ship

"The Crystal Ship" is a song by The Doors from their 1967 debut album The Doors. It was also the B-side of the number-one hit single "Light My Fire". According to Doors drummer John Densmore it was a love song to Jim Morrison's former girlfriend, Mary Werbelow.

Personnel

• Jim Morrison - Lead vocals
• Robby Krieger - Electric guitar
• Ray Manzarek - Vox Continental, piano, keyboard bass
• John Densmore - Drums

References and appearances

• During the '70s and early '80s, there was a Doors cover band from New Jersey called The Crystal Ship.
• In the Dead Milkmen song "Bitchin' Camaro" from the 1985 album Big Lizard in My Backyard, "Crystal Shit" is the name of a Doors cover band.
• The song also appeared in the 1989 film True Believer starring James Woods and Robert Downey, Jr.
• Japanese psychedelic rock band Suishou no Fune's name translates to "Crystal Ship".
• In the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the radio DJ Tommy 'Nightmare' Smith (voiced by Guns N' Roses lead singer Axl Rose) states that he used to be in a band called Crystal Ship.
• In the TV show Malcolm in the Middle season 5 episode 9 "Dirty Magazine", the high school literary magazine is titled The Crystal Ship.
• The fourteenth episode of season 2 of Supernatural, "Born Under a Bad Sign", uses the song in a particularly dark setting.
• The TV show Breaking Bad references the song in the second episode of season 5, "Madrigal", when Jesse Pinkman refers to his and Walter White's Crystal Methamphetamine Lab Recreational Vehicle as "The Crystal Ship", a name that Pinkman christened himself.

Notable covers

• Swedish band Global Infantilists, fronted by up-and-coming author Mare Kandre as singer: on their 1982 album Global Infantilists.
• Duran Duran: on their 1995 cover album Thank You.
• X: on 1998 soundtrack album The X-Files: The Album.
• The Smashing Pumpkins: live in 1989.
• Chris Whitley: on his 2000 cover album Perfect Day and his 2008 live album On Air.
• George Winston: on his 2002 cover album Night Divides the Day – The Music of the Doors.
• Joe Perry: on his 2005 album Joe Perry.
• Ray Manzarek: as a piano solo on his 2008 album Ballads Before the Rain, which otherwise consisted of instrumental duets with guitarist Roy Rogers.
• Nicole Atkins: on her 2008 EP Nicole Atkins Digs Other People's Songs.
• The Hotrats: on their 2010 cover album Turn Ons.
• Nevermore: on the limited release of their 2010 album The Obsidian Conspiracy.
• Tangerine Dream: as an encore during the US leg of their 2012 Electric Mandarine tour.
• Andrea Corr: on her 2011 cover album Lifelines.
• American psychedelic act Aura Blaze: as the B-side of their 2014 single "A Glass of Tears Half Empty"
• Robyn Hitchcock on his 2014 album The Man Upstairs.

External links

• Mary Werbelow and the lyrics
• Celtic legend of the Crystal Ship