listening to the Hendrix track “are you experienced” this morning and I got a whole new take on it. I wS doing that thing I sometimes do (maybe you do it too) were a song comes on the iPod and even though you don’t really want to listen to it, you make yourself, and you kind of try to listen to it in a new way or something.
I had always thought the lyrics to “are you experienced” were about JH bragging about what a badass he was and how much acid he had done. you know like “are you experienced? have you ever been experienced?” meaning “ever done acid?” and then he says “well I have”.
and I always figured, chill dude great, we’re all excited for you, and I know it’s the 60s and acid is new and all but still, stop being so full of yourself.
listening to it this morning though, I started thinking about maybe he’s saying you know, has anyone ever experienced you. have you ever been experienced? and then the “I have” is actually eferring to this very moment where you the listener are hearing this song, i.e., experiencing him. he’s not bragging about doin acid, he’s telling you to get out there in the world and have someone experimce you.
or maybe he’s saying both.
sometimes when these alternate interpretations arise, I find myself wondering of everyone else has known this for ages and soomehow I just missed it…
still, it made the song more enjoyable…
