Born in Seattle, Washington, Hendrix began playing guitar at the age of 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and trained as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division; he was granted an honorable discharge the following year. Soon afterward, he moved to Clarksville, Tennessee, and began playing gigs on the Chitlin' Circuit, earning a place in the Isley Brothers' backing band and later with Little Richard, with whom he continued to work through mid-1965. He then played with Curtis Knight and the Squires before moving to England in late 1966 after being discovered by Linda Keith, who in turn interested bassist Chas Chandler of the Animals in becoming his first manager. Within months, Hendrix had earned three UK top ten hits with the Jimi Hendrix Experience: "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze", and "The Wind Cries Mary". He achieved fame in the U.S. after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and in 1968 his third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland, reached number one in the U.S.; it was Hendrix's most commercially successful release and his first and only number one album. The world's highest-paid performer, he headlined the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, before his accidental death from barbiturate-related asphyxia on September 18, 1970, at the age of 27.
Hendrix was inspired musically by American rock and roll and electric blues. He favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain, and was instrumental in utilizing the previously undesirable sounds caused by guitar amplifier feedback. He helped to popularize the use of a wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock, and was the first artist to use stereophonic phasing effects in music recordings. Holly George-Warren of Rolling Stone commented: "Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. Players before him had experimented with feedback and distortion, but Hendrix turned those effects and others into a controlled, fluid vocabulary every bit as personal as the blues with which he began."
Hendrix was the recipient of several music awards during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1967, readers of Melody Maker voted him the Pop Musician of the Year, and in 1968, Rolling Stone declared him the Performer of the Year. Disc and Music Echo honored him with the World Top Musician of 1969 and in 1970, Guitar Player named him the Rock Guitarist of the Year. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Rolling Stone ranked the band's three studio albums, Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love, and Electric Ladyland, among the 100 greatest albums of all time, and they ranked Hendrix as the greatest guitarist and the sixth greatest artist of all time.
Little Ivey
Jimi Hendrix Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Through the clouds
To the circus life
That's running wild
Butterflies and zebras moving
In a fairy tale
That's all she ever thinks about
Riding with the wind
Lord when I'm sad
When I'm sad she comes to me
Her thousand smiles she gives to me free
Its alright it's alright she says it's alright
Take anything you want form me
Anything, anything
The song "Little Wing" is famous for its poetic lyrics that seem almost ethereal, much like the title itself. The central character of the song is a woman whose imagination is so vivid that it allows her to live in an otherworldly circus. The mention of butterflies, zebras, and fairy tales reinforces this idea of a fantasy world where anything is possible. Despite the fact that she lives in this fantastical reality, the woman is capable of providing solace to the singer when he feels down. She is a source of unending happiness for him and her smiles are free, which underlines her giving nature. The tone of the song is both melancholy and dreamy, conveying a sense of longing and escape all at once. The singer's repeated refrain of "It's alright, it's alright" carries a positive connotation, despite his underlying sadness, which further emphasizes the idea of the woman as a harbinger of optimism.
Line by Line Meaning
Well she's walking
She is making her way through life
Through the clouds
Despite not always having a clear path and not knowing what the future holds
To the circus life
Living in a world that is always changing and full of excitement
That's running wild
One that is free and unrestricted
Butterflies and zebras moving
Being surrounded by beautiful and unique things
In a fairy tale
Living in a world where anything is possible
That's all she ever thinks about
Her thoughts are consumed by this ideal world
Riding with the wind
Going with the flow of life
Lord when I'm sad
When I am feeling down or unhappy
When I'm sad she comes to me
She is always there for me when I need her
Her thousand smiles she gives to me free
She brings light and happiness into my life effortlessly
Its alright it's alright she says it's alright
She assures me that everything will be okay
Take anything you want form me
She is willing to give me anything I need to make me feel better
Anything, anything
She emphasizes the fact that she will do anything to help me
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Jimi Hendrix
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jonessssful
My favorite version of this song! Thanks for sharing it!!