All Along the Watchtower - Jimmi Hendrix

8 days ago
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A song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his eighth studio album, John Wesley Harding. The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. The song's lyrics, which in its original version contain twelve lines, feature a conversation between a joker and a thief. The legend Jimmy Hendrix made it a favorite of vets during the Vietnam war.
In 1995, Dylan described his reaction to hearing Hendrix's version: "It overwhelmed me, really. He had such talent, he could find things inside a song and vigorously develop them. He found things that other people wouldn't think of finding in there. He probably improved upon it by the spaces he was using."
The line in the first verse, "There's too much confusion," may show that Hendrix was singing of the confusion of the Vietnam War and also speaking for the people, who had no idea what was really going on in Nam, but the warmongers did. They are definitely thieves, sacrificing the lives of soldiers to fulfill their greed.

Lyrics:

There must be some kind of way outta here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief
Business men, they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None will level on the line
Nobody offered his word
Hey, hey
No reason to get excited
The thief, he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But, uh, but you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us stop talkin' falsely now
The hour's getting late, hey
Hey
All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too
Well, uh, outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl, hey
All along the watchtower
All along the watchtower

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Bob Dylan
All Along the Watchtower lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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