House Burning Down

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey

Look at the sky turn a hell fire red
Somebody's house is burnin' down down, down down
Down, down, down.

Well I asked my friend where is that black smoke comin' from ?
He just coughed and changed the subject and said oh wa I think it might
snow some
So I left him sippin' his tea an' I jumped in my chariot
And rode off to see just why and who could it be this time.

Sisters and brothers daddys mothers standin' 'round cryin'
When I reached the scene the flames were makin' a ghostly whine
So I stood on my horse's back an' I screamed without a crack
I say oh baby why'd you burn your brother's house down ?

Hey ! Hey ! Hey ! Hey !

Look out the sky turn a hell fire red Lord
Somebody's house is burnin' down down, down down
Look out the sky turn a hell fire red Lord
Somebody's house is burnin' down down, down down down.

Well someone stepped from the crowd he was nineteen miles high
He shouts retired and disgusted so we paint red through the sky
I said the truth is straight ahead so don't burn yourself instead
Try to learn instead of burn, hear what I say, yeah, yeah.

So I fin'ly rode away but I'll never forget that day
'Cause when I reached the valley I looked way down cross the way
A giant boat from space landed with eerie grace
And came and taken all the dead away.

Hey ! Hey ! Hey ! Hey !

What'd I say.
Look at the sky turn a hell fire red Lord
Somebody's house is burning down down, down down
Look at the sky turn a hell fire red Lord
Somebody's house is burning down down, down down
Look at the sky, look at the sky.

Ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Oh baby


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House Burning Down song meanings
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9 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment
    Hendrix's civil rights song. He was influenced by Martin Luther King a lot. He didn't understand why the black community would burn down their own neighborhoods and riot. You can't change anything through violence. Only through education and learning will anything change. "He shouts retired and disgusted so we paint red through the sky I said the truth is straight ahead so don't burn yourself instead Try to learn instead of burn, hear what I say, yeah, yeah." As typical with Jimi, he throws in some science fiction at the end to describe the dead souls departing earth. Incidently, what a great crying guitar sound on this song!!!
    jersey73on October 01, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    I love the beat! thanks for the info.
    personblahblahon January 08, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    This song if fucking great.
    F33bson September 07, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    jersey, your right, its about what happened, martin luther king killing, kennedy killing,it was a big crisis "brothers" doesnt signify love between black people, jimi hendrix saw everyone as an "earthling" . if you know a bit of his biography you should know he didnt make a big deal of racial colours at all
    pennystrikeon July 31, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    jersey, your right, its about what happened, martin luther king killing, kennedy killing,it was a big crisis "brothers" doesnt signify love between black people, jimi hendrix saw everyone as an "earthling" . if you know a bit of his biography you should know he didnt make a big deal of racial colours at all
    pennystrikeon July 31, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    i think it is about a person smoking weed and getting high bcuz, he says look at the sky, turns a hell fire red, like ones eyes, then he says someones house is burning, down down, like a joint would .when i was rly high i thought of that when i was thinking of my eyes, and it hit me like a jesus epiphany, i was like the eyes are the sky, and it looks over everything, like hes high in the clouds, and hes burnin a joint down, and everyones like "why did u get him high" and jimi and his pal were smokin, and it was ten miles high, and everyone was cryin cuz they were ashamed that he smoked, who symbolize the older generation, and hes askin the 60's and free spiritedness, the woman, why he did this to him and made him burn, and burn down the old american values of his home, and hes sayin that the 60s and new age spirit came and took all the old people's attitudes in their wake, like how the ppl stopped beleivinin nam and shit
    bobolsonon October 01, 2008   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation
    Oh wow, thinking of this as a civil rights song makes a lot of sense. I thought it was just a random crazy fantasy, the imagery is so vivid. 19 miles high!
    Goatllamaon July 12, 2016   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    All Wrong! It's about being in Viet Nam, asking where's that smoke coming from, left him smoking his stash "left him sipping his tea". Hopped into his Jeep "chariot". Arrived on the scene the fires making a ghostly whine, everybody's crying. A senior almost retired, officer steps from the crowd says we paint red in the sky (carpet bombing). Hendrix says Learn don't Burn. A giant boat from space lands, are the evacuation Helicopters carrying the dead away!! It's Genius lyrically and Musically. Electric Ladyland is a rare Treasured in Musical History. Never to be reproduced again. Max
    CargoeMusicon March 16, 2018   Link
  • -2
    General Comment
    i think it is about a person smoking weed and getting high bcuz, he says look at the sky, turns a hell fire red, like ones eyes, then he says someones house is burning, down down, like a joint would. when i was rly high i thought of that when i was thinking of my eyes, and it hit me like a jesus epiphany, i was like the eyes are the sky, and it looks over everything, like hes high in the clouds, and hes burnin a joint down, and everyones like "why did u get him high" and jimi and his pal were smokin, and it was ten miles high, and everyone was cryin cuz they were ashamed that he smoked, who symbolize the older generation, and hes askin the 60's and free spiritedness, the woman, why he did this to him and made him burn, and burn down the old american values of his home, and hes sayin that the 60s and new age spirit came and took all the old people's attitudes in their wake, like how the ppl stopped beleivinin nam and shit
    bobolsonon October 01, 2008   Link

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