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.
Machine Gun 1
Jimi Hendrix Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tearing my body all apart
Machine gun
Tearing my body all apart
Evil man make me kill ya
Evil man make you kill me
Even though we're only families apart
Well I pick up my axe and fight lik a bomber
(you know what I mean)
Hey and your bullets keep knocking me down
Hey I pick up my axe and fight like a bomber now
Yeah but you still blast me down to the ground
The same way you shoot me down baby
You'll be going just the same
Three times the pain
And your own self to blame
Hey machine gun
Oooooooooo
I ain't afraid of your mess no more, babe
I ain't afraid no more
After a while your your cheap talk don't evern cause me pain
So let your bullets fly like rain
'cause I know all the time you're wrong baby
And you'll be goin' just the same
Yeah machine gun
Tearing my family apart
Yeah yeah alright
Tearing my family apart
Don't you shoot him down
He's about to leave here
Don't you shoot him down
He's got to stay here
He ain't going nowhere
He's been shot down to the ground
Oh where he can't survive no no
Yeah that's what we don't wanna hear any more, alright
No bullets
At least here, huh huh
No guns, no bombs
Huh huh
No nothin', just let's all live and live
You know instead of killin'
The opening lyrics of Jimi Hendrix’s song “Machine Gun” suggest a hauntingly violent image. The machine gun has not only the power to rip apart the singer’s body, but it is also being used to tear apart a family. The repetition of the lines “Evil man make me kill ya/Evil man make you kill me” reveal that the violence is senseless and that both sides are trapped in a cycle of violence that they are unable to break free from. The lyrics also suggest the futility of violence as the singer notes that even though they are families apart, the evil man has made them turn against each other.
However, the lyrics also display a sense of defiance against this violence. The singer picks up his axe, a symbol for his guitar, and fights back. The aggressor is just as vulnerable as the singer and will eventually face the same fate. The repetition of the line “Hey machine gun” is a call to arms, a way of asserting power and control over an otherwise hopeless situation. In the end, the singer declares that he is no longer afraid of the violence and his determination to live without it is clear through the last lines of the song.
Overall, Jimi Hendrix’s “Machine Gun” speaks to the violence and destruction that occurs in war, as well as the damaging effects it has on both individuals and society. The lyrics explore the cyclical nature of violence and the hopelessness it creates, but also display a sense of defiance and determination to overcome it.
Line by Line Meaning
Machine gun
The sound of gunfire that tears apart the singer's body
Tearing my body all apart
The bullets from the machine gun are causing the singer immense pain and bodily harm
Evil man make me kill ya
The singer feels forced to kill someone by someone they perceive to be evil
Evil man make you kill me
The other person is being similarly forced to kill by the same evil individual
Evil man make me kill you
The singer is once again stating that they are being compelled to commit violence by a malevolent figure
Even though we're only families apart
Despite the fact that the two individuals being coerced into violence likely share some kind of bond, it is not enough to overcome the manipulations of the evil figure
Well I pick up my axe and fight lik a bomber
The singer is arming themselves and going into battle in a manner befitting a bomber aircraft
(you know what I mean)
This is just an interjection to add emphasis to the previous line
Hey and your bullets keep knocking me down
Despite the singer's efforts to fight back, they are still being struck by bullets and losing the fight
The same way you shoot me down baby
The person the singer is fighting is being warned that they will meet the same fate
You'll be going just the same
The same doom awaits the person the singer is fighting
Three times the pain
The singer is predicting that the person they're battling will experience an even greater pain than what they've already felt
And your own self to blame
If the other person ends up experiencing pain, it is because they brought it upon themselves by engaging in violence
Hey machine gun
The singer is addressing the weapon itself as if it has agency
Oooooooooo
This is just a vocalization meant to convey emotion
I ain't afraid of your mess no more, babe
The singer is declaring their lack of fear in the face of violence
I ain't afraid no more
This is just a reiteration of the previous line
After a while your your cheap talk don't evern cause me pain
The other person's attempts to intimidate the singer with threats and bravado are no longer having an effect
So let your bullets fly like rain
The singer is daring the other person to continue shooting at them
'cause I know all the time you're wrong baby
The singer is convinced that their opponent is in the wrong
And you'll be goin' just the same
The singer is reiterating that their opponent will meet the same fate as anyone else who engages in violence
Tearing my family apart
The violence is not only harming the singer, but also their loved ones
Don't you shoot him down
The singer is pleading for someone not to be shot
He's about to leave here
This person is apparently trying to leave the situation behind
He's got to stay here
The singer is insisting that this person must stay and resolve the conflict
He ain't going nowhere
This person will not be allowed to leave
He's been shot down to the ground
The person the singer was trying to protect has been shot and wounded
Oh where he can't survive no no
The person is apparently in critical condition (or dead)
Yeah that's what we don't wanna hear any more, alright
The violence and pain caused by it has gone on for too long and must stop
No bullets
The singer is advocating for the cessation of violence by advocating that people stop resorting to guns
At least here, huh huh
The singer is clarifying that they are suggesting no bullets be fired in their own vicinity
No guns, no bombs
The singer doesn't want any weapons to be used at all
Huh huh
This is just a vocalization meant to convey a casual tone
No nothin', just let's all live and live
The singer is advocating for peace and the avoidance of violence
You know instead of killin'
The singer believes that people should work together and cooperate instead of resorting to violence
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Jimi Hendrix
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Devin Kennedy
on Spanish Castle Magic (alternate take)
Is this really the alternete take