Castles made of sand – a psychodynamic interpretation of Jimi Hendrix's life and music

Abstract

Jimi Hendrix (1942–1970), the greatest innovator of electric guitar, made primitive, extremely powerful music, which was a turning point for psychedelic rock music. The authors investigated Hendrix's biography and music for hidden meanings, and analysed ballads about a mystic female figure. Hendrix compares the idealized mother figure to the Virgin Mary, capable of almost anything. Presumably the most meaningful factor of Hendrix's song writing was the mother–child relationship. Hendrix's early life was traumatized by poverty and his parents’ severe marital problems. His mother suffered from pneumonia and alcoholism. Her traumatic death influenced Jimi's song writing throughout his life. He often composed his music under the influence of psychedelic drugs. The method is existential-phenomenological because it interprets the traumatic life events behind Hendrix's music. According to psychoanalysis, music expresses psychic events which require processing. In this approach music has an autobiographic meaning. It is similar to composer biographies where music is seen as documents through which we can understand life and significant experiences. In the music therapy approach used, a therapist learns to understand the patient through his/her expressions and identifying with them. Hendrix's musical sounds and symbols talk directly to the subconscious. It is obvious that Hendrix's extraordinary creativity seems to compensate for the severe traumas of his early life.