Hendri… Read Full Bio ↴This song is a daydream about wanting to escape a war-torn world.
Hendrix narrates a story about using a machine to transform he and his lover into merpeople.
They decide to leave "the out of style" to their destructive ways and travel down into the sea, to an Atlantis full of cheer.
The machine, which he and his lover uses to transform them self into merpeople, is not a metaphor for drug use, as many have theorized.
Hendrix stated in his book, Starting at 0:
"1983 is something to keep your mind off what’s happening today but not necessarily completely hiding away from it, like some people do with certain drugs and so forth.."
At the time of the songs conception, the Vietnam war was at its height, which undoubtably influenced Hendrix to write it.
The second verse starts of with a sarcastic parody of the first line of the American national anthem, likely a protest against the United States' involvement in the war.
Source: Song Facts
1983...
Jimi Hendrix Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Alive but the war is here to stay
So my love catherina and me
Decide to take our last walk
Through the noise to the sea
Not to die but to be re-born
Away from a life so battered and torn
Forever
Every inch of earth is a fighting nest
Giant pencil and lip-stick tube shaped things
Continue to rain and cause screaming pain
And the arctic stains
From silver blue to bloody red
As our feet find the sand
And the sea is strait ahead
Strait ahead
Well its too bad
That our friends
Cant be with us today
Well thats too bad
"The machine
That we built
Would never save us"
Thats what they say
(Thats why they aint coming with us today)
And they also said
"Its impossible for man
To live and breath underwater
Forever" was their main complaint
(Yeah)
And they also threw this in my face:
They said
Anyway
You know good well
It would be beyond the will of God
And the grace of the King
(Grace of the King yeah yeah)
So my darling and I
Make love in the sand
To salute the last moment
Ever on dry land
Our machine has done its work
Played its part well
Without a scratch on our bodies
And we bid it farewell
Starfish and giant foams
Greet us with a smile
Before our heads go under
We take a last look
At the killing noise
Of the out of style
The out of style, out of style
The lyrics to Jimi Hendrix's "1983" are a poignant reflection of the turbulent times in which the song was written. The song was written during the height of the Cold War and the Vietnam War, which is evident in its themes of destruction, war, and the futility of violence. The opening lines, "Hurrah I awake from yesterday / Alive but the war is here to stay," set the tone for the song, which describes a world torn apart by conflict.
The second stanza describes the devastation wrought by war, with images of "Giant pencil and lip-stick tube shaped things" raining down and causing "screaming pain." The sea, which represents hope and rebirth, is the destination of the singer and his lover as they seek to escape the violence and start anew. The third stanza reflects the nihilistic views of some people during that time, who believed that technology had reached its limit and could not save humanity from self-destruction. The idea of living underwater forever, which the singer and his lover toy with, is seen as both impossible and beyond the will of God.
The final stanza of the song is a bittersweet moment of love and sacrifice. The singer and his lover make love on the beach, knowing that they will soon be submerged in the sea forever. They bid farewell to their machine, which has kept them safe, and look at the "killing noise" of the world one last time. The song then ends, leaving the listener to ponder the solemn question: is there any hope for humanity to avoid destruction?
Line by Line Meaning
Hurrah I awake from yesterday
I am alive today, but the war from yesterday continues to cause havoc
Alive but the war is here to stay
I am alive, but the war has not ended and it still disturbs peace
So my love catherina and me
My partner Catherine and I decide to take a walk
Decide to take our last walk
We decide to take one final stroll
Through the noise to the sea
We walk through the chaos and reach the shore
Not to die but to be re-born
We do not want to die, but seek a new beginning
Away from a life so battered and torn
We wish to escape from a difficult, painful life
Forever
We hope to find peace and happiness forever
Oh say can you see its really such a mess
The situation is so bad that it is visible to anyone
Every inch of earth is a fighting nest
Violence and conflict has spread everywhere on earth
Giant pencil and lip-stick tube shaped things
The weapons of war look like very large pencils and lipsticks
Continue to rain and cause screaming pain
The weapons continue to cause destruction, chaos and suffering
And the arctic stains
The weapons leave behind stains, that are blue and red like the arctic
From silver blue to bloody red
The stains start off silver-blue, but become bloody red
As our feet find the sand
We reach the beach and feel the sand under our feet
And the sea is strait ahead
We can see the sea in front of us
Strait ahead
The sea is directly ahead of us
Well its too bad
It's unfortunate
That our friends
Our friends are not here with us
Cant be with us today
Unfortunately, they cannot join us today
Well thats too bad
It's unfortunate
"The machine
The machine we built
That we built
The machine we created
Would never save us"
Was not enough to save us from the war
Thats what they say
Those are the words they spoke
(Thats why they aint coming with us today)
That's why our friends cannot be with us today
And they also said
They also mentioned
"Its impossible for man
It's impossible for humans
To live and breath underwater
To live and breathe underwater
Forever" was their main complaint
They claimed that living underwater forever was impossible
(Yeah)
Yes
And they also threw this in my face:
They also insulted me by saying
Anyway
In any case
You know good well
You are completely aware
It would be beyond the will of God
Living underwater is against God's will
And the grace of the King
And the King will not grace us with such an opportunity
(Grace of the King yeah yeah)
The King's grace is not something that will happen
So my darling and I
My partner and I
Make love in the sand
We express our love for each other on the beach
To salute the last moment
To honor the last moment
Ever on dry land
Ever on land that is not submerged in water
Our machine has done its work
Our machine has fulfilled its purpose
Played its part well
Performed its role effectively
Without a scratch on our bodies
We escaped without any injuries
And we bid it farewell
We say goodbye to the machine
Starfish and giant foams
Starfish and large foams
Greet us with a smile
Welcome us with a smile
Before our heads go under
Before our heads go under the water
We take a last look
We take one final glance
At the killing noise
At the deadly sounds of the war
Of the out of style
Of the outdated war
The out of style, out of style
The war is out of fashion, irrelevant
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JIMI HENDRIX
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@TheMacedonianBackBreaker
If he’s not your favorite guitarist then he’s probably your favorite guitarists’ favorite guitarist
@ExcitedAnacondaSnake-hg8ec
I agree layman don’t get it but any guitarist fears him.
@parks3190
No, but this is so true tho
@niltonjuniocapote6518
Melhor comentário 🤝🤝
@franthevan65
Accurate
@rw2452
Dude, you are so correct. Slash is my favorite guitarist, got me into guitar, and Hendrix had a big influence on him. Jimi is right up there too
@paincakes7693
This is probably the highest quality 1970 video I have ever seen
@truthbetold6578
Wtf 1940s movies were crisp
@mubiusford8693
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef9QnZVpVd8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNbBDrceCy8
These are great as well for their time!
@ladybugrona7321
Awesome! Jimmy rocked this cover of Voodoo Child.
He was the greatest in his area of rock and funk.