Great song. But what do the lyrics mean?

Well, I'm a voodoo chile

Lord I'm a voodoo chile

Well, the night I was born
Lord I swear the moon turned a fire red
The night I was born
I swear the moon turned a fire red
Well my poor mother cried out "lord, the gypsy was right!"
And I seen her, fell down right dead
(Have mercy)

Well, mountain lions found me there waitin'
And set me on a eagles back
Well, mountain lions found me there,
And set me on a eagles wing
(Its' the eagles wing, baby, what did I say)
He took me past to the outskirts of infinity,
And when he brought me back,
He gave me a venus witch's ring
Hey!
And he said "Fly on, fly on"
Because I'm a voodoo chile, yeah, voodoo chile
Hey!

Well, I make love to you,
And lord knows you'll feel no pain
Say, I make love to you in your sleep,
And lord knows you felt no pain
{ From: http://www.elyrics.net }
(Have mercy)
'Cause I'm a million miles away
And at the same time I'm right here in your picture frame
(Yeah! What did I say now)
'Cause I'm a voodoo chile
Lord knows, I'm a voodoo chile
(yeah!)

Well my arrows are made of desire
From far away as Jupiter's sulphur mines
Say my arrows are made of desire, desire
From far away as Jupiter's sulphur mines
(Way down by the Methane Sea, yeah)
I have a humming bird and it hums so loud,
You think you were losing your mind, hmmm...

Well I float in liquid gardens
And Arizona new red sand
(Yeah)
I float in liquid gardens
Way down in Arizona red sand

Well, I taste the honey from a flower named Blue,
Way down in California
And the in New York drowns as we hold hands

'Cause I'm a voodoo chile
Lord knows I'm a voodoo chile

[Edited 12/3/12 9:06am]

I think they are just "folklore" type of lyrics about the singer (Jimi himself) being born with magical powers (of the occult kind).

novabrkr said:

I think they are just "folklore" type of lyrics about the singer (Jimi himself) being born with magical powers (of the occult kind).

Thanks for the reply. But more specifically?

I think it's just a mishmash of themes that he was interested in (e.g. there's no real connection between gypsies and voodoo tradition). Personally I think the references to black magic and voodoo on his songs are used mainly for just mental imagery. The lyrics seem for the large part either improvised or having been written rather quickly. Just a different type of a blues song, really.

novabrkr said:

I think it's just a mishmash of themes that he was interested in (e.g. there's no real connection between gypsies and voodoo tradition). Personally I think the references to black magic and voodoo on his songs are used mainly for just mental imagery. The lyrics seem for the large part either improvised or having been written rather quickly. Just a different type of a blues song, really.

I see.

I'm trying to fully understand why this album is held with such high esteem.

The guitar work is brilliant ofcourse. But the lyrics are somewhat of a lower standard than I remembered and expected.

[Edited 12/3/12 11:13am]

Azz said:

novabrkr said:

I think it's just a mishmash of themes that he was interested in (e.g. there's no real connection between gypsies and voodoo tradition). Personally I think the references to black magic and voodoo on his songs are used mainly for just mental imagery. The lyrics seem for the large part either improvised or having been written rather quickly. Just a different type of a blues song, really.

I see.

I'm trying to fully understand why this album is held with such high esteem.

The guitar work is brilliant ofcourse. But the lyrics are somewhat of a lower standard than I remembered and expected.

I agree with novabrkr.

Most classic "Blues" lyrics are firmly rooted in reality.

My take is that he simply created a "Space-Blues" theme based around dream-like lyrical imagery.

Quite like an LSD trip...

Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

It's a typical male bluesman bragging song about how special, cool, great and sexy the singer is , very much like Muddy Waters/ Bo Diddley's I'm a Man/ Mannish Boy. Just more 'cosmic' in it's lyrics, also perhaps some Bob Dylan symbolic imagery thrown in there imo - witness Dylan's All Along the Watchtower -

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too

Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl
Business man there, drink my wine,
Come and take my herb.

Lots of mountain lions and wildcats on the prowl in these two songs .

Jimi was into developing his own personal 'cosmic blues' mythology in that period. He was generally a better guitarist than a lyricist imo (though he did some good lyrics), but when you can express such a range of emotion just through your instrument, you don't need to be Bob Dylan.

what do the lyrics mean? U do realize Jimi was a junkie - enough said.

I think he was a great lyricist. Maybe judged by today's standards his choice of vocabulary had too many "Ezy Rider" and "Voodoo Chile" type of expressions in them, but what he wrote fit perfectly the classic rock / psychedlia era of the late-60s. I've understood that he was himself quite into the process of writing lyrics, as well.

The best stuff is on the second studio album, in my opinion.