Manic depression is touching my soul
I know what I want but I just don't know
How to, go about gettin' it
Feeling sweet feeling,
Drops from my fingers, fingers
Manic depression is catchin' my soul

Woman so weary, the sweet cause in vain
You make love, you break love
It's all the same
When it's, when it's over, mama
Music, sweet music
I wish I could caress, caress, caress
Manic depression is a frustrating mess

Well, I think I'll go turn myself off,
And go on down
All the way down
Really ain't no use in me hanging around
In your kinda scene

Music, sweet music
I wish I could caress, caress, caress
Manic depression is a frustrating mess

Ow! ow!
Music sweet music sweet music
Sweet music sweet music
Hooo!


Lyrics submitted by

Manic Depression song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

23 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +3
    General Comment

    frustrating mess is a god damn understatement.

    PinkFloydrulezon June 11, 2007   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    Song sounds like a self-diagnosis to me, almost like a cry for help. Jimi had problems with excessive drinking and he would sometimes get angry and become abusive when drunk. I read that he had been sexually abused as a child by a man in uniform. Frustrating mess because he knew he had mental problems but he didn't know what to do about. Last lines are kinds of depressing, almost seems like he was predicting his own death.

    Dingdong29393939on May 03, 2014   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I have a live version in which Hendrix explains that this is about "a cat wishing he could make love to a music instead of the same old everyday woman."

    headphonesandhellon July 28, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    hearing some of hendrix's songs, i wish that could be possible haha

    sean7711on July 29, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I cant ant get no satisfaction. He cant get it on or get it up. The sweet cause in vain. Fruntrating, turn myself off (cant turn on). He wants to but cant- it happens and thats the manic part but not very clinically accurate.

    Whatsthewordon April 02, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i believe the manic depression is due in part because he can't get the girl... manic feelings of wanting to go after her.. and depression cause he can't. he loves her and can't seem to find a way to express it enough to get her.

    Bliskon January 03, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    headphonesandhell is right. This song is about a guy who wants to make love to music. "music sweet music I wish I could caress". Check out Seal and Jeff Beck's cover of this on Stone Free: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix. It's really good.

    Crush Hiveon May 11, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Of what's already been posted, I agree most with renataa. He's sick of his relationships (and probably failures) with women, and all he has left is his music.

    erasmus11290on September 10, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i agree with renataa too.

    grungeisdu4acumbakon October 16, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    yea he wishes he could make love to his music. love the drums. (giving mitch mitchell some much deserved love)

    kp26on February 25, 2007   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Blue
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Page
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.