The Jimi Hendrix Experience was a short-lived, yet highly influential rock … Read Full Bio ↴The Jimi Hendrix Experience was a short-lived, yet highly influential rock band famous for the guitar work of Jimi Hendrix (1942– 1970) on songs such as Purple Haze, Foxy Lady, Hey Joe, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) and All Along the Watchtower. Rounding out the Experience were Noel Redding (1945–2003) and Mitch Mitchell (1947–2008) on bass and drums respectively.

Hendrix arrived in England in October 1966, and auditions were launched to find him a backing band. Noel Redding was chosen for the bass spot. Even though he had never played bass before auditioning (he was a guitarist), Hendrix liked his look and attitude. Mitch Mitchell was a seasoned London drummer who brought jazz chops and a lead style of playing to the table. He would prove to be Hendrix's most valuable musical partner.

Though initially conceived as Hendrix's backing band, The Experience soon became much more than that. Along with Cream, they were the first group to popularize the "power trio" format, which essentially strips a rock band lineup down to the essentials: bass, guitar and drums. This smaller format also encourages more extrovert playing from the players involved, often at very high volumes. In the case of The Experience, Hendrix mixed lead and rhythm guitar duties into one, while also making use of then-revolutionary guitar effects such as feedback and wah-wah.

Mitchell played hard-hitting jazz-influenced grooves that often served a melodic role as much as they did timekeeping. Redding was the eye of the storm, playing deceptively simple bass lines that helped to anchor the band's sound. Visually, they decked themselves out in matching psychedelic costumes and permed afros.

The lineup first came to prominence during the Monterey Pop Festival, one of the first major music festivals. The band delivered a stellar performance, that ended with Hendrix famously setting his guitar on fire. The moment was immortalized in a photograph which was used as a cover of Rolling Stone[1] magazine. The appearance was also filmed and put into the documentary film Monterey Pop. This brought them to the attention of North American audiences. They were then asked to go on tour with The Monkees as the opening act. They abruptly left the tour after only a few dates. It was later revealed by Chas Chandler as being a publicity stunt.

With the band, Hendrix recorded his three most successful albums, Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold as Love, and Electric Ladyland. In June of 1969, he decided to break up the group. Deteriorating relations with Redding had come to a head, and he also felt stilted by the trio format. He used a larger band lineup for his Woodstock concert in August 1969.

Hendrix would revert back to the trio format with Buddy Miles on drums and Billy Cox on bass and called themselves the Band of Gypsys. A live self-titled album was released in March 1970. This line up only lasted a couple of months. From early 1970 they were back to the original The Jimi Hendrix Experience, except Noel Redding was replaced by Billy Cox on bass.

This line up continued until Jimi Hendrix died in London, England from a drug overdose on the 18th September 1970.

1983
The Jimi Hendrix Experience Lyrics

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Hurrah I awake from yesterday
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

Oh say can you see its really such a mess
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

Overall Meaning

The song "1983 (A Mermaid I Should Turn to Be)" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience speaks of a post-apocalyptic world where war rages on and the only way to escape is to drown oneself in the sea and be reborn again. The singer awakens to a world that is still ravaged by war despite a day passing by. He decides to take one last walk with his lover, Catherina, through the chaos to the sea. The sea symbolizes a new beginning, a fresh start, away from the life that has been battered and torn. Although they are not there to die, they wish to be reborn, anew. The war is everywhere, every inch of the earth is filled with fighting nests, and death comes from giant pencil and lipstick-shaped bombs. As they reach the shore, they see the silver blue of the sea turn to red, signifying the bloodshed.

The singer reflects on the impossibility of living underwater forever, something that is thrown in his face by his friends. They also believe that the machine they built could never save them. They believe it would be impossible for man to live underwater, and it would go beyond the will of God and the grace of the king. However, the singer and his lover go underwater and make love to salute their last moment ever on dry land. They bid goodbye to the machine that has done its job, and as they go underwater, they are greeted by starfish and giant foams that smile at them. They take one last look at the killing noise before going under and starting a new life.

In conclusion, "1983 (A Mermaid I Should Turn to Be)" is a song that speaks of a world that is at war and ravaged by chaos, where the only way to start anew is to drown in the sea. It is about letting go of the past and moving on to a new life, away from the death and destruction. The song is a reflection of the Vietnam War that was ongoing during the time it was written. It speaks about the desire for peace and a new beginning.

Line by Line Meaning

Hurrah I awake from yesterday
I am alive today, but I feel like I am stuck in the past.

Alive but the war is here to stay
Although I am alive, the war is still going on and is unlikely to end soon.

So my love catherina and me
My partner Catherina and I decide to take a walk together.

Decide to take our last walk
We plan to take our final walk.

Through the noise to the sea
We walk in spite of the chaos and reach the sea.

Not to die but to be re-born
We don't want to die, but to start a new life.

Away from a life so battered and torn
We are leaving behind a life that was rough and painful.

Forever
We want this new life to last forever.

Oh say can you see its really such a mess
The situation is bad and it's easy to see that things are messed up.

Every inch of earth is a fighting nest
The entire world seems to be at war; there is no safe place to go.

Giant pencil and lip-stick tube shaped things
Bombs continue to fall from the sky in unusual shapes and sizes.

Continue to rain and cause screaming pain
The bombing continues and causes intense pain.

And the arctic stains
The effects of the war on the environment can be seen in the arctic stains, which change color from silver-blue to bloody red.

From silver blue to bloody red
The arctic has been damaged by the war, and the effects are visible in the color change from silver-blue to bloody red.

As our feet find the sand
We reach the beach and feel the sand beneath our feet.

And the sea is strait ahead
We can see the sea right in front of us.

Well its too bad
It's unfortunate.

That our friends
Our friends are missing out.

Cant be with us today
They are not able to be with us on this day.

The machine
Referring to their creation or invention.

That we built
The invention was built by us.

Would never save us
Their creation was never meant to save their lives.

Thats what they say
This is what others have told them.

(Thats why they aint coming with us today)
Our friends are not coming with us because they don't believe that our invention will save us.

And they also said
Our friends also told us that it was impossible for humans to live underwater forever.

Its impossible for man
Humans cannot do it.

To live and breath underwater
It's impossible for humans to live and breathe underwater.

Forever was their main complaint
Their main objection was that underwater living was not a sustainable solution in the long term.

(Yeah)
An exclamation of acknowledgment.

And they also threw this in my face:
Our friends also criticized us by saying that even if such an invention was possible, it would be considered beyond the limits of God's will and beyond the standards of royalty.

Anyway
Regardless of what they said,

You know good well
You are aware in your heart.

It would be beyond the will of God
It would contradict God's plan and purpose.

And the grace of the King
It would go against the will of the ruling monarch.

(Grace of the King yeah yeah)
A repetition of the previous line in a musical tone.

So my darling and I
Catherina and I.

Make love in the sand
We express our love physically on the beach.

To salute the last moment
We celebrate our final moments on land by making love.

Ever on dry land
Our last encounter on land.

Our machine has done its work
The invention we created has completed its task.

Played its part well
Our invention has performed in accordance with our expectations.

Without a scratch on our bodies
We exit the invention unscathed.