A complete studio-recorded version appeared on the compilation album Legacy: The Absolute Best in 2003, and as a bonus track on Rhino's 40th Anniversary edition of Waiting for the Sun (2007).
According to Morrison, "Celebration of the Lizard" was "pieced together on different occasions out of already existing elements rather than having any generative core from which it grew.
[7] Morrison wanted the entire piece to be recorded and released as one full side of the band's third studio album, Waiting for the Sun, in 1968.
[8] The band did attempt to record the full piece but abandoned the idea, as they were dissatisfied with the results.
[9] The musical passage "Not to Touch the Earth" was recorded separately and released on the Waiting for the Sun album, while the lyrics for the rest of the piece were published inside the gatefold jacket of the original vinyl LP, with the footnote, "Lyrics to a theatre composition by The Doors.