James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942… Read Full Bio ↴James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music".

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 Miss Strange
Jimi Hendrix Lyrics

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No one knows where she comes from
Maybe she's a devil in disguise
I can tell by looking in her eyes

Little Miss Strange
Little Miss Strange

Little Miss Strange came into my parlor

I don't know just what to ask her
I don't remember what we did after

Little Miss Strange
Little Miss Strange

Little Miss Strange came out of the darkness
Walked across my head, I stood beneath the light
I'm talkin' 'bout the dream I had the other night

Little Miss Strange
Little Miss Strange

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Jimi Hendrix's song Little Miss Strange present an interesting mystery where the singer confronts a female character that seems to have a certain enigmatic quality about her. The lyrics suggest that Little Miss Strange may be a devil in disguise as nobody knows where she comes from. The singer's glimpse into her eyes seems to reveal something dark and mysterious that he cannot quite put his finger on. The lines "Little Miss Strange came into my parlor, I don't know just what to ask her" suggest that the singer has no clue regarding Little Miss Strange's intentions or motives, but he is deeply intrigued by her.

The lyrics go on to describe how Little Miss Strange "came out of the darkness, walked across my head" and seemingly appeared in a dream the singer had the other night. The lyrics here suggest a surreal experience where the line between reality and dream is blurred. The singer's encounter with Little Miss Strange could be interpreted as a metaphor for the singer's internal struggle or a symbol of the mystery and uncertainty that life offers. The lyrics are rich in ambiguity, and each listener can draw their interpretation about the character and meaning of Little Miss Strange.

Line by Line Meaning

No one knows where she comes from
Her origins are unknown

Maybe she's a devil in disguise
She could be deceiving me

I can tell by looking in her eyes
I am able to perceive things about her through her eyes

Little Miss Strange
This is the title of the song

Little Miss Strange came into my parlor
She came into my space, a place I consider mine

I don't know just what to ask her
I am uncertain about what to say to her

I don't remember what we did after
I cannot recall what happened after our encounter

Little Miss Strange came out of the darkness
She appeared suddenly from a dark space

Walked across my head, I stood beneath the light
She moved about freely while I remained stationary

I'm talkin' 'bout the dream I had the other night
I am referring to a dream I recently had

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Noel David Redding

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind