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Jimi, ...the wind began to howl

: music, September 14 2020 ▶

Seriously, when you see a Huey helicopters, flying in the mountain jungle, there are just a couple of songs, you immediately start whistling, while getting the musical chills ("psychophysiological response to rewarding auditory and/or visual stimuli"). For me it is "All along the watchtower" first, "Fortunate son" second. And saying "All along the watchtower", I mean Jimi Hendrix's Tower. The original belongs to Bob Dylan from 1967. Hendrix made it better just one year later, also according to Dylan, who, on several occasions, complimented the cover-work of his colleague. Nobody really knows what the story is about, some analyst even say the lyrics are composed backwards, starting with the princess on top of the tower, watching the two riders closing in...
In my vision about the song, adjusted to our modern century, it might be the lonely man, hiding behind a cheerful smile (joker), scared and fed-up with everything. He is talking to his best friend (thief), who was successful in life, but is paying the prise of his ruthlessness.

There must be some kind of way outta here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion

Sharing his desperation about the future, so simple and straight. Just a few words draw the emotional abyss in his heart. Joker lacks huge life experience, always a man of integrity, but constantly disappointed how other abuse his kindness. His friend went through a lot more and probably has seen both sides of the medal, reminds him, they are larger than life:

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

Or maybe Joker and Thief are the callsigns of two marines, standing guard and killing time with some life stories...waiting to get back home...if they get back home. The Iraqi desert blows dust over the camp, while the sun sets in the distance. The third verse completely switches the perspective, and honestly, I have zero clue what might it mean. Maybe a woman, waiting for Joker to come home, but the riders are bringing the bad news.
Yes, Dylan wrote the song after a motorcycle crash, probably expressing his own feelings and some private drama is lurking behind. As for me, it is entirely the voice and the soul of Jimi Hendrix.