Castles Made of Sand (song)

Infobox Song
Name =Castles Made of Sand


Border =
Caption =album cover
Type =
Artist =The Jimi Hendrix Experience
alt Artist =
Album =
Published =
Released =1 December 1967 (UK)
15 January 1968 (US)
Recorded =
Genre =psychedelic rock, hard rock, blues-rock
Length =2:46
Writer =Jimi Hendrix
Composer =
Label =MCA (reissues)
Producer =Chas Chandler
Tracks =Side 1
# "EXP"
# "Up from the Skies"
# "Spanish Castle Magic"
# "Wait Until Tomorrow"
# "Ain't No Telling"
# "Little Wing"
# "If 6 Was 9" Side 2
# "You Got Me Floatin'"
# "Castles Made of Sand"
# "She's So Fine"
# "One Rainy Wish"
# "Little Miss Lover"
# "Bold as Love"
Misc =
Audio sample? =

"Castles Made of Sand" is a song from The Jimi Hendrix Experience's second studio album, "", released in 1967 in the UK and 1968 in the U.S. It was available in two different stereo mixes and a mono mix.

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Structure

The song is a melancholy meditation on thwarted plans, the first verse features a broken relationship, the second the surprise death of an Indian boy before battle, and the third a crippled girl who prepares for suicide, only to see a "golden winged ship" passing her way. Unfortunately, it didn't have to stop - "it just kept on goin'". Each specific occurrence supported by chorus-lines: three slight variations of "...and so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually...".

The song is known for its intricate solo, heard on record as being completely backwards in time (at first recorded properly, then reversed on track) and its lack of a conventional chorus.

Interpretation

A common interpretation of the lyrics is the message that sand is not water resistant (thus "Castles made of sand fall in the sea eventually"), not only the good things like love, dreams or life, but also the bads, like diseases, death and fears, as shown in the last part of the song.

Leon Hendrix, the younger brother of Jimi has said that privately, Jimi revealed to him that the song was about their family. The first verse is their mother leaving their father Al again for the final time. The second verse is referencing his Native American heritage and the stories his grandmother (a quarter Cherokee) [Electric Gypsy by Harry Shapiro & Caesar Glebeek] would tell him. The boy who played "war games in the woods with his Indian friends" is said to be Leon (as stated by himself) but could also be about Jimi. The third verse recounts Jimi's mother Lucille in the hospital suffering from liver disease, wishing to die so she would suffer no more, "to her legs she smiled you won't hurt me no more." Lucille did have cirrhosis of the liver, but was recovering outside of Hospital, when she was admitted unconscious to hospital, where she died from a ruptured spleen caused by a blow from an unknown source, not a liver complaint as is often repeated, although this was listed as a contributing factor on her death certificate [7] . The song "Little Wing" is also about his mother Lucille as stated by Leon, although in interviews he gave an alternate interpretation, most likely so he would not have to recount painful memories for strangers. Jimi himself said the song was about the Monterey Pop Festival personified as a girl.

Locals from the Moroccan town Diabat has claimed that the song title is inspired by the Bordj El Berod-watchtower ruin. It is known that Hendrix stayed in Diabat in the 60's, so it is not unlikely he has seen the famous ruin before he named the song.

Covers

The song was covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and a live version was featured on the 1994 B-Sides, Remixes, Outtakes and Live compilation CD "Out In L.A.". The same version was released on the 2003 remastered version of their album "Mother's Milk". The studio version was recorded in 1991 and was released as an iTunes exclusive bonus track to "Blood Sugar Sex Magik". Four Tet also covered the song for the mix album. The song was also covered (with Little Wing) by Tuck & Patti.

References