"Horse Latitudes" is the fifth song from The Doors second album, Strange Da… Read Full Bio ↴"Horse Latitudes" is the fifth song from The Doors second album, Strange Days. The song is a spoken word piece by Jim Morrison with the band providing frightening noises as a backdrop. Morrison screams the lyrics, telling of a ship at sea forced to jettison the onboard horses to lighten their load. The words are taken from one of the first poems Jim Morrison ever wrote, inspired by a book cover he saw at a local bookstore as a child.

Keyboardist Ray Manzarek mentions in his book Light My Fire he never believed Morrison wrote "Horse Latitudes" at such a young age, claiming the words were "too mature".

This song often segued into "Moonlight Drive", or vice versa, which follows it on the album.

The lyric is a synthesis of Morrison's interests in maritime life thus the title Horse Latitudes and is also an obvious allusion to his naval upbringing.

Horse Latitudes
The Doors Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

When the still sea conspires an armor
And her sullen and aborted currents
Breed tiny monsters
True sailing is dead
Awkward instant
And the first animal is jettisoned
Legs furiously pumping
Their stiff green gallop

And heads bob up
Poise
Delicate
Pause
Consent
In mute nostril agony

Carefully refined
And sealed over

Overall Meaning

The lyrics above from The Doors's song "Horse Latitudes" speak about the still and unchanging nature of the sea. The first line describes this stillness as the sea conspiring an armor, possibly referring to the way the water seems to be still yet almost impenetrable. As the next two lines indicate, even though the sea is still, tiny monsters are bred within its currents. These tiny monsters may be symbolic of the darker aspects of humanity, such as greed or hate, which continue to grow despite outward appearances of peace and stability.

The line "True sailing is dead" may be interpreted as the end of exploration and adventure, as there is nowhere new to discover or explore when everything appears the same. The next two lines describe an animal being jettisoned, which could be a metaphor for humans discarding their wild and adventurous nature in favor of more domesticated and controlled behavior. The final lines of the verse describe the remaining creatures' movements and moments of stillness, indicating that they are now subdued and carefully complying with the world around them. This suggests that, even though the world may appear still and peaceful, there are still underlying currents of chaos and danger that can cause distress.

Line by Line Meaning

When the still sea conspires an armor
When the calm ocean seems to create a barrier

And her sullen and aborted currents
And the slow and unfulfilled movements of the water

Breed tiny monsters
Give birth to small and obscure creatures

True sailing is dead
Real navigation is impossible

Awkward instant
An uncomfortable moment

And the first animal is jettisoned
And the initial creature is thrown overboard

Legs furiously pumping
Legs moving vigorously

Their stiff green gallop
Their inflexible and ungraceful running

And heads bob up
And the heads appear and disappear

Poise
Balance and elegance

Delicate
Fragile and subtle

Pause
A moment of interruption

Consent
Agreement and acceptance

In mute nostril agony
In agonizing silence

Carefully refined
Precisely perfected

And sealed over
And closed off

Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Written by: Jim Morrison, John Paul Densmore, Raymond D Manzarek, Robert A Krieger

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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