Description
Edit for headphones, December 2021. Source of the edit is song number four on the 1992 remastered album "The Ultimate Experience" special edition HDCD, Polydor 517 235-2.
The song was inspired by Jimi Hendrix's girlfriend at the time, Kathy Mary Etchingham. He'd gotten into an argument with her about her cooking (lumpy mashed potato). She got very angry and started throwing pots and pans and finally stormed out to stay at a friend's home for a day or so. When she came back, Jimi had written "The Wind Cries Mary" for her.
At one point the band had 20 minutes to spare in a recording studio, when Jimi showed "The Wind Cries Mary" to the band. They managed to record it in the 20 minute period they had. Later they recorded several more takes of the song, but in the end they decided to go with the original recording.
THE WIND CRIES MARY
(Jimi Hendrix)
after all the jacks are in the boxes
and the clowns have all gone to bed
you can hear happiness staggering on down the street
footprints dressed in red
and the wind whispers Mary
a broom is drearily sweeping
up the broken pieces of yesterday's life
somewhere a queen is weeping
somewhere a king has no wife
and the wind it cries Mary
the traffic lights they turn up blue tomorrow
and shine their emptiness down on my bed
the tiny island sags downstream
'cause the life that lived is, is dead
and the wind screams Mary
will the wind ever remember
the names it has blown in the past
and with this crutch its old age and its wisdom
it whispers no, this will be the last
and the wind cries Mary
®© SME on behalf of Legacy Recordings
®© therock&rollingsixties
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