I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.
Jimi HendrixRead
I just hate to be in one corner. I hate to be put as only a guitar player, or either only as a songwriter, or only as a tap dancer. I like to move around.
Interpretation
The quote expresses Jimi Hendrix's desire for artistic freedom and versatility.
Jimi Hendrix articulates his disdain for being confined to a single role or label, such as being seen merely as a guitarist, songwriter, or dancer. Instead, he values the ability to explore and express himself across a variety of artistic mediums, embodying the spirit of creativity and the importance of not being limited by societal classifications.
In practice
During a speech at an art festival to emphasize the importance of creative expression.
I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.
Technically, I'm not a guitar player, all I play is truth and emotion.
I try all night to play a pretty note.
The story of life is quicker then the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye.
It's time for a new National Anthem. America is divided into two definite divisions. The easy thing to cop out with is sayin' black and white. You can see a black person. But now to get down to the nitty-gritty, it's getting' to be old and young - not the age, but the way of thinking. Old and new, actually... because there's so many even older people that took half their lives to reach a certain point that little kids understand now.
... with Voodoo Child somebody was filming when we started doing that. We did that about three times because they wanted to film us in the studio, to make us (imitates a pompous voice) 'make it look like you're recording boys' - one of them scenes, you know, so okey, let's play this and then we went into Voodoo Child
When I sit down to write a song, it's a kind of improvisation, but I formalize it a bit to get it into the studio, and when I step up to a microphone, I have a vague idea of what I'm about to do.
Apropos, is not the Scotch phrase 'Auld Lang Syne' exceedingly expressive? I shall give you the verses on the other sheet. The words of 'Auld Lang Syne' are good, but the music is an old air, the rudiments of the modern tune of that name. ... Dare to be honest and fear no labor. ... Opera is where a man gets stabbed in the back, and instead of dying, he sings. ... Chords that vibrate sweetest pleasure thrill the deepest notes of woe. ... Critics! Those cut-throat bandits in the paths of fame.
My secret ambition was always to provide music for animation films: something with an Indian theme, either a fairy tale or mythological tale or on the Krishna theme. I still have a very deep desire, but these sorts of chances don't always come.
Your hands are like dogs, going to the same places they've been. You have to be careful when playing is no longer in the mind but in the fingers, going to happy places. You have to break them of their habits or you don't explore; you only play what is confident and pleasing. I'm learning to break those habits by playing instruments I know absolutely nothing about, like a bassoon or a waterphone.
It is the mission of art to remind man from time to time that he is human, and the time is ripe, just now, today, for such a reminder.
Onstage, you just have to tell the absolute truth about the character you are playing. You hope you communicate it, and you hope it comes back like a tennis ball. If you're listening to the sound of your own voice, nobody else is. The audience knows, and they freeze on you.
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