Hendrix Jimi Quotes & Sayings

In order to change the world, you have to get your head together first. — Jimi Hendrix

A broom is drearily sweeping up the broken pieces of yesterday's life. — Jimi Hendrix

I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes. — Jimi Hendrix

Lots of the things we do are dangerous, but life itself is dangerous; nothing is really worth bothering with that isn't full of danger — Jimi Hendrix

I get stoned, I can't get home, I'm calling long distance on a public saxophone. My head is achin', my back is breakin', feel I got run over by Captain Coconut and his dog named Rover. — Jimi Hendrix

When I think of artists that I would have loved to work with, it's Jimi Hendrix. And Steve McQueen. He's not a rock star, but he's kind of a rock star to me. — John Varvatos

I taste the honey from a flower named Blue
Way down in California
And New York drowns as we held hands — Jimi Hendrix

The Telecaster has two sounds - a good one and a bad one. — Jimi Hendrix

I'm not a star. I'll never be a Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley or a Ray Charles. I'm just an imitator, man. I'm doing a very bad imitation on the bass of Jerry Jemmott, Bernard Odum, Jimmy Fielder, Jimmy Blanton, Igor Stravinsky, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, James Brown, Charlie Parker ... the cats, man. I'm just backing up the cats. — Jaco Pastorius

Kurt (Cobain) was a fan of my standup, which was pretty weird. I know when people hear that, it's kind of like finding out that Jimi Hendrix really liked Buddy Hackett, but he interviewed me at a college radio station before they broke and did Bleach. And then, like, about two years later, I was opening for Nirvana at these huge sports arenas. — Bobcat Goldthwait

You have to use fantasy to show different sides to reality. That's how it can bend. — Jimi Hendrix

I liked a lot of the things other people liked - Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Van Halen, AC/DC - but if I compared it to my dad's music, there just seemed to be elements missing. — Dweezil Zappa

I was very drawn to music of all types, from Beethoven to Jimi Hendrix. There were musicians and composers who obviously were expressing a vision that was beyond the mundane. — Frederick Lenz

The best thing I ever heard was in the '60s. I heard Jimi Hendrix play 'I Can Hear The Grass Grow' after a rehearsal, and it was brilliant. — Roy Wood

But then there was Hendrix, man. Jimi was really the last cat to freak me. Jimi was playing all the stuff I had in my head. I couldn't believe it, when I first heard him. Man, no one can ever do what he did with a guitar. No one can ever take his place. — Terry Kath

Sometimes you'll want to give up the guitar. You'll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded. — Jimi Hendrix

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 Hendrix

There are many excellent guitar players but I have to say Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton are still at the top! There are many imitators but very few genuine articles. There is so much more to playing than a fast blur of notes, like feeling and emotion from the soul. It's like punctuating a sentence and knowing when to lay back and not fill up all the space. Those are the things I tried to teach my son Tim when he began playing. — Merrell Fankhauser

Stop saying drug use makes people lazy. Jimi Hendrix did a lot of drugs, even though he's been dead for forty years, he's still making new records. Suck on that, Partnership for a Drug-Free America! — Bill Maher

Jimi Hendrix played loud and free, Sergeant Pepper was real to me. — Al Stewart

When I die, I want people to play my music, go wild and freak out and do anything they want to do. — Jimi Hendrix

And um, when I came back to England I put a very complex soundtrack on it, featuring everyone from Jimi Hendrix, right through to Neil Diamond, you know, everybody that was kind of popular who was kind of popular at that time. — Gerald Scarfe

Those times i burned my guitar it was like a sacrifice. we all burn things we love. i love my guitar — Jimi Hendrix

About Jimi Hendrix - although his playing is at an uber-level, his voice is quite lo-fi and normal, like a regular person singing in the shower, and this makes his music much better than if he was just a technical player and singer. — Jeffrey Lewis

Now if I don't meet you no more in this world, then I'll, I'll meet you in the next one, and don't be late, don't be late, cause I'm a voodoo chile. — Jimi Hendrix

With any new civilization ... they have to have their own officers and police and governments and all that. — Jimi Hendrix

Music is going to break the way because music is in a spiritual thing of its own. It's like the waves of the ocean. You can't just cut out the perfect wave and take it home with you. — Jimi Hendrix

You're never going to see the fat Elvis in me. People I admired like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and John Belushi all died at 27. I've got jeans older than that. — Jon Bon Jovi

Please pass me the peace weed, and take some heed. Throw away all that mixed up speed. — Jimi Hendrix

If it was up to me, there wouldn't be no such thing as the establishment. — Jimi Hendrix

Businessmen they drink my wine, come and taste my herb. — Jimi Hendrix

What I wanted to do in rock 'n roll was merge poetry with sonic scapes, and the two people who had contributed so much to that were Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison. — Patti Smith

I was trying to do too many things at the same time, which is my nature. But I was enjoying it, and I still do enjoy it. — Jimi Hendrix

A person would have to change himself in order to be a living example of what he's singing about. — Jimi Hendrix

You've got to know what goes between the notes. — Jimi Hendrix

I try all night to play a pretty note. — Jimi Hendrix

When I was four, I think I just wanted to make noise. When I was about 10 years old I was given five CDs for my birthday: Pink Floyd's Dark side of the Moon, the Sex Pistols, Prodigy, Jimi Hendrix, and I can't remember the fifth one, but really different kinds of music. That's when I started to grasp it and enjoy it, listening to it. Then I started being in bands at school. — Eliot Paulina Sumner

The music I want to hear in my head sounds somewhere between Jimi Hendrix and Massive Attack. It's not really like my dad, but there will always be similarities because we have the same vocal cords, and I learnt the guitar the way he taught me. — Dhani Harrison

I was very friendly with Jimi Hendrix because my boyfriend at the time, Tommy Weber, was making a film about him, so I would go to all of his shows. — Charlotte Rampling

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. — Jimi Hendrix

There are no Jerry Garcias coming down the pike, anymore than there is a Jimi Hendrix or Bob Marley. They are all at the same level - the highest level that you strive to get to as a musician. Me and my friends - we'll all be long dead, people will still be trying to dig into what Jerry Garcia did. — Trey Anastasio

I've heard the stories. Like, Eric Clapton said he wanted to burn his guitar when he heard Jimi Hendrix play. I never understood that because, when I went and saw a great drummer or heard one, all I wanted to do was practice. — Neil Peart

Promotion with my name only, that's all I have to do with it. — Jimi Hendrix

I was very influenced by Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, both of whom I had the pleasure of playing with and becoming friends with. — Mick Taylor

I didn't know it was anger until they told me that it was, like with destruction and all that. But I believe everybody should have like a room where they can get rid of all their releases, where they can do their releases at. So my room is a stage. — Jimi Hendrix

I wanted to be listened to. I don't know if they were or not, though. — Jimi Hendrix

The Grand Ole Opry used to come on, and I used to watch that. They used to have some pretty heavy cats, heavy guitar players — Jimi Hendrix

As far as rock groups, I really like Stone Temple Pilots. As for classical composers, it's Bach. I love Paganini, too, the Italian composer who would break strings during a performance and finish playing on just one string. Someone I would have loved to play with is Jimi Hendrix. — Matt Schulze

18th September, 1970; Jimi Hendrix dies. I'm still on the football team when I get the news. So I take my helmet off and confront the coach to tell him I'm quitting the team. In a moment of brilliance he gives me one look and says "OK". — Joe Satriani

Well, obviously religion must come from inside. — Jimi Hendrix

Had Kurt Cobain not committed suicide in 1994, would his genius have survived the continuous incisions of a media that was only too proud of its ability to chisel away at his fragile psyche in the years before he decided that he'd had enough off their invasions? And, had Jimi Hendrix not passed way in 1970, would he, too have eventually fallen into decline, first equalled, then eclipsed by the brilliant wave of new guitarists: Robin Trower, Ritchie Blackmore, Mick Ronson, who emerged during the early 1970s? In death, Hendrix led by example: in life he could have been left for the dead. — Dave Thompson

He sweet love between the moon and the deep blue sea ... — Jimi Hendrix

They've imitated me so good that sometimes I hear people copying my mistakes — Jimi Hendrix

We want our sound to go into the soul of the audience, and see if it can awaken some little thing in their minds ... 'Cause there are so many sleeping people. — Jimi Hendrix

I'd like to get something together - like a Handel, Bach, Muddy waters, flamenco type of thing. If I could get that sound, I'd be happy — Jimi Hendrix

Excuse me while I kiss the sky. — Jimi Hendrix

When things get too heavy, just call me helium, the lightest known gas to man. — Jimi Hendrix

I am the flying saucer man from another world trapped on yours until they come to rescue me. One day the saucer will land. Jimi Hendrix and John Coltrane will open the hatch and tell me to get in before someone tries to blow up the ship. I'll just ask what took them so long. Within seconds we'll be out of here. — Henry Rollins

You're not the only one accused of hit and run. Tire tracks all across my back, well I can see you've had your fun. — Jimi Hendrix

Will the wind ever remember the names it has blown in the past? And with its crutch, its old age, and its wisdom, it whispers no this will be the last. — Jimi Hendrix

Of course war is horrible, but at present it's still the only guarantee of peace. — Jimi Hendrix

You ready? I have gold teeth, I have braids, I'm wearing Rick Owens moon boots, I have rips in my denim, a biker vest, I love artsy girls, my favourite artists are Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. I'm obsessed with being different. — ASAP Rocky

So you want to be married, oh baby, trying to put me on a chain, ain't that some shame? You must be losing your weak little mind. — Jimi Hendrix

Of course, all of the coolest icons overdosed and died years ago, which is just as well. How depressing would it be to see a gray-haired Jimi Hendrix wearing a cardigan sweater and reminiscing about the soundtrack of the Summer of Love? — Wally Lamb

I started out playing guitar because Jimi Hendrix was my hero, so my roots were really based on Jimi Hendrix and his style of playing. — Joe Satriani

Jimi Hendrix isn't as good as me! — David Gilmour

When I was designing, I had in mind Jimi Hendrix, and I could hardly find skinny indie black kids to wear my clothes. I remember one telling me he had to swap his skinny jeans for baggy ones in the subway before going home, so he wouldn't get in trouble in his neighborhood. — Hedi Slimane

You got your God and so do I. — Jimi Hendrix

I know about Woodstock probably as much as your average person who is over 30, where I'd know Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead. — Demetri Martin

This is your life - you must die by yourself, so for heaven's sake, live for yourself and no one else ... — Jimi Hendrix

We gotta stop smokin', stop, stop. I mean cigarette smoking. — Jimi Hendrix

I'm going to be a superstar musician, kill myself, and go out in a flame of glory. I want to be rich and famous and kill myself like Jimi Hendrix. — Kurt Cobain

The dollar bill is God in the States. All those Pelican people just believe in money and nothing else. — Jimi Hendrix

I always use the Jeff Beck model. Jeff Beck is just a genius, and he keeps getting better ... If there's anybody in your field you want to aspire to be like, it is a guy who does what he wants to do. Every record at least he comes out with one thing that makes everybodys' jaw drop ... I would hope that Jimi Hendrix would have done that, although, man, the odds are against him because he did so much in such a short amount of time ... — Joe Satriani

Genealogists live in the past lane. — Jimi Hendrix

I wanted to be the greatest woman guitarist alive. I had fantasies about being a female Jimi Hendrix. — Phoebe Snow

Move over Rover, and let Jimi take over. — Jimi Hendrix

Music is the most important thing. I'm thinking of my future. There has to be something new, and I want to be part of it. I want to lead an orchestra with excellent musicians. I want to play music which draws pictures of the world and its space — Jimi Hendrix

Peace, Love, and Happiness.
--- Jimi Hendrix --- — Jimi Hendrix

Manic depression's touching my soul. I know what I want, but I just don't know how to go about getting it. — Jimi Hendrix

I don't have nothing to regret at all in the past, except that I might've unintentionally hurt somebody else or something. — Jimi Hendrix

The one that rambles for a million miles, yes, I walk down this road searching for your love. — Jimi Hendrix

With the power of soul, anything is possible. — Jimi Hendrix

You got me sitting on the shelf, while you're out bewitching someone else. — Jimi Hendrix

The story of life is quicker then the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye. — Jimi Hendrix

When I hear myself singing, I hear Iggy Pop and Jimi Hendrix. There's a conversational thing going on. I suppose it depends on which The Pretenders song you're listening to. — Chrissie Hynde

Now if six turned up to be nine, I don't mind, I don't mind. — Jimi Hendrix

I love rock and roll. Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong decade because I love Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix and ... those are my bands. — Marisa Miller

It's not really into the big mass movement in music that I want to do, you know. — Jimi Hendrix

Every city in the world always has a gang, a street gang, or the so-called outcasts. — Jimi Hendrix

I am a leader. Leaders always get heat. They're always going against the grain. Jimi Hendrix got heat; Bob Marley got heat; Miles Davis got heat. Every great artist got heat. Heat means you're doing something right. — Ziggy Marley

If the mountains fell in the sea,
Let it be, it ain't me.
Got my own world to live through
And I ain't gonna copy you. Now, if 6 turned up to be 9,
I don't mind, I don't mind.
If all the hippies cut off their hair,
I don't care, I don't care.
Did, 'cos I got my own world to live through
And I ain't gonna copy you. — Jimi Hendrix

I was listening to Jimi Hendrix; I just admire his artistry and creativity as an artist. — LL Cool J

Three's all you need to change the world. Look at the Bolsheviks, or the Jimi Hendrix Experience. — Garth Risk Hallberg

I used to live in a room full of mirrors; all I could see was me. I take my spirit and I crash my mirrors, now the whole world is here for me to see. — Jimi Hendrix

When the power of love overpowers the love of power, the world will know peace. — Jimi Hendrix

I wish they'd had electric guitars in cotton fields back in the good old days. A whole lot of things would've been straightened out. — Jimi Hendrix

If there's a new idea, a new invention, or a new gas, or a new whatever you know, It should be brought at least into the open instead of carrying these same old burdens around with you. — Jimi Hendrix

There'll be no smoking in the gas chamber. — Jimi Hendrix

I didn't mean to take up all your sweet time ... I'll give it right back to you, one of these days — Jimi Hendrix