{"id":354,"date":"2017-10-31T03:32:06","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T03:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/?p=354"},"modified":"2017-10-31T03:32:06","modified_gmt":"2017-10-31T03:32:06","slug":"why-jimi-hendrixs-rendition-of-the-star-spangled-banner-is-more-relevant-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/uncategorized\/why-jimi-hendrixs-rendition-of-the-star-spangled-banner-is-more-relevant-than-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Jimi Hendrix\u2019s Rendition of \u201cThe Star Spangled Banner\u201d is More Relevant Than Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s well known that the 1960\u2019s were a unique and crazy time in United States history. The civil right\u2019s movement, the assassination of President Kennedy, the controversial policies of President Nixon, the Vietnam war, the space race\/moon landing, the complete overhaul of the popular music world as Rock and Roll swept in from England, and many other phenomena set a political stage where controversy roared. It seemed impossible to make a meaningful statement that people would listen to. <\/span><\/p>\n

Amidst all of this, on August 18th, 1969, Jimi Hendrix did just that. On the final day of Woodstock, towards the end of his set, he played a distorted, extended, somewhat mangled version of the star spangled banner. If you haven\u2019t seen and heard it before, check it out before you read any further.<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MwIymq0iTsw<\/a><\/p>\n

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Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, 1969\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 http:\/\/www.guitarhive.com\/images\/Hendrix-Woodstock_small.jpg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Hendrix plays the melody painfully slowly, lingering on every moment and letting his guitar feedback into his wall of amps. He is accompanied only by drummer Mitch Mitchell-<\/span>http:\/\/www.drummerworld.com\/drummers\/Mitch_Mitchell.html<\/span><\/a>. Throughout the entire song he lets his vibrato pedal create a churning effect on his sound, almost like the whirring off helicopter propellers starting up-<\/span>http:\/\/www.rockprophecy.com\/shop.html<\/span><\/a>. Following the lyrics-\u201drocket\u2019s red glare\u201d he uses his tremolo bar and string-bending to morph his guitar\u2019s feedback into a violent visual. After \u201cbomb\u2019s bursting in air\u201d Hendrix uses his guitar\u2019s whammy-bar to drop the high note down over two octaves, crashing into harsh noise as bombs dropped in Vietnam across the world. He even quotes \u201cTaps\u201d, the bugle call played at military funerals, so as to lament the military lives being lost in that same conflict <\/span>http:\/\/www.music.army.mil\/music\/buglecalls\/taps.asp<\/span><\/a>. Regardless of one\u2019s opinion on it as a piece of history or a political statement, I don\u2019t think anyone can deny that the performance is encapturing. <\/span><\/p>\n

New York Times writer William Robins points out that the Star Spangled Banner has a \u201clong, polarizing history\u201d in which Hendrix\u2019s performance is only a chapter. There was a harsh parody of the song made in 1844 criticizing the lingering institution of slavery in which the last line is \u201cO\u2019er the death-bed of freedom\/ the home of the slave. –<\/span>https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/culture\/culture-desk\/colin-kaepernick-and-the-radical-uses-of-the-star-spangled-banner<\/span><\/a>. Since then it has long been a target vehicle for critiquing the state of the nation, as is true today with the Colin Kaepernick\/NFL protests. <\/span><\/p>\n

And it\u2019s in light of the recent political climate that I believe that Hendrix\u2019s interpretation of the anthem is as meaningful as it has ever been. Instead of bombs dropping on Vietnam it\u2019s on the middle east. Instead of Nixon\u2019s hardline republican policies it\u2019s Trump\u2019s heartless and insane policies. The anger in the performance could just as well be directed at the killings of Trayvon Martin or Philando Castile as it could that of Martin Luther King Jr. The patriotism in Hendrix\u2019s beautifully powerful sound as he screams the melody still applies to those who are able to look past the numerous deep problems the U.S has and appreciate the beauty of the nation. Woodstock attendee said that Hendrix\u2019s performance \u201c<\/span>was the most electrifying moment of Woodstock, and it was probably the single greatest moment of the sixties. You finally heard what that song was about, that you can love your country, but hate the government\u201d-<\/span>https:\/\/hooksanalysis.wordpress.com\/2014\/06\/14\/improvised-jimi-hendrix-star-spangled-banner-1969-and-john-bonham-moby-dick-1970\/<\/span><\/a>. I believe that in current times, as a misogynistic narcissist runs the country, and every American lives with the knowledge that our private information is legally sold from corporation to corporation through questionable means, that message holds up powerfully.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the Dick Cavett show\u00a0 in 1970, Cavett remarked that Hendrix was bound to recieve some “nasty letters” about his performance of the anthem, which Hendrix quickly shrugged off saying “I thought it was beautiful.” And to me that inner confidence that Hendrix had about his work is part of what makes it so great. I personally hear it every time I listen to the Woodstock national anthem performance, and I hope it inspires any listener to have that confidence in the beauty of the USA, while acknowledging it’s flaws and struggles.<\/p>\n