This is obviously about an alien communicating to Jim. Ever wonder why we haven't found definitive proof of alien visitation or life on other planets? It's been under our noses all along! The river in the song is an alien! We wouldn't think to look there for alien life because we just think it's another feature of our environment, but it's been there for years, supporting life (fishes, plants) and observing us. It recognized Jim as one of the Earth creatures helping to evolve its planet, and chose to reveal itself to him. This song is about their meeting, and the stranded alien reaching out to Jim to hold it, as it is so very lonely, having been stranded here on Earth for eons. The river supplies Jim with oxygen, allowing him to breathe underwater, so they can spend more time getting to know one another. Jimi Hendrix found similar alien life (or it found him!) and wrote about it in songs like "Are you experienced?", "EXP / Up From the Skies", and "1983". Morrison's drinking was reaching dangerous levels, and the alien warned him he would "drown" from it, but either recognized he deserves his own free will, or grossly underestimates human medical technology, and allows Jim to leave. On the alien's planet, technology is so advanced and evolved, it is completely intuitive to them and almost indistinguishable in their mindstream from the dream and psychedelic mindframe it (whether superficially or not we don't know). In their mind-meld, the alien shows Jim how he can be cured of his alcoholism, but alas, he is still only a simple human and misinterprets what it tells him, thinking it is witchcraft or mysticism, hence the line about "mystic heated wine". He went on to try and find people with the equivalent "technology" to cure him, talking to Wiccans, pagans, and people with similarly esoteric knowledge and beliefs. Unfortunately, we will never know if he was ultimately successful, as J. Edgar Hoover and his men in black had been assessing the perceived threat of alien invasion for some time (see Project Bluebook) and "silenced" Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, the Stooges, MC5, and other likeminded figures, in the early 70s. If one can determine which river Morrison is singing about, a person could conceivably travel there and make contact with it. However it will only reveal itself to those who are pure at heart! Whether aliens really do exist, the moral of the story is, don't ruin your health with too much alcohol and drugs, and be wary of any organization that becomes too powerful! Even if their intentions are good (such as saving humanity), they could end up doing more harm than good!
This is obviously about an alien communicating to Jim. Ever wonder why we haven't found definitive proof of alien visitation or life on other planets? It's been under our noses all along! The river in the song is an alien! We wouldn't think to look there for alien life because we just think it's another feature of our environment, but it's been there for years, supporting life (fishes, plants) and observing us. It recognized Jim as one of the Earth creatures helping to evolve its planet, and chose to reveal itself to him. This song is about their meeting, and the stranded alien reaching out to Jim to hold it, as it is so very lonely, having been stranded here on Earth for eons. The river supplies Jim with oxygen, allowing him to breathe underwater, so they can spend more time getting to know one another. Jimi Hendrix found similar alien life (or it found him!) and wrote about it in songs like "Are you experienced?", "EXP / Up From the Skies", and "1983". Morrison's drinking was reaching dangerous levels, and the alien warned him he would "drown" from it, but either recognized he deserves his own free will, or grossly underestimates human medical technology, and allows Jim to leave. On the alien's planet, technology is so advanced and evolved, it is completely intuitive to them and almost indistinguishable in their mindstream from the dream and psychedelic mindframe it (whether superficially or not we don't know). In their mind-meld, the alien shows Jim how he can be cured of his alcoholism, but alas, he is still only a simple human and misinterprets what it tells him, thinking it is witchcraft or mysticism, hence the line about "mystic heated wine". He went on to try and find people with the equivalent "technology" to cure him, talking to Wiccans, pagans, and people with similarly esoteric knowledge and beliefs. Unfortunately, we will never know if he was ultimately successful, as J. Edgar Hoover and his men in black had been assessing the perceived threat of alien invasion for some time (see Project Bluebook) and "silenced" Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, the Stooges, MC5, and other likeminded figures, in the early 70s. If one can determine which river Morrison is singing about, a person could conceivably travel there and make contact with it. However it will only reveal itself to those who are pure at heart! Whether aliens really do exist, the moral of the story is, don't ruin your health with too much alcohol and drugs, and be wary of any organization that becomes too powerful! Even if their intentions are good (such as saving humanity), they could end up doing more harm than good!