Whispering, Crying and Screaming

So, this is my piece on Hendrix's song, "The Wind Cries Mary." If I get a little too passionate in this analysis, it is probably due to the fact that: a) I actually played this song on my guitar before I went to school that day; b) this has been my favorite Hendrix piece; c) I flipped out when I was told the news of what we were doing in class. Carina Taylor knows what I'm talking about. Anyway.

Jimi Hendrix's blues single "The Wind Cries Mary" is a poetic and nostalgic piece about a broken relationship. Hendrix, influenced by the cryptic musings of Bob Dylan, recreates the folk singer's songwriting style in the form of metaphors and imagery. In the first verse, the "jacks...in their boxes" and "the clowns...gone to bed" reflects the happiness that has disappeared. The second stanza reveals the purpose of the song. The crying queen and the spouseless king connotates Hendrix and his ex-lover, and the emotional breakup that has resulted. The rest of the lyrics use surreal imagery of blue traffic lights and the wisdom of the wind. The continual mention of Mary grows from a whisper to a scream, implying the increasing strain of the relationship. In addition to the lyrics, Hendrix fully implements his much-regarded guitar virtuosity. His fretwork is subtle, consisting of a three-chord motif that is the main hook of the song. The guitar, along with the soft cymbal rushes, creates the feeling of a lazy afternoon breeze. The calmness of the music provides a contrast to Hendrix's eccentric lyrics. The beautiful result is a smooth blues classic that remains a thoughtful pondering of a simple break-up.

The Wind Cries For Me

You said to post this sooooo I guess I will:

Losing a loved one creates feelings of loneliness and hopelessness for all people. Jimi Hendrix’s use of personification, diction, and emphasis in his song “The Wind Cries Mary” describe the longing feelings his protagonist experiences at the loss of a beloved woman named Mary. He describes his happiness as “staggering” (line 3) to give the impression, through personification, that his own feelings are hurt. The past is gone and his future will never be the same. “The traffic lights, they turn blue tomorrow,” (line 11). He fears a sad future, with no purpose, and so he uses the term “blue” traffic lights to express his pain and worry that the future will never be like the past but that, though things will be different, it will be the same life just like how a simple color change on a traffic light wouldn’t be the end of the world, it’d just take time to get used to. In each stanza of the song the Hendrix uses more personification, this time of the wind, to show his own feelings at the time: “screaming”, “crying”, and “whispering”. Hendrix is referring to his sobs and whispers to the empty room around him as he mourns the loss of Mary, and that the wind carries them—therefore “whispering” and “crying” with him. As the song is sung Hendrix emphasizes phrases like “queen is weeping” (line 8) and “has no wife” (line 9) to point out the separateness of the king and queen. He pauses before saying “is dead” to focus on the fact that his life can not ever go back to the way it was before. In the last stanza he proclaims “Will the wind ever remember the names it has blown in the past?” hopefully, but then slows down his pace and lowers his pitch for the reply, pausing at “no” and “last” to emphasize the finality of the wind.

Texting While Driving

This has absolutely nothing to do with anything we've talked about for a long time, if at all, but I figure I might as well show it. I came across a video about "texting while driving" today during my internet surfing. It's rather graphic, though it is a dramatization. It was released as a PSA by Wales and one of the points the newsanchor brings up is what should be allowed on national/public television and what shouldn't. Do you think it is too graphic? Or do you think it really makes a provocative statement that will grab peoples attention?
This is the "safe" version "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOTbAbKoL28" and this is the full version "http://espanol.video.yahoo.com/watch/5768870/15107011".
I personally think it brings up a good point about how something as simple and stupid as a little text could ruin many different lives and that that one little text can wait.

Stages of Grief

Jimi Hendrix's song "The Wind Cries Mary" is a depressing song about an object of affection named Mary. At first, I did not think the song was about a lover because the lyrics are not romantic or lustful. Rather, I assumed the song referred to Mary as a mother. The song possesses childish lyrics: "After all the After all the jacks are in their boxes, and the clowns have all gone to bed." I took this line literally, and imagined a young boy crying for his mother when she leaves to go to work or somewhere else. However, as the song progressed, I changed my mind about the meaning of the song and I jumped on the "Mary was a lover" bandwagon. Viewing Mary as a lover rather than a mother is especially evident in the line, "The traffic lights, they turn blue tomorrow and shine their emptiness down on my bed." The words "emptiness" and "bed" can only suggest sexual play.

After much thought, I've concluded that "The Wind Cries Mary" is a song about the stages of grief. The stages include: Denial, Depression, Anger and Acceptance. In the last line of the first stanza, the wind whispers Mary and whispering can be an action performed by those who don't want to hear the truth; in the second stanza the wind cries Mary, which links with depression; in the third stanza, the wind screams for Mary, which shows obvious anger; and in the last stanza, the wind cries for Mary again, accepting that she is gone. Maybe this seemingly depressing song is about acceptance and moving on, but still possessing feelings of eternal love for this "Mary" character.

I'm so lonesome I could cry....Mary.

In the past two days we have read and analyzed two depressing songs. "I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry" by Hank Williams and " The Wind Cries Mary" by Jimi Hendrix. Hearing these songs once was enough for me. If I had to hear it anymore I might start crying....just kidding. The tone in Hank William's song is expressed through diction. The diction in William's song evokes sad feelings. Some sad words in this song include lonesome, die, cry, and weep. The way that these words are used and arranged make it obvious that this is a depressing song. In Hendrix's song, the tone is depressing and sad as well. Throughout his song, he basically says that all the fun is over. When the happy times are gone, the loneliness begins to settle in. When the "jacks are in their boxes" and the "clowns have all gone to bed" you are no longer entertained or happy. Once you begin to miss the past, the feeling of nostalgia takes over you. In my opinion, the wind represents a person crying for the past and the fun times which represent Mary. The wind crying for Mary is a man crying for an ex girlfriend perhaps. A king has lost his wife and a queen is weeping. When the "traffic lights turn blue" and "he sounds too blue to fly," there are no more smiles. Maybe one thing that Williams and Hendrix should consider is that the fun times may be over, but the door is open for new opportunities....new fun...a new queen, even? Well it might be too soon for that, but some time alone may be better for these sensitive men.

Royal Breakup Causes Melancholy.

In Jimi Hendrix's song titled "The Wind Cries Mary", a very sad and dismal mood is set in place. Hendrix uses very dark and gloomy phrases that gives his audience the visual of a place that would appear to be a ghost town. By saying that "The jacks are in their boxes and the clowns have all gone to bed", Hendrix is able to illustrate a place that is void of any spirit and fun. The phrase, "A broom is drearily sweeping up the broken pieces of yesterdays life" validates the idea that life now is not the same as it was then. Perhaps this is because "A queen is weeping" and "A king has no wife". Did the king and queen go through a breakup? Is the whole town affected by this royal separation? A place that used to be lively is now in a state of depression.

The wind Cries Mary

David Grkinich p.4
The wind cries Mary
The wind cries Mary is a song written by Jimi Hendrix about a clearly painful breakup between two lovers; this subject is particularly emotional and has extra resonance to me because I absolutely loathe the thought of not being with my girlfriend. Through an informal tone, Hendrix conveys his sad story through vivid images, personification and tone, “ the broom is drearily sweeping up the broken pieces of yesterdays life” this statement emphasizes the sadness in the song by painting a picture of a lonely, sad man sweeping up his life like a broken window and using a distraught tone. Personification like “Happiness staggering down the street” conjures an image not of happiness merely walking down the street but staggering, and tripping over itself as it leaves a man standing alone on his door step, though carefully selected diction like this Hendrix leaves an emotional resonance particularly to myself and perfectly describes the situation of a man losing his lover.
Hendrix ends each stanza with “and the wind … Mary” alternating different verbs in place of … for different effects, like using screams to show how much he misses his love or whispers to show how broken he is. This repetition ends each stanza which creates an especially lasting effect because it’s the last thing we hear (and he pauses for dramatic effect in the song for this reason) as we go into the next stanza. Hendrix’s sentences are short and choppy which creates the image of a broken man to sad or possibly crying, incapable of using correct speech. “After all the jacks are in their boxes and the clowns have all gone to bed” is a particularly vivid image that is emotionally evocative, meaning all the fun is over and the end of the day is upon him. Only using a single punctuation of any form throughout his song, a question mark which is used after he asks “will the wind ever remember the names it has blown in the past?”, Hendrix asks if the girl will even remember him, she whom he loved so much and held so dear will even remember his name; the question mark is used for emphasis.

Please tell me if there is anything awkward in my analysis, if I don't get the chance to thank you in person please let me thank you now.

Thank you.