I wrote a full essay on this song in one of my college coarses. This song was played at woodstock, but apparently Hendrix wasn't vehemently anti-war. When I interpret it, I like to think of it as a reality check to really get across the horrors of war to a good sized audience. He isn't saying "fuck war" necessarily, he's just showing us that war isn't about heroes being patriotic and all that delusional bullshit, it's about tons of innocent people being killed alongside a few rebels, by large amounts of bullets, chemicals and explosives, being dropped by a big country (the US, hence the star spangled banner) on a major power trip. This song can be very easily interpreted as anti-war, I see it this way myself, but it's up to the audience to interpret it. This is also why when hendrix was asked on a TV show interview to comment on this song, he didn't say what it was about, he just said "I thought it was beautiful", and he recieved a standing ovation from the audience at the show.
I wrote a full essay on this song in one of my college coarses. This song was played at woodstock, but apparently Hendrix wasn't vehemently anti-war. When I interpret it, I like to think of it as a reality check to really get across the horrors of war to a good sized audience. He isn't saying "fuck war" necessarily, he's just showing us that war isn't about heroes being patriotic and all that delusional bullshit, it's about tons of innocent people being killed alongside a few rebels, by large amounts of bullets, chemicals and explosives, being dropped by a big country (the US, hence the star spangled banner) on a major power trip. This song can be very easily interpreted as anti-war, I see it this way myself, but it's up to the audience to interpret it. This is also why when hendrix was asked on a TV show interview to comment on this song, he didn't say what it was about, he just said "I thought it was beautiful", and he recieved a standing ovation from the audience at the show.