The song was first written during the Waiting for the Sun sessions and was originally meant to serve as the title track for their third studio album.

However, the band realized they needed to continue working on the song longer but kept the album's title due their likeness to it.

After the poor reception of their fourth studio album, The Soft Parade, the band brought back the song as a way to return to their early beginnings.

[1] Due to the lyrics being written after its title, the song mostly relates to themes of longing and the arrival of something new with lyrics such as "At first flash of Eden / We race down to the sea" and "Waiting for you to tell me what went wrong", along with the chorus being entirely composed of stating the title of the song.

[2] Despite the fact that "Waiting for the Sun" was not released as a single or how it did not surpass Morrison Hotel's much more popular songs "Peace Frog" and "Roadhouse Blues" in significance, "Waiting for the Sun" is considered to be one of the Doors' best songs of all time for its haunting composition and lyrics, with it gaining mostly positive reviews from critics.