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The Soft Parade
The Doors Lyrics

When I was back there in seminary school
There was a person there
Who put forth the proposition
That you can petition the Lord with prayer
Petition the lord with prayer
Petition the lord with prayer
You cannot petition the lord with prayer

Can you give me sanctuary
I must find a place to hide

A place for me to hide

Can you find me soft asylum
I can't make it anymore
The Man is at the door

Peppermint, miniskirts, chocolate candy
Champion sax and a girl named Sandy
There's only four ways to get unraveled
One is to sleep and the other is travel, da da
One is a bandit up in the hills
One is to love your neighbor 'till
His wife gets home

Catacombs
Nursery bones
Winter women
Growing stones
Carrying babies
To the river

Streets and shoes
Avenues
Leather riders
Selling news
The monk bought lunch

Ha ha, he bought a little
Yes, he did
Woo
This is the best part of the trip
This is the trip, the best part
I really like
What'd he say
Yeah
Yeah, right
Pretty good, huh
Huh
Yeah, I'm proud to be a part of this number

Successful hills are here to stay
Everything must be this way
Gentle streets where people play
Welcome to the Soft Parade

All our lives we sweat and save
Building for a shallow grave
Must be something else we say
Somehow to defend this place
Everything must be this way
Everything must be this way, yeah

The Soft Parade has now begun
Listen to the engines hum
People out to have some fun
A cobra on my left
Leopard on my right, yeah

The deer woman in a silk dress
Girls with beads around their necks
Kiss the hunter of the green vest
Who has wrestled before
With lions in the night

Out of sight
The lights are getting brighter
The radio is moaning
Calling to the dogs
There are still a few animals
Left out in the yard
But it's getting harder
To describe sailors
To the underfed

Tropic corridor
Tropic treasure
What got us this far
To this mild equator

We need someone or something new
Something else to get us through, yeah, c'mon

Callin' on the dogs
Callin' on the dogs
Oh, it's gettin' harder
Callin' on the dogs
Callin' in the dogs
Callin' all the dogs
Callin' on the gods

You gotta meet me (too late, baby)
Slay a few animals
At the crossroads (too late)
All in the yard
But it's gettin' harder
By the crossroads (you gotta meet me)
Oh, we're goin', we're goin' great
At the edge of town (tropic corridor, tropic treasure)
Havin' a good time (got to come along)

Outskirts of the city
(What got us this far to this mild equator)
You and I
We need someone new
Better bring your gun
Better bring your gun
We're gonna ride and have some fun

When all else fails
We can whip the horse's eyes
And make them sleep
And cry

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

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"The Soft Parade" is the ninth and final track on the fourth studio album of the same name by the rock band The Doors. Many listeners believe that this and "Shaman's Blues" are reminiscent to the old style of The Doors, as heard in the albums The Doors and Strange Days. This is mainly because the song contains both lyrical and melodic shifts. At the beginning of the song, Jim Morrison starts out with spoken words reminiscent of a raving Christian preacher. Read Full Bio"The Soft Parade" is the ninth and final track on the fourth studio album of the same name by the rock band The Doors. Many listeners believe that this and "Shaman's Blues" are reminiscent to the old style of The Doors, as heard in the albums The Doors and Strange Days. This is mainly because the song contains both lyrical and melodic shifts. At the beginning of the song, Jim Morrison starts out with spoken words reminiscent of a raving Christian preacher. This part of the song is referred to as the "Petition the Lord with Prayer" section. The song then goes into a harpsichord driven semi-introductory piece mainly known as "Sanctuary", with lyrics such as, "Can you give me sanctuary, I must find a place to hide" referencing his then-current problems like the Miami and New Haven arrests. Afterwards, the beat picks up and the song progressively gets faster, and features a psychedelic pop section, followed by an upbeat, soft section before going into a wild blues-rock part that ends the song. The new, 2006 remastered album reinstates an intro before the 'Petition The Lord With Prayer' section where Morrison laments that he's "troubled immeasurably" by the "feather of your soft reply" of an unnamed subject.