I was in the mood for something different from my usual fare tonight, so I went in search of and found this old favourite from The Doors!  I wasn’t a huge fan of The Doors back in the day, but they had a few that I really liked … Touch Me, Light My Fire, and this one are the first ones that come to mind, and of those three, this is the only one I’ve never featured here before.

According to SongFacts …

Jim Morrison wrote this in 1965 after seeing a beautiful woman walking on the beach. He wrote these lyrics in this notebook:

Sidewalk crouches at her feet

Like a dog that begs for something sweet

He wrote the rest of the song that night, crafting the most popular song about beachside beauty since “The Girl From Ipanema.” He also popularized a pickup line – “Hello, I love you. Won’t you tell me your name?” – that has yet to work for anyone but Jim Morrison.

The Doors first recorded this song in 1965 when they put it on a six-song demo before Robby Krieger joined the band. They didn’t put it on an album until 1968, when they needed material for their third LP Waiting for the Sun. The plan was to use an extended piece based on Morrison’s poetry called “Celebration of the Lizard” for the entire first side of the album. When that didn’t work out, they looked for other material and dredged up “Hello, I Love You.” It was a good call: The song went to #1 in America, giving them their second (and last) chart-topper, following “Light My Fire.”

Many fans considered this a sellout to Top 40 music. It was very radio-friendly, and not as deep or introspective as previous Doors songs.

The music is similar to The Kinks’ song “All Day And All Of The Night.” So similar, that The Doors paid royalties from the British single to The Kinks after the threat of legal action.

Looking back, Ray Davies was philosophical about the episode, recalling to Mojo magazine September 2012: “The funniest thing was when my publisher came to me on tour and said The Doors had used the riff for ‘All Day And All Of The Night’ for ‘Hello, I Love You.’ I said rather than sue them, can’t we just get them to own up? My publisher said, ‘They have, that’s why we should sue them!’ (laughs) Jim Morrison admitted it, which to me was the most important thing. The most important thing, actually, is to take (the idea) somewhere else.”

Artists to cover this song include Neil Young, The Cure, Missing Persons, Adam Ant, Eurythmics, Simple Minds and Buddy Rich (in a big band style).

Hello, I Love You charted at #1 in the U.S. and Canada, and #15 in the UK.

Hello, I Love You

The Doors

Hello, I love you, won’t you tell me your name?
Hello, I love you, let me jump in your game
Hello, I love you, won’t you tell me your name?
Hello, I love you, let me jump in your game

She’s walking down the street
Blind to every eye she meets
Do you think you’ll be the guy
To make the queen of the angels sigh?

Hello, I love you, won’t you tell me your name?
Hello, I love you, let me jump in your game
Hello, I love you, won’t you tell me your name?
Hello, I love you, let me jump in your game

She holds her head so high, like a statue in the sky
Her arms are wicked, and her legs are long
When she moves my brain screams out this song

Sidewalk crouches at her feet
Like a dog that begs for something sweet
Do you hope to make her see, you fool?
Do you hope to pluck this dusky jewel?

Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello
I want you, hello, I need my baby
Hello, hello, hello, hello

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: James Morrison / John Densmore / Ray Manzarek / Robby Krieger

Hello, I Love You lyrics © Doors Music Company, Warner Chappell Music, Inc