About the song
The song’s composition started in early 1967. According to Doors drummer John Densmore, he and guitarist Robby Krieger, who had then been roommates, were visited by Jim Morrison who appeared to be “deeply depressed.” At Krieger’s recollection, they later took a walk along Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles. Morrison returned from the walk “euphoric” with the early lyrics of “People Are Strange”. Intrigued by the lyrics, Krieger was convinced that the song was a hit upon hearing the vocal melody.
“People Are Strange” is a song by the American rock band the Doors. It appears on the band’s second studio album, Strange Days, released in September 1967. The song was written by the Doors’ vocalist Jim Morrison and guitarist Robby Krieger, although all of the band are credited on the sleeve notes.
The track was first released with “Unhappy Girl” as the B-side. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
In a review for AllMusic, critic Tom Maginnis wrote the song “reflects the group’s fascination with the theatrical music of European cabaret.” The song is about alienation and being an outsider, and Morrison may have addressed the song both to the hippie culture, to outsiders in general or to users of drugs such as LSD, or both. Similarly, author Melissa Ursula Dawn Goldsmith felt that “People Are Strange” uses the “Expressionist idea of alienation and distanciation”, and that the lyrics purposely express something positive as strange. Densmore believes that the song was the manifestation of Morrison’s “vulnerability”.