One of the very first rock songs to express concern about the environment, When the Music's Over is Jim Morrison's apocalyptic vision of the end of the earth caused by mankind's selfish abuse of natural resources.
The line "when the music's over" refers to the end of humanity if not all life on earth. Music defines us as humans -- it allows us to dance on the fire of life's tribulations. It is our special friend but it will die along with the earth we are destroying.
Without our world, there will be no resurrection. We may as well go to hell -- the house of detention -- where we have friends who also have opposed our self-destructive actions.
But it's not just others who are to blame. It's me, too -- the face in the mirror, the girl in the window. We are being eaten alive by our greed (a feast of friends, alive, she cried), and sooner or later it will consume us all.
But before nature's demise, the song's persona wants to hear the last sound -- the scream of the butterfly.
We wish nature could survive, could "come back," and we get angry while waiting for the end. We hope to hear that last sound, that "very gentle sound."
And this is all caused by man, who has ravaged and plundered the earth. With our ear down to the ground we can hear the earth's final cry -- and if that be so, then the younger generation wants to experience the world before it ends -- now!
The magi followed the north star through the Persian nights -- they saw the light. Maybe there is hope for the world. Save us, Jesus, save us!
But no, we can't be saved from our own evil. The music will be over and the light of life will be extinguished. Until then, let us sing, let us dance, even on fire, let us be with our only friend, music, until the end, until the end.