PARIS: THERE is no beauty in the tomb. It lies inside the grave, quiet and cold. The Lizard King, buried in Pere Lachaise, cemetery of the vanities as they call it, evokes a different kind of emotion. The cemetery celebrates life in the dead. Since the Olympics are here, they are expecting more visitors. And Jim Morrison's is one of the most visited sites.
The bust, created in 1981, was stolen in 1988 by fans. The tomb was rebuilt by the family in 1991 and the one standing today is sober, nothing grandiose compared with the many of the greatest in their fields. This is the place that has the highest concentration of great personalities per square metre under the earth.
When the music is over, turn off the lights... Morrison's voice still echoes in the narrow lanes and alleys within the premises of cemetery, Just like in a shamanic trance. A rectangular block with a not too big a tomb stone make up the small structure. Though he lived here in Paris for about six months, the city has adopted him as its child. The walk in the cemetery is like a lesson in history, literature, art and culture... the cult of Morrison lives on in that quiet corner of the cemetery.
The Olympics will once again give visitors chance to relive his songs and open the doors of perception and see things as they are — immaculate. Some two metres away on one side of the chapel lies Honore de Balzac. Some 100 metres away is Oscar Wilde. The music of Frederic Chopin floats in the air and the hundred others turning in their grave to know they too live among the greatest.
When the music's over, turn off the lights, turn off the lights.
As one walks away from the tomb, one still hears that haunting voice of Morrison slowly humming.
'We should see the gates by mornin
We should be inside the evenin
Sun, sun, sun
Burn, burn, burn
Soon, soon, soon
Moon, moon, moon
I will get you
Soon, soon, soon!
I am the Lizard king
I can do anything,'