Down the street you can hear her scream "you're a disgrace"
As she slams the door in his drunken face
And now he stands outside
And all the neighbours start to gossip and drool
He cries "Oh, girl you must be mad,
What happened to the sweet love you and me had?"
Against the door he leans and starts a scene,
And his tears fall and burn the garden green
And so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually
A little indian brave who before he was ten,
Played wargames in the woods with his indian friends
And he built up a dream that when he grew up
He would be a fearless warrior indian cheif
Many moons past and more the dream grew strong until
Tomorrow he would sing his first warsong and fight his first battle
But something went wrong, surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night
And so castles made of sand melts into the sea, eventually
There was a young girl, whos heart was a frown
'Cause she was crippled for life,
and she couldn't speak a sound
And she wished and prayed she could stop living,
So she decided to die
She drew her wheelchair to the edge of the shore
And to her legs she smiled "you won't hurt me no more"
But then a sight she'd never seen made her jump and say
"look a golden winged ship is passing my way"
And it really didn't have to stop, it just kept on going...
And so castles made of sand slips into the sea, eventually
As she slams the door in his drunken face
And now he stands outside
And all the neighbours start to gossip and drool
He cries "Oh, girl you must be mad,
What happened to the sweet love you and me had?"
Against the door he leans and starts a scene,
And his tears fall and burn the garden green
And so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually
A little indian brave who before he was ten,
Played wargames in the woods with his indian friends
And he built up a dream that when he grew up
He would be a fearless warrior indian cheif
Many moons past and more the dream grew strong until
Tomorrow he would sing his first warsong and fight his first battle
But something went wrong, surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night
And so castles made of sand melts into the sea, eventually
There was a young girl, whos heart was a frown
'Cause she was crippled for life,
and she couldn't speak a sound
And she wished and prayed she could stop living,
So she decided to die
She drew her wheelchair to the edge of the shore
And to her legs she smiled "you won't hurt me no more"
But then a sight she'd never seen made her jump and say
"look a golden winged ship is passing my way"
And it really didn't have to stop, it just kept on going...
And so castles made of sand slips into the sea, eventually
Lyrics submitted by , edited by SEA206MUSIC
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The first verse is about his mother and father arguing all the time, as they apparently did according to his father before his death.
The second verse is a verse about his little brother, who did actually play war games in the woods with his native american friends. The death of the warrior indian chief represents his brother growing up and turning to drugs. It's the loss of naivety that occured suddenly and 'killed' the person his brother used to want to be.
he last verse is about his mother, whom Hendrix didnt know well, as she died whe he was just a child. As others have said she sent him to live with relatives because she didnt want to have to cope, and abused alcohol. I think, obviously Jimi glorified her after she died, as he didnt know much about her, and so he made her into this beautifully perfect person who didnt want to handle life.
The castles made of sand falling into the sea represent how no matter how strong your relationships are, if theyre built on something false, they will fall and crumble, and I think we can all relate to that.
Shortly after recording the album, Jimi went to his childhood home to see his brother and made him sit down and listen to the song. He then said 'This song is our family song. Its for all of you'.
This is by far my most favourite Hendrix track, and Axis: Bold as love is one of the best albums ever made.
Janie Hendrix, on the other hand, is a bloody fool who deserves none of the Hendrix estate, what with her barely having a relationship with Jimi, and convincing her father, whilst he was in a state of senility, to sign a will written to her demands.
He is talking about dreams that you put all your hopes and dreams into but they get destroyed, demonstrated when he sings:
"And he built up a dream that when he grew up
He would be a fearless warrior indian cheif
Many moons past and more the dream grew strong until
Tomorrow he would sing his first warsong and fight his first battle
But something went wrong, surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night "
This also can mean that the things they had hoped for didn't turn out the way they wanted to...which is demonstrated above.
I agree with Temujin on the chorus, Jimi does a great job with the lyrics in this song.
He would be a fearless warrior indian cheif
Many moons past and more the dream grew strong until
Tomorrow he would sing his first warsong and fight his first battle
But something went wrong, surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night "
Jimi Hendrix was part native american, and fought in Vietnam...I think he may have started out imagining he could be a "fierce Indian warrior chief"..."but something went wrong" "suprise attack [of some change of heart] killed him [the fierce Indian warrior chief] that night..."
I wonder if this is about some kind of experience or first experience of something, possibly before his first experience of combat, or before he got to Nam.