The beautifully-written and acted psychological thriller A Murder at the End of the World premiered on Hulu this week, and is captivating from its first scenes.
Not just because of the wet, gloomy walk we watch author Darby take as she heads to the bookstore where she is due to give a reading of her new book, nor as she manages to grab the bookstore audience that was leaving when she first arrived, and then captivate them, but also for the song played in its opening scenes.
That song is the American rock band The Doors’ ‘The End‘ and it begins playing on the episode — A Murder at the End of the World, Season 1, Episode 1, “Homme Fatale’ — right from its opening.
It is a precursor to Darby herself explaining to the bookstore audience that she will begin her reading by telling the end of the story rather than its beginning.
Even though she shouldn’t.
The Doors’ ‘The End‘ has been named one of the best contemporary songs ever written
One of The Doors‘ most well-known songs, ‘The End‘ came out in January, 1967 and was written by lead singer Jim Morrison about his break up with his ex-girlfriend.
It was released as a 12-minute song on the band’s self-titled debut album, and has since been ranked by several critics/music news venues including Rolling Stone as one of the best contemporary songs ever written.
A shorter release came out several years later on the band’s Greatest Hits album long after Jim Morrison had died.
Morrison himself later explained about the song it probably wasn’t just his thought process writing a song about breaking up with a girl, but it was also likely an end to many other things in life, including the way he used to think when he was younger.
Along with the song being featured in A Murder at the End of the World, you may also recognize ‘The End‘ from the now-iconic movie Apocalypse Now, as a remixed version was also featured in that film, as well as the films Jarhead and the documentary film Val.
Listen to The Doors’ ‘The End‘ as heard during the opening scenes of A Murder at the End of the World in the video, and via the band’s debut studio album on Spotify.
The first two episodes of the so-far excellent A Murder at the End of the World are now streaming via Hulu. The remainder of the first season will drop one episode weekly through December 19th.