—Jimi Hendrix and his Generation— In today’s day and age, it is incredibly uncommon for individuals to remain untouched by the psychedelic and politically charged era of the late sixties and early seventies. Either a teenager’s parent silently or openly reminisces about coming of age in a time when the world had a completely different meaning and a great majority of American society had an utterly opposite perspective on life’s significance; or the teen simply has the all too common peace symbol or a spiral tie-dye laying shirt around their house. The influence the culture of this vibrant era has had on teenagers of today, but more importantly of previous generations themselves, surely cannot be overlooked. With trying times and countless taboos (whether it was an anti-war mindset or just the need to expand one’s mind through various hallucinogenic substances) came a cultural revolution and a metaphorical cosmic order. This cultural revolution and modernization to include love for one’s self and appreciation of the seemingly fantastical can best be illustrated by Jimi Hendrix and everything he to this day represents. Jimi Hendrix and the incredible influence of his music on American culture set the stage for a true representation of American existentialism, a movement which encouraged people to take responsibility for their own actions and shape their own destinies. With his carefree attitude, spunk, and his astounding ability to utilize guitar feedback and overdriven amplifiers Hendrix truly grasped the attention of his young audience; urging them to live their lives the way they wanted to and when it came down to it, take matters into their own hands. In an era which would later come to be recognized for its existential reforms and revolutionary actions, the music of the generation, in my opinion, was what sparked and organized the necessary factions. It was the music which assured each individual listening in; that they were not alone in their revolutionary thoughts, but where all a piece of the puzzle. The magnitude of political turmoil is to many, seemingly unimaginable. Enthusiast Jack Madni explains the gravity and importance of this era, discussing the political adrenaline coursing through American veins. Madni writes, “In those years both Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated. President Lyndon Baines Johnson had so escalated America’s involvement in the Viet Nam conflict that across the nation’s campuses students were rioting.” One campus in particular, Kent state, is remembered specifically for the brutal display of American authority and force. As the tensions rose and violence broke out, Neil Young was left to sing “Four Dead in Ohio.” Stitches, black eyes and missing teeth as a result of the police brutality exhibited at riots goes to show that many young minds of the time found themselves questioning American establishments, social order and “the man”, all in all laying the framework for insecurity and mistrust of all things inherently American. Feelings of a complete polar opposite to those brainwashed by societal norms, censored media and the preaching’s of the ignorant led to cultural revolutions and can best be encapsulated by the Vietnam war, which to this day is referred to as a stain on American history. The Vietnam War serves to represent the birth of self enlightenment and refusal to follow previously accepted blind faith. While the government was regularly bombing the region popular plays on words emerged such as “Drop Acid, Not Bombs!”, and “Bombing for Peace is like Fucking for Virginity.” This obviously illustrated the shift from the acceptance of America’s flawed nature and its need to spread democracy to places where it is not welcome to a nature of change, disapproval of violence, and the insistence of reform. Jimi Hendrix, as mentioned before was an undeniably talented and influential musician of the era. He is both famous and infamous for the importance of his music to the cultural revolution and change of American ideals. No longer were the youth of America going to follow the established façades forced upon them by society as fine upstanding citizens, with white picket fences around their respected homes, suppressed by their own establishment. A politically fueled song that encapsulated the idea of refuting commonality and taking matters into one’s own hands was “if 6 was 9” by Jimi Hendrix. “If 6 was 9” made its début on the Axis: Bold as Love album released in ‘67 and served as a symbol of the conflict between the “White collar conservatives” and the “hippies” of the era. Hendrix exhibits the carefree attitude of the “freaks” and “hippies”. While the flashy white collar conservatives constantly point their “plastic” (or rather materialistic) fingers at the existentialist or hippie generation, “hoping soon [his] kind will drop and die…” Hendrix boldly proclaims “but uh we are gonna wave our freak flag high, high!” Hendrix helps battle oppressive attitudes by providing a sort of existentialist inspiration for the culture to keep doing what they’re doing, and not to let anyone tell them how to live their lives. Hendrix, completely secure in his motivations encouraged the deviation from normality, simply stating, “I’m the one thats gonna die when its time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.” This idea of existentialism and separation from the previous oppressive frame of mind can be seen once again in the era of Vietnam and the protest that ensued. Hendrix, it can be argued was on the forefront of political activity with anti-war protest songs such as “Machine Gun”. Hendrix himself served in the U.S Military as a member of the 101st Airborne Division, and made it his patriotic duty to speak for the thousands of unheard souls lost in Vietnam. His political involvement in the Vietnam War, best represented through his music was said to bring the war into your living room and onto the stage. According to Bob Davis of the Soul Patrol, “The virtuoso performance of Hendrix, Buddy Miles and Billy Cox, on the track “Machine Gun”; was the greatest political statement ever dropped on record.” Hendrix’s album “Band of Gypsys” recorded live at the Fillmore East on New Years of 1970, in my opinion, exhibits the most influential version of “Machine Gun.” Jimi starts with an almost humorous bit of sarcasm stating, “We’d like to dedicate this one to the dragging scene going on, to all the soldiers fighting in Chicago, Milwaukee, New York….and oh yes…all the soldiers fighting in Vietnam.” It goes without saying that he is referring to the thousands young political activists, or soldiers around the country, and of course those over in Vietnam trying to survive. Throughout the song, one can hear an underlying “TATA-TATA-TATA- TA” rhythm of either Hendrix’s guitar or Billy Cox’s drums, which in my mind undoubtedly serves to represent the endless rain of bullets working around the clock from the numerous machine guns. Hendrix uses metaphors such as “Well, I pick up my axe (referring to his guitar) and fight like a bomber”, and “The same way you shoot me down, baby you’ll be going just the same Three times the pain” referring to the inevitable destruction of the evil politicians and their imprudent intentions for the Vietnam war, through the power and influence of his music. Hendrix really throws the horrors of the conflict into your face, from the rice patties of Vietnam to the venues at which he played, or to the comfortable confines of your living room in which you may be listening to his track. Towards the end Hendrix proclaims, “May this be, love or just confusion born out of frustration wracked?” This moving statement stands to represent the undeniable importance of Jimi Hendrix’s music in correlation with the cause of political activism and awareness of both one’s self and the world’s state. All in all Hendrix highlights the social constrain the counter cultured faced during their era, justifying existentialism as a valid way of life. With the aid of his electric guitar, and his uncanny ability to play it, Hendrix truly grasped the cultures attention and served as not only a musical inspiration but undoubtedly a motivation for political revolution as well. Whether the results justified the means is now for us to decided.
