Take It as It Comes

This song is about accepting what life gives you at your own pace. It was dedicated to the Maharishi, a teacher of transcendental meditation, after Jim Morrison attended one of his lectures. The full name of this particular Maharishi is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1917-2008. "Maharishi" itself is just a title meaning "enlightened, spiritual one." Yogi had a good sense of humor and as he often laughed in TV interviews, he was nicknamed "the giggling guru." While his teachings, the practice of transcendental meditation, were usually associated with Hindu or Buddhist religions, Yogi was out to advocate meditation itself as a spiritual practice and alternative medicine, based on his interpretation of the ancient Vedic science. The Maharishi is famous for leading a meditation camp in 1967 attended by The Beatles, Donovan, and Mia Farrow. John Lennon wrote "Sexy Sadie" about The Maharishi.

Note the lyrical similarity here between this song and The Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)." Morrison says, "Time to live, time to lie, time to laugh, time to die;" The Byrds (well, actually, Ecclesiastes) say, "A time to be born, a time to die..." and so on. Morrison shows clear inspiration here, since "Turn!" was released in 1965. However, Morrison uses the Ecclesiastes' words as a jumping-off point.

Consider that this is the second-to-the-last song on the album, before the epic-length, Eastern-flavored "The End." So it would seem that we are supposed to meditate at the end of the album upon all the wisdom the Lizard King has been teaching us throughout the album, right?