[5][6] The full 1968 studio recording of "Celebration of the Lizard" was released in 2003 on the Legacy: The Absolute Best compilation[7] and the 40th Anniversary Edition CD re-issue of Waiting for the Sun.

[9] Music journalist Greil Marcus on the other hand, elaborates that the line may not be "necessarily about JFK," but "an image floating over the tableau of everyday life.

Frazer had noted that these superstitions were recurring throughout many primitive cultures, and appeared to be related to traditions and taboos concerning menarche and the following female initiation rites.

Writing a review for the compilation album Perception, critic Stuart Berman characterized it as an acid rock track.

[2] Author Melissa Ursula Dawn Goldsmith wrote that the song represents a conventional psychedelic track on Waiting for the Sun, but "musically it is real part of the Doors' art and progressive rock effort.