Will there ever be a way to say "The End"?

Have you heard the song "Advertising Space" by Robbie Williams? The first time I heard it ... or better yet saw the video on Italian MTV during my three weeks in a Torino apartment, I thought to myself, how clever. He's writing a song trying to understand what kind of person Elvis Presley was, why he remains such an iconic figure so long after his passing in the 1970s (I remember being at family camp in Central California when the news broke that Elvis died) and what has become of his legend in light of the way his life ended. It is a sharp commentary on Elvis' legacy in today's society. All that is left of Elvis, a person who certainly made his mark on the music business, is what you see if you take a trip to Graceland (I have never been and won't ever want to) or go to Las Vegas (been there too many times and will keep going).

"Advertising Space" seems to reflect on the way that people treat their old heroes and how many cheap imitators exist out there. Too many cover songs. Too many movies made that are just a remake of an older, better movie or worse, too many TV shows (and bad ones at that) finding their way to the big screen. Hello? Anyone look up the word ORIGINAL lately? How about trying to create your OWN image instead of feeding off someone else's REAL claim to fame. At least Williams was known by many before this song made the surface.

Reason I bring this post to light is that I spent about an hour on Saturday in a place that still today is considered one of the most visited cemetaries in the world, in Pere Lachaise. It's free to go inside and look around, but it might as well charge admission for a look at perhaps it's most famous resident: Jim Morrison, the lead singer of the Doors.

Just like Elvis, Jim is dead too. Trouble is, no one wants to let go.

At Pere Lachaise, Jim Morrison's gravesite doesn't stand out; far from it actually. It is a cemetery that features crypt after crypt that are more like their own monuments. Inside some of these amazing final resting spots is an entire family's remains, complete with colorful and exotic designs and unique shapes and heights. It is a sight to see in the daytime and one would likely not want to visit it in the middle of the night for fear of strange things happening to them.

Or worse, you might run into a Jim Morrison fan hoping to conjure up his spirit courtesy of some reefer or too much alcohol.

Oscar Wilde and Gertrude Stein are among the other luminaries buried here. So too are the Collets, Mirabels, Chambauds, Brunels, Delpouve-Robin, Thorels and Gondouin family members. Wilde and Stern you've likely heard of. But the others? "Who are these people?" you may ask yourself. Why are they here? To me, these are the unfortunate ones who happen to have their tombs and final remains surrounding James Douglas Morrison's rather simple looking gravesite. People who were born 250 years ago and perhaps contributed something just as important in their life and to those they lived with as Morrison did with his singing, poetry and wild antics that earned him a lifetime of fame, but most of it he never got to see since he only lived from 1943-71 and was 27 when he died. I was 2 years old when he died.

Morrison's gravesite, as one might expect, is littered with fresh flowers, cards and other mementos from his days with the Doors. His legend has certainly outlived him, much like Elvis Presley's and how countless others, especially those who die at a young age, can only live on as a young person. Rare is the famous artist now who is rewarded with the long, fulfilling life. It's almost like these people are akin to die young just to preserve themselves with the only downside being unable to live to see it. How sad.

The Doors, mind you, were a good band. I do like some the band's music. Some of it is dark, but it is also potent. Shaken AND stirred at times.

But what I cannot believe is how some of his fans just cannot move forward with their own life. I saw too many people Saturday who weren't even born until likely the eqrly 80's hanging out and trying to completely soak up the scene. Morrison's grave has been vandalized in the past. There's actually a large temple directly in front of the grave to block some of the access as well as an unmarked grave to the left and a gate that helps keep fans at a distance so they cannot touch it.
Furthermore, I also arrived just before there was a "changing of the guard" near Morrison's gravesite. I slowly walked over to the guard and wanted to ask the guard a question or two. He responded with the equivalent of a "No comment" by saying "I don't speak English" in perfect English. He's likely been asked a few other times about this grave, his job, a story or two about the types of people who show up or even about the vandalism. I walked away from him and truthfully, it didn't matter that he had nothing to say -- those hanging around the gated area provided plenty of material.

People clicked their cameras. Two guys from the Midwest flashed their smiles for a picture, only to have the cameraperson stop for a second to answer her cell phone. Nice! At least four people had headphones blaring Doors music as they stood and looked at the grave, perhaps thinking Morrison would rise up and perform for them. More than a few male fans were decked out in some kind of outfit that Morrison might have worn in his day. One of these guys, likely not older than 26 or 27, told an even younger fan, likely no more than 16, that Jim Morrison "IS a god, a music god" and that "he still had a lot left in him." BEFORE he died, he forgot to mention. This same fellow was spouting off so much stuff about his admiration for Morrison that you might have thought you stumbled upon some tour guide group. His information was absorbed like a sponge for another teen boy who, in addition to seeing the gravesite, said "Wow! I'm really getting an education here!"

The "tour guide" guy then jokes that "all I want to know is who has got the weed? We could all smoke a big one here and listen to the Doors!"

Call me uptight or out of touch, but when Jim Morrison sings the lyrics on "The End", saying "This is the end, my only friend the end" he is talking about death. It is the only thing that is certain in life. We all die. Apparently, Jim is dead, but he's STILL not alone. He's got plenty of "friends" visiting him on a daily basis in Pere Lachaise.

Ryan