Jimi Hendrix stands before over 200,000 people about to make musical history. It’s 1969, in the middle of the war in Vietnam. The Vietnam War was one of the bloodiest in this nation’s history, people who went to Vietnam often returned in a damaged state, if they returned at all.1 At the time, the presidential approval rating in the war was only around 39 percent, and Jimi Hendrix prepared to demonstrate his opinion of the war with his rendition of the National Anthem.2
Before Hendrix was a famous musician, he was in the military. He was honorably discharged due to an ankle injury. He had signed up for one year, however, while on duty, he couldn’t hold intelligent conversations, fell asleep, and was more focused on his guitar than his work. After he was discharged, he shifted his focus completely to his guitar. Soon after, his music career took off and he released “Hey Joe” with his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience. He quickly rose to fame, and soon after he was headlining his own tours and selling out massive shows. 3
Rain delays caused Hendrix to play on Monday at Woodstock that year. While he was offered an opportunity to perform at midnight, he chose to play the next morning. Even though Hendrix passed on the opportunity to play in front of the massive crowds that were still there at midnight, he still played for dedicated fans. However, he didn’t come for the fans, he came for the experience. Hendrix’s performance was shaped by the the current state of the Vietnam War, which was at its peak when he played. Hendrix’s music was also shaped by his complete unwillingness to conform, he refused to be a part of normal society, and he refused to support the war.4 Over 58,200 American soldiers died in the Vietnam War, and many of the people in the United States didn’t know why the nation was fighting, and many just wanted peace. This political context fueled Hendrix’s passion-filled performance which lasted over two hours, and included an encore. Encores were rare for Hendrix, and so concert-goers were ecstatic.
The performance included a medley of some of his songs, and in the middle of this is when he made musical history. Jimi Hendrix played a solo version of the National Anthem. His rendition included many parts of the song where he misplayed the song on purpose. He dragged out the notes for “the bombs bursting in air,” showing that the Star Spangled Banner talks about America’s history involving many wars. He also misplayed the notes for “home of the brave,” drawing to question why we call the men fighting a war with very little acceptance in our country heroes. Because he was in the military, he knew how the system worked, and he didn’t like it. He also added in parallels and similarities to the song “taps,” to show the amount of death the country had seen, as if to ask “is it worth it”? He purposely dropped the notes and let them come out unclean and muffled. He wanted to display that even something as patriotic as the National Anthem glorified our nation’s destructive ways of solving international issues. He did this by accenting the notes where this was prevalent and bringing attention to them. The audience had mixed reactions however. While many of them saw the passion-filled protest he was trying to portray, some of the fans were appalled by how he played the national anthem. People wrote to media networks saying that what he did was a disgrace. His performance was a polarizing force, he was able to both unite people behind him and the war protests, as well as causing people to speak up against the desecration of our National Anthem.5
Hendrix made music history because he had so many fans, and he was able to actively voice his opinion without using words. Whether you agree with his protests or not, he was very successful at gathering a crowd and influencing their thoughts.6
- “PART IV: TO LIFE: War = Killing,” AirWAVES (May 1999): 235–36. ↵
- W. Dennis, “Ritual Behavior and Consumer Symbolism,” ACR Special Volumes, (January 01, 1984): 279-284 ↵
- Andy Bennet, “Remembering Woodstock,” Taylor & Francis Group, (September 29, 2017): 1-4 ↵
- Wendy Smith, “Rock of Ages: Forty Years after Their Deaths, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin; Now Seem Part of the Mainstream Culture They Rebelled Against.” American Scholar, 79 no. 4(2010): 89–92. ↵
- Clague, Mark. “‘This Is America’: Jimi Hendrix’s Star Spangled Banner Journey as Psychedelic Citizenship.” Journal of the Society for American Music 8 4(2014): 435–78. ↵
- Anne-Marie Morrissey, “Beyond the Image: The Giftedness of Jimi Hendrix,” Roeper Review 24 no. 1( 2001): 5. ↵
56 comments
Nathan Alba
Jimi Hendrix did what a lot of athletes on the big stage do today. They use their spotlight and major platform to bring awareness to areas that seem to be going unnoticed. His performance was probably deemed “radical” at the time, but in the end Hendrix did what he felt was right. And it seemed to have worked out- if not we would not be hear still talking about his performance to this day.
Dylan Sanchez
Very interesting read! When I first heard Jimi Hendrix’s version of the Star Spangled Banner I was a bit appalled by it. At first I thought it was him being a drunken, good-for-nothing guy disrespecting our country. But now, I see the meaning behind is work and I am in full support of his message.
Alexis Martinez
I absolutely loved this article! I’ve been listening to Rock basically my whole life and Jimmy Hendrix is one of the most influential and important people in Rock history. His passion, courage to go outside the norm, and overall talent is what sent him apart from everyone else. I think Hendrix has had many “memorable” performances but his Woodstock performance hands down is one of the ones that really set him apart and made him noticed as one of the best Rock performers of his time.
Daniel Linstead
Jimi Hendrix, a rock n’ roll icon and arguably one of the most talented guitarist in history. He was able to bring so much joy to many listeners by the passion and excitement he brought to the stage. I feel that a lot of people in this generation don’t know who Jimi Hendrix but I feel like this article did a good job in describing what Jimi Hendrix music expresses. Overall I enjoyed reading this article, and I feel people can learn about him.
Mason Meza
I am not one to listen to rock n’ roll music but when I saw the title of this article I just knew that I had to read it. And to my surprise it was worth it. The author did a very good job of explaining who Jimi Hendrix is and what he did. He made songs based off of what issues was going on in the American Society.
Jennifer Salas
Jimi Hendrix is a musician who I deeply admire, and I enjoyed how this article portrayed him as someone who expressed himself through his music. Although many people were divided on the way he played the National Anthem, I think it was a creative way to show his anger towards the Vietnam war rather than to do something violent. Jimi Hendrix’s performance will always be a controversial event that occurred, but he will always be known as a rock n’ roll legend.
Adam Portillo
Jimi Hendrix without a doubt in my mind is one of the best musicians ever. His touch on the guitar was one to behold. It’s amazing to see that he was active in protesting the war in Vietnam. Jimi Hnedrix was such an influential figure in music and the Woodstock ’69 performance will always go done as one of his most iconic ones. Jimi Hendrix was more than just music and a guy with a guitar. His legacy and performance at Woodstock ’69 live on forever.
Pedro Gonzalez Aboyte
I remember in high school my US history teacher played this for us in class without giving us context and many of the students thought it was awful. I really enjoyed it when I first heard it because I understood what he was trying to say play playing the anthem this way. This performance shows just how much art can come from music and how much of a difference it can make. Artists like Jimi Hendrix stood up for what he believed in, and he did this by doing what he does best: playing the guitar.
Ysenia Rodriguez
Many musicians use their music to prove a point. Sometimes they use their gifts to bash another musician, to talk about a cause dear to them, and, in Hendrix’s case, to express their political opinions. What places Jimi Hendrix in a different category than most musicians is that he served in the military, so he knew more than the average critic. Whether that gave him the right to play the National Anthem the way he did is up to those who listen and choose to judge him; however, to deny the fact that he knew the system of the U.S. military would be ignorant.
Lilliana Canales
I’ve always heard about Jimi Hendrix and seen him on shirts but I was only aware that he played guitar, so seeing the title saying protests, I had to read it, especially since he was prominent in the time of the Vietnam war. I was unaware that Hendrix served in the military which is essential information for someone to know reading this article. Many people take offense when someone “experiments” with national figures such as the national anthem, but personally, the message he was trying to get across was one that should have been taken into serious matter.