I’ve heard a few versions of the song by Jimi Hendrix. There’s an instrumental version by Stevie Ray Vaughan that’s phenomenal (and much longer than Hendrix’s version), and you would think Vaughan…who is probably a more versatile and better guitarist than Hendrix, could do it great justice.
But there’s something about Hendrix that no one else can capture. You can hear the freedom. You can hear the ’60s. The lyrics themselves pretty much say it all. Pure ’60s poetry, drugs and all. It’s raw, and it’s beautiful in it’s own way…
Well she’s walking through the clouds
With a circus mind
That’s running wild
Butterflies and zebras and moonbeams
And-a fairly talesThat’s all she ever thinks about
Riding with the wind
When I’m sad she comes to me
With a thousand smiles
She gives to me free“It’s alright”, she says
It’s alright
Take anything you want from me
(Take anything)
AnythingFly on, little wing
Jimi Hendrix, “Little Wing”
Maybe Hendrix isn’t your thing. I myself am not some crazed fan. But I can recognize an artist. Like many in his day, he died tragically young. He’s a member of the 27 club. I sometimes feel that it’s the tragic and wild circumstances of one’s life that can fuel their creativity. If it weren’t for the events that eventually led to his death — the drugs and wild living — perhaps he would not have made the incredible music. But I’m not going to say here that he was some kind of gift that gave us great art and then flamed out in a blaze of glory (or, as is the case, asphyxiating on his own vomit). Thinking about it, I would rather he had lived a long and boring life. We can find our music elsewhere. It’s just sad that as it came from him, he ended up dying for it…