The Experience Tabs:
- All Along The Watchtower
- Purple Haze
- Hey Joe
- The Wind Cries Mary
- Angel
- Voodoo Chile'
- Foxy Lady
- Highway Child
- Castles Made Of Sand »
- Gypsie Eyes
- Wild Thing
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Date: 03 Mar 1993 17:07:48 -0700 (MST)
From: Paul Zimmerman
Subject: TAB: Castles Made of Sand - Hendrix
To: jamesb@animal-farm.nevada.edu
Message-Id:
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
CASTLES MADE OF SAND
Jimi Hendrix
/ = slide up, down
AH = artificial harmonic
() = sustain the note
h = hammer on
p = pull off
T = note held down with thumb
| = shows where the bar is for the lyrics
f = full bend
h = half bend
q = quarter bend
r = reverse bend
Moderate rock = 126
Intro:
----3-|/5----5/8----8/10---108----8-|5----53----3/5---------|---p3---------
----1-|/3----3/6----6/8-----86----6-|3----31----1/3---------|---(3)--------
4 ------|------------------------------|-------------------------|--------------
- ----3-|/5----5/8----8/10---108----8-|5----53----3/5---------|---(5)--------
4 ------|------------------------------|-------------------------|--------------
----1-|/3----3/6----6/8-----86----6-|3----31----1/3---------|---(3)--------
Slower = 94
AH
|------- |-------------------------------------------|---------------------
|------- |-----------7h10p7--------------------------|----------5----------
1 |------- 4 |------------------7-------------7---------|----------5--5-5-5---
- |------- - |-------7/9--------9---7-----7--(7)--------|----------5--5-7-5---
4 |------- 4 |-----5------------------10-----(10)-p(0)--|--------3---------(7)
|-3--3-- |-5/7---------------------------------------|-2/3h5---------------
Down the
|----------------------------|----------------------------------|
|----3-----------------------|----3-----------------------------|
|----4--------------5------5-|----4-------3-3-----5---(5)-------|
|----5------3-3-----5------5-|----5-------3-3-----5-5-(5)-------|
|-------3h5-----5/7----------|-------3h5------5/7---------------|
|-3--------------------6-----|-3-----------------------6--------|
T T
street you can hear her scream you're a disgrace as she|slams the door in his dr
|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------|-----------------5----5-------------
|-------------0----0------------0-----0----|--------5h7---7----5-h7--5----------
|----------3--3----3------------3-----3----|----------------------------7---5---
|----------3--3----3--3------3-----3-------|--------------------------------5-h7
|-1---1---------------1------1-----------1/|-5----------------------------------
T T
and now he stands outside and all the neighbors start to gossip and
|------------------------------------- |--------------------------|
|---------8---12--12--12---12p0------- |----------------------5---|
|-------------------------------x----- 2 |----------------------5---|
|---------9---12--12--12---12---x----- - |----------------------5---|
|-------------------------------x----- 4 |---------3---5/7----------|
|-0---------------0---0----0------0--- |-3--/5--------------------|
drool He
|------------------------------------|-------5--5-----------------------|
|-------12--12-x---------------------|-------3--3--------------3--------|
4 |-------0---0--x------3--3------3--3-|-------0----0-2--4p2---2h4--------|
- |-------12--12-x------3--3------3--3-|-------5-------------5--------53-|
4 |----------------0h5-------0h5-------|----------------------------------|
|-3--3-------------------------------|-3--3-----------------------------|
T
cries "Oh, girl you must be mad, what happened to the sweet love you and me had?
|-----------------------------------|-----------------0--------0-------------|
|-----------1---1--1----------------|-----------------0--0-----0-------------|
|-----------------------------------|-----------0h2------2/4-------42p0-----|
|-----------3---3--3------3-------3-|-------------------------------------2--|
|-------------------------3---------|-0--------------------------------------|
|-1-------------------1---1--3/5----|----------------------------------------|
T
gainst the door he leans and starts a scene, and his| tears fall and burn the
|------------------------------------------ |---------------------|
|------------------------------------------ |---------------------|
|------------------------------------------ 2 |-------0----------5--|
|-----------0h2----2--2p0------------------ - |-------3----------5--|
|-------------------------0h2----2-----0--- 4 |------------2/3------|
|-0---------------------------------------- |-3/5-----------------|
garden green. And so castles made of sand
|---------------------------------|--------------------|-----------7---------
|---------------------------------|--------------------|-----------7h10p7-7--
4 |---------0----------0-------5--5-|--------------------|-----------7------7--
- |---------5----------5-------5--5-|--------5-----------|--------7------------
4 |---------5--------5-5--5/7-------|------5-----5-------|-----5---------------
|-3---3----------3----------------|-3--3-3---3-3--3--3-|5/7------------------
T T
in the sea, e- ventually
|--------------------------------|------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|------------------------------|
|-------5------5--------5------5-|--------0---------------------|
|-------5--5-7-5----5---5------5-|--------5-5p0-----3--3------5-|
|----3------------8---8------8---|----5---------3h5-------------|
|/5------------------------6-----|-3----------------------/6----|
T AH
A little indian brave who, before he was ten, pla
|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------
|---------------------------------------|-----------1-----1--1------------------
|-------4----------3----------5---------|-----------0-----0---------------------
|-------5----------3--3-------5-----5---|-----------3-----3---------3-----3---3-
|-------5-----3h5--------5/7------------|------------------------------3--3-----
|-3---------------------------------6---|-1-------------------3/5---------------
T T
war games in the woods w/his indian friends and he|built a dream that when he gr
|-------------------------------------5--5-|------------------------------------
|------------5----5-------------------5--5-|------8--------------9--(9)--------
|-------------------------------------5--5-|------7-----------------------------
|------------7----7----------7--------7--7-|------9-9---9-----------------------
|------------7----7------------------------|------7---7-7--7h10---------------0-
|-5---------------------5/7--------5-------|-0-----------------------------0----
T T
be a fearless warrior indian chief
|---------------------- |-----------3-----3----------|
|---------------------- |---------3---3h5----3-------|
2 |--------------------5- 4 |--------------------2h4-2---|
- |------3-------------5- - |--------------------------0-|
4 |------3-------/7------ 4 |----------------------------|
|-1-------------------- |-3----3---------------------|
T T
Many moons past and more the dream grew strong until
|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
|---------3--3-3-3---3----------|------------------------------------------|
|------------2-4-2---2-2--------|-------0-------------------------0--------|
|-0--0-0--3--3-3---3---3-3------|-------3-------------------------3--------|
|-------------------------------|-------3--------3-------------------------|
|-3--3-3--3------------3----2---|--1----------------1-------1--------------|
T
morrow he would sing his first war song and fight his first battle but something
wrong;
|-----------------------------------------|-------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------|-------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------|--------------------------------7-7-7
|-------------------------------------5h7-|--------------9----9-9----------9-9-7
|---7-------------7-----7--9-9-0--5h7-----|--------------7----7-7----------7-7-7
|---5-------------------------------------|-0--------0--------------0-----------
T
prise attack killed him in his sleep that night
|---------------------- |----------------------------------|
|---------------------- |----------3--------------3-3------|
2 |-----------------5---- 4 |----------0----------0-0-0-0----0-|
- |-----------------5---- - |----------5----------5-5-5-5----5-|
4 |---------3---5/7------ 4 |----------5------------------5----|
|---1h3/5-------------- |-3----3----------------------3----|
T
And so castles made of sand melts into the sea e
|------------------|---------------------------------|--------------------------
|-3----------------|--------------7h10p7-------------|--------------------------
|-0----------------|---------------------7---------7|--------------5-----5----5
|-5--------5-------|----------7-------------7----7---|----------(7)-5-----5--5-5
|-5--------5-------|------5-------------------10-----|---5------------5h7----8--
|-3--3-3-3-3--3--3-|-5/7-----------------------------|/7------------------------
ventually
|-----3-----3-------------------------|-------------------------------------|
|-----3-h5--3---3---3----3-----3--3---|-------------------------------------|
|-----------0---2h4-2----2--2-----2---|-----------3------------5--5---------|
|-------------------0----3----------3-|-----------3---3--3-----5--5-------5-|
|-------------------------------------|-----3h5------------5/7--------------|
|-3-----------------------------------|-3----------------------------6------|
T T
|---------------------------------------|------------------------------------3-|
|---------------------------------------|-------3------------------------3-6---|
|-12---12---11----(11)5-5---(5)---3--|---5-3---5---p3----3h5p3-5-5f-r-------|
|---------------------------------------|-5---------------5--------------------|
|---------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
T
|-----------3-----------------------|---------------------------------------15--
|-6f--r-6---------------------------|------------------12h15--12--15-15f-------1
|---------------5f--r-----(5)-----3/|12-------12h14f-r------14------------------
|-----------------------------------|----(14)-----------------------------------
|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------------------
was a young girl whose heart was a frown cos she|was crippled for life and she c
speak a soun
|--------------------------------------------|----------------------------------
|--------------------------------------------|------------------------5-----5---
|--------------------------------------------|----------------------------------
|-3---------3----------------------3---------|-7---------------7--7---7-----7---
|-3---------------------------3--------------|----------------------------------
|-1----------------------1--------------3-/5-|-5----------5----5--5---5-----5---
T T T
wished and prayed she could stop livin, so she de-
|---------------------------------- |-----------------------------|
|-8------8--------------10--8-8---- |---------3--3----------------|
|-7------7---7--7------(7)--7-7---- 2 |---------0--0---------5---5--|
|-9------9---9--9---9-9-9---9-9---- - |---------3--3---------5---5--|
|-7---------------7-7-7------------ 4 |--3/5---------5/7--7---------|
|-0-------------------------------- |-----------------------------|
cided to die. She
|------------3h5----3-3--3-----5-----------|-------------5------5--5--5------
|---3-3--3-----3----3-3--3--3--3-----------|-------------3------3--3--3------
4 |------------------------------------------|-------------0---------0--0-----0
- |---5-5--5-----5------------5--5-------5-5|-------------5---------5--5-----5
4 |------------------------------5---5/7-----|---------------------------------
|---3-3--3---------------------------------|-3--3--3--3------------------3---
T T
wheelchair to the edge of the shore and to her legs she smiled you won't hurt me
|-----------------------------------------|-------------------------------------
|------------1----------------------------|---------5---------------------------
|------------0---0-0--0---------------0---|-----0-------------------------------
|------------3-----------------3------3---|/7-------7------------------7-------7
|-----------------------------------------|----------------------(5)------------
|--1---------1--------------1-----1-------|/5------------------------------5----
T T
But then a sight she'd never seen made her jump and say|look a golden winged
|---------------------------------------- |--------------------|
|---------8------------------------------ |-------3------------|
|---------7-------------------9-7-----9 2 |-------2--------5---|
|---------9------------------------------ - |-------3--------5---|
|---------7-----------/10---------------- 4 |-----------3--------|
|-0----0--------0--0--------------------- |---1----------------|
T
ship is passing my way.(Spoken)And it really didn't|have to stop, it just kep
|---------------------------- |------------------- |---3-----------------
|----------------3----------- |------------------- |---3-----------------
4 |---------4---------4-------- 2 |------------------- 4 |---0-----------------
- |---------5------------5----- - |----------5------5- - |---5-----------------
4 |---------5---------------5-- 4 |----------5-------- 4 |---5-----------------
|-3-----------------------3-- |--3--3-3--3---3---- |---3-----------------
T T T
And so castles made of sand
|----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
|--------------7h10p7--------------------|-------------5---------------------|
|---------------------7---------7---7---|----------5--5---5-----------------|
|----------7/9--------7---9-----7---7---|-------------5-8-5------5----------|
|-------5---------------------7h9-7h9---|---3------------------8------0h8-8|
|--5/7---------------------------------2/|5------------------6---------------|
slips into the sea e- ventually
|-------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------
|-------------------------------------|------3----------------------------------
|-------------3-----------5-------53-|------4-----------3-------------5--5-----
|------3------3-3-(3)-----5-5-----53-|------5-----------3--3----------5--5-----
|------3---5-------5--5/7-------------|-----------3--5-----------6--7-----------
|-3---------------------------6-6-----|-3------------------------------------6--
T
|--------------------------------------------|
|-------3------------------------------------|
|-------4-----------3----------5--5----------|
|-------5-----3-----3--3-------5--5--------5|
|-------------3--5--------6--7---------------|
|-3----------------------------------6--6----|
T
repeat into and fade, slower rock = 72
Remember, the guitar solo is played backwards on the album, so it
may sound a little different.
Peace, love, and soul,
Paul Zimmerman
Brought to you by the GUITARMASTA - http://www.guitarmasta.net
http://www.guitarmasta.net/h/hendrix,_jimi/.html
Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
|
No Picture
sebastian n00b! |
#1 by sebastian at Jul 23, 2006 at 1:27 AM EST |
| how do you meen by substain the note | |
|
No Picture
Jay Average |
#2 by Jay Lavasseia at Sep 27, 2007 at 7:53 AM EST |
| This song is basically composed of three narratives of life situations. The recurring theme throughout this song is slight variations of the line: "castles made of sand fall into the sea eventually." The overall message of this song seems to be that love, dreams, happiness and even life itself cannot be depended on to last. The first verse of the song depicts an argument between a man and a woman. The woman is angry at the man because he is drunk on her doorstep, apparently as he had been many times before. The argument progresses until she slams the door in his face sending him away with harsh words, calling him a "disgrace." As this scene breaks, the people around watch and "drool" at the chance to gossip about the man and woman whose problems make them feel more comfortable and content with their own lives. In desperation, anger, and remorse, the man calls to his love. He does not seem to understand how they have come to this point when the love that they had once seemed so wonderful. Calling her "mad," he does not understand how she could throw away and give up on the love they had. The man cannot see how his drunkenness destroyed their love. He cries at her door and "his tears fall and burn the garden green." The garden green symbolizes the thriving, beautiful love they once had for each other, the love that has been destroyed by his drinking problem. The garden being burned by his tears symbolizes the final end to their love as the man cries outside her door, never to experience the wonderful love he had with this woman again. In the recurring line, "castles made of sand fall into the sea eventually," the castle signifies the love that this woman and man had for each other. Sadly, this love was not lasting but was made of sand, therefore washed into the sea by storms in their lives (the man's drinking problem). Their love was not built up to be something permanent but was composed of something as unstable as sand. Possibly Jimi Hendrix is saying that true, lasting love is, in general, a castle of sand, something that is unreachable and intangible in this unpredictable life. Much similar in idea to the previous verse, the second verse tells the story of a young Indian brave. Growing up this boy played war games with his friends dreaming that someday he would become the great warrior he pretended to be. As "many moons," meaning the years, passed by, the boy continues to dream, strongly believing in the possibility of his dream becoming a reality. The night before his dream could finally come true, his tribe is attacked, and he is killed in his sleep. This verse is also followed by "castles made of sand melts into the sea eventually." The castle made of sand is this Indian boy's dream to become a great warrior, but his dream slipped away never to be realized. This story seems to illustrate the unfairness and unpredictability of life, saying that dreams cannot be held onto to tightly because they easily slip away. Where the first two verses spoke of intangible things such as love and dreams, the third verse tells of a life slipping away. The story is of a girl who is mute and crippled for life. The words "whose heart was a frown" means that she had no joy in life, only sadness in her heart. She does not want to go on with her life anymore because she feels that she has nothing worth living for. Planning to commit suicide, the girl rolls her wheelchair to the edge of the shore. Smiling, she says to her legs, "You won't hurt me no more." For a moment she feels happy because she believes that she will finally be free from the pain in her life. Then the song says that she suddenly sees a "golden winged ship" passing her. The golden winged ship seems to symbolizes the vessel which is coming to take her out of this life, possibly to a better place, such as heaven. The song goes on to say that the ship "didn't really have to stop, it just kept on going." On first impression, this seems to be saying that the girl did not end up committing suicide. Looking at the words from this perspective, the golden winged ship can be interpreted as her wish to die, but this wish ,for some unknown reason, could not be fulfilled. The ship to take her out of her misery to a better place just passed her by. With this interpretation the castle of sand is her dream to commit suicide in order to be free from her pain, but this dream slipped away from her. This golden ship passing her without even stopping can also be interpreted that this girl was so ready for death and eager to leave this life, that the ship to take her did not even have to stop. She left so quickly that the ship just kept moving along. She had nothing to hold onto that would keep her in this life and make her resist death. In the final line "and so castles made of sand slips into the sea eventually," the castle is this girl's life which had no substance or worth to it. She had no joy or happiness to hold her together, and her sorrow overcame her pushing her to commit suicide. Musically, this song is written as a ballad, very slow paced and relaxed. The lyrics of the verses are spoken except for the chorus line "Castles made of sand.", and the lines have a very choppy sound without a real flow from word to word and line to line. Jimi Hendrix speaks the words with almost a monotone voice hinted with a tone of indifference as if saying that life is just unfair and the way things are cannot be changed but must be accepted. His guitar seems to emit a sad, whining sound creating a fitting background to mesh with the serious, morose lyrics. The recurring theme of "castles made of sand." puts together two very contrasting words. Castles generally represent something strong, majestic, and long lasting, but castles of sand depict the opposite of this. Something made of sand is easily destroyed, disappearing quickly. The love between the woman and man, the Indian boy's dream to be a warrior, and the crippled girl's incentive to continue living were all castles made of sand that melted away into the sea of the reality of life, the reality that life is unfair and unpredictable. In the third verse of the song, Jimi Hendrix goes as far to say that even life itself is a castle made of sand. He seems to be saying that nothing in this life, nor even life itself can be depended on. In general, Jimi Hendrix's music is considered to have an emotional honesty as well as a vision of cultural and social brotherhood. "Castles Made of Sand" is no exception. All cultures and social classes can associate with the message of this song in some form or another. Most people have had an experience with a "castle made of sand." Whether it be love or a dream or anything else one hold's dear, almost everyone has seen something that they have built up and come to cherish crumble and melt away before their eyes. All have experienced the uncertainty and cruelty of life when one's "castles" fall away in life's stormy seas and crashing waves. | |
|
No Picture
Josh Lead Player |
#3 by Josh Ripley at Sep 27, 2007 at 11:31 AM EST |
| The song just seems to show the frailty of human life, how we base or life on things that we think are strong ('castles') when in reality they are weak and will break easily. It shows that nothing lasts forever. | |
|
No Picture
mike Average |
#4 by mike c at Sep 27, 2007 at 2:04 PM EST |
| Sorry to post again, but just to say, Jimi broke his leg in a PRASCHUTE accident, just felt i had to say that, sorry. 1 2 3 Next | |
|
No Picture
moss Average |
#5 by moss levenson at Sep 27, 2007 at 8:09 PM EST |
| IMPERMANANCE. The first verse is about a changing relationship. Love and acceptance is lost. The second is about plans for the future that go wrong. You build your life on a dream and live for that future but along the way it is snatched away. The third verse is about fate, the hand of god, and miracles that don't happen. Even when they should. Sooo- The universe is uncaring. Nothing is permanant and change is the only sure thing. The tone is dispassionate too. The last verse is especially potent: Hope, even for a brief instant is useless. Abandon hope. I think its beyond good and bad things that happen - things just happen. I agree about building on false truths (a break-up song?). But I think it goes beyond that and says there is no TRUTH in things or situations. All will change. Its very deep, compassioate but not sentimental. I think its very advanced philosphy. | |
|
No Picture
tReScOoL Wanna Be |
#6 by tReScOoL at Sep 28, 2007 at 3:57 AM EST |
| Castles made of sand Castles- fortifications thought to stand no matter what Sand- weak building blocks So it means either: Even if you think this is gonna last, its deceptive and truthfully weak so it will not Or no matter how hard you try to prevent it, it still ends- because sandcastles always get ruined | |
|
No Picture
Remi Average |
#7 by Remi Frenette at Sep 28, 2007 at 3:58 AM EST |
| I think it means: Everything can change, NOTHING is permanent. It's not only that good things can go bad, but bad things can go good....This song is not saying that everything WILL change, but that everything CAN. | |
|
No Picture
Tim Rhythm Player |
#8 by Tim Sears at Sep 28, 2007 at 5:23 AM EST |
| first two verses seem pretty clean to be about how a great thing can easily go sour... the last verse however, seems to be the opposite, that the worst of times often lead to much greater things. what do y'all think of that. | |
|
No Picture
Kevin Wanna Be |
#9 by Kevin Woolard at Sep 28, 2007 at 12:09 PM EST |
| ZoSo. WOW. just WOW. that was friggin great. met3ora, you did a great explanation too. but zoso. wow. lol. | |
|
No Picture
alex Average |
#10 by alex cope at Sep 29, 2007 at 12:13 AM EST |
| Ok, I'm gonna basically agree with the up top responses. The first 2 verses about the relationship and indian boy are about things that crumble, like a castle made of sand. However, I believe the last verse is about the oppposite. The young girl who can't talk and who is paralyzed from the waist down (it seems) wants to end her life so that she can move on. I'm kinda thinking as I type here, but if you use the concept of moving on, the second and third verses are about moving on. The indian boy wants to move on to become a chief and a great warrior, and the young girl wants to move out of her physical body. Of course, the straight out definition, it seems, of this song is that things that seem so certain can crumble beneath you in an instant. It's an important lesson, and I hope everybody does more than listens to this song, but actually learns from this song. Jimi tells us a lot about life in general. You can even relate him to someone like Homer who wrote the Odyssey. In The Odyssey, Homer tells us more than a story of a man lost at sea after war. He attempts to teach us about life, and about struggle. All of Jimi's lyrics have a great deal of this in it as well. As in any great work of literature, there are layers of the text. You need to peel down at the layers. You gotta get past the plain text of it and see what it means in context, see what it could mean in a different context, see why those words were chosen. This isn't some teenage band writing their own lyrics, this is a poetical genious. Jimi spent a great deal of time writing these lyrics because he was trying to tell us something, as well as entertain us. So with any song, peel down at the layers. Look at what the plain text means, look at what it means in context, and look at what it could mean. As for this song, you can look at it in different ways, depending on how you turn your head. Plain text is just as everyone has been saying. *Castles made of sand fall into the sea, eventually.* Now, look at it in context and you get the same answer. Look at it in a different context. He's telling us three stories about misfortunes. What could that mean? Alright, I've typed way too much, sorry. | |
|
No Picture
Galen Wanna Be |
#11 by Galen at Sep 29, 2007 at 5:26 AM EST |
| The song just seems to show the frailty of human life, how we base or life on things that we think are strong ('castles') when in reality they are weak and will break easily. It shows that nothing lasts forever. | |
|
No Picture
Dan Average |
#12 by Dan Johnson at Sep 29, 2007 at 7:11 AM EST |
| I think I kind of agree with everybody. It is about broken dreams and the part about things changing applies too. The lines "What happened to sweet love you and me have?" and "He would be a fearless warrior Indian cheif" reinforces the part about things changing; Their sweet love is gone and he's not going to be an Indian cheif anymore. But at the same time these lines imply broken dreams! | |
|
No Picture
simon Average |
#13 by simon wannick at Sep 29, 2007 at 8:22 AM EST |
| Great song. Also, try listening to it backwards, what you hear going on in the left ear the whole time is actually a guitar solo played backwards. Very awesome. | |
|
No Picture
Vincent Average |
#14 by Vincent Côté at Sep 29, 2007 at 10:30 AM EST |
| The song just seems to show the frailty of human life, how we base or life on things that we think are strong ('castles') when in reality they are weak and will break easily. It shows that nothing lasts forever. | |
|
No Picture
Never Speak A W Wanna Be |
#15 by Never Speak A Word Again I Will Crawl Away For Good at Sep 29, 2007 at 4:32 PM EST |
| This song is basically composed of three narratives of life situations. The recurring theme throughout this song is slight variations of the line: "castles made of sand fall into the sea eventually." The overall message of this song seems to be that love, dreams, happiness and even life itself cannot be depended on to last. The first verse of the song depicts an argument between a man and a woman. The woman is angry at the man because he is drunk on her doorstep, apparently as he had been many times before. The argument progresses until she slams the door in his face sending him away with harsh words, calling him a "disgrace." As this scene breaks, the people around watch and "drool" at the chance to gossip about the man and woman whose problems make them feel more comfortable and content with their own lives. In desperation, anger, and remorse, the man calls to his love. He does not seem to understand how they have come to this point when the love that they had once seemed so wonderful. Calling her "mad," he does not understand how she could throw away and give up on the love they had. The man cannot see how his drunkenness destroyed their love. He cries at her door and "his tears fall and burn the garden green." The garden green symbolizes the thriving, beautiful love they once had for each other, the love that has been destroyed by his drinking problem. The garden being burned by his tears symbolizes the final end to their love as the man cries outside her door, never to experience the wonderful love he had with this woman again. In the recurring line, "castles made of sand fall into the sea eventually," the castle signifies the love that this woman and man had for each other. Sadly, this love was not lasting but was made of sand, therefore washed into the sea by storms in their lives (the man's drinking problem). Their love was not built up to be something permanent but was composed of something as unstable as sand. Possibly Jimi Hendrix is saying that true, lasting love is, in general, a castle of sand, something that is unreachable and intangible in this unpredictable life. Much similar in idea to the previous verse, the second verse tells the story of a young Indian brave. Growing up this boy played war games with his friends dreaming that someday he would become the great warrior he pretended to be. As "many moons," meaning the years, passed by, the boy continues to dream, strongly believing in the possibility of his dream becoming a reality. The night before his dream could finally come true, his tribe is attacked, and he is killed in his sleep. This verse is also followed by "castles made of sand melts into the sea eventually." The castle made of sand is this Indian boy's dream to become a great warrior, but his dream slipped away never to be realized. This story seems to illustrate the unfairness and unpredictability of life, saying that dreams cannot be held onto to tightly because they easily slip away. Where the first two verses spoke of intangible things such as love and dreams, the third verse tells of a life slipping away. The story is of a girl who is mute and crippled for life. The words "whose heart was a frown" means that she had no joy in life, only sadness in her heart. She does not want to go on with her life anymore because she feels that she has nothing worth living for. Planning to commit suicide, the girl rolls her wheelchair to the edge of the shore. Smiling, she says to her legs, "You won't hurt me no more." For a moment she feels happy because she believes that she will finally be free from the pain in her life. Then the song says that she suddenly sees a "golden winged ship" passing her. The golden winged ship seems to symbolizes the vessel which is coming to take her out of this life, possibly to a better place, such as heaven. The song goes on to say that the ship "didn't really have to stop, it just kept on going." On first impression, this seems to be saying that the girl did not end up committing suicide. Looking at the words from this perspective, the golden winged ship can be interpreted as her wish to die, but this wish ,for some unknown reason, could not be fulfilled. The ship to take her out of her misery to a better place just passed her by. With this interpretation the castle of sand is her dream to commit suicide in order to be free from her pain, but this dream slipped away from her. This golden ship passing her without even stopping can also be interpreted that this girl was so ready for death and eager to leave this life, that the ship to take her did not even have to stop. She left so quickly that the ship just kept moving along. She had nothing to hold onto that would keep her in this life and make her resist death. In the final line "and so castles made of sand slips into the sea eventually," the castle is this girl's life which had no substance or worth to it. She had no joy or happiness to hold her together, and her sorrow overcame her pushing her to commit suicide. Musically, this song is written as a ballad, very slow paced and relaxed. The lyrics of the verses are spoken except for the chorus line "Castles made of sand.", and the lines have a very choppy sound without a real flow from word to word and line to line. Jimi Hendrix speaks the words with almost a monotone voice hinted with a tone of indifference as if saying that life is just unfair and the way things are cannot be changed but must be accepted. His guitar seems to emit a sad, whining sound creating a fitting background to mesh with the serious, morose lyrics. The recurring theme of "castles made of sand." puts together two very contrasting words. Castles generally represent something strong, majestic, and long lasting, but castles of sand depict the opposite of this. Something made of sand is easily destroyed, disappearing quickly. The love between the woman and man, the Indian boy's dream to be a warrior, and the crippled girl's incentive to continue living were all castles made of sand that melted away into the sea of the reality of life, the reality that life is unfair and unpredictable. In the third verse of the song, Jimi Hendrix goes as far to say that even life itself is a castle made of sand. He seems to be saying that nothing in this life, nor even life itself can be depended on. In general, Jimi Hendrix's music is considered to have an emotional honesty as well as a vision of cultural and social brotherhood. "Castles Made of Sand" is no exception. All cultures and social classes can associate with the message of this song in some form or another. Most people have had an experience with a "castle made of sand." Whether it be love or a dream or anything else one hold's dear, almost everyone has seen something that they have built up and come to cherish crumble and melt away before their eyes. All have experienced the uncertainty and cruelty of life when one's "castles" fall away in life's stormy seas and crashing waves. | |
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Kevin Wanna Be |
#16 by Kevin at Sep 29, 2007 at 8:11 PM EST |
| Jimi never fought in Vietnam. He was injured doing a parachute jump when he was still a teenager in the army, and never saw any active service. The first verse is an analogy of his parents, only with the sexes reversed, as he saw his mother as being an angel (hence the song) and so he said that it was his dad who was the drunken disgrace, even though his mother was the one with the problem. The second verse is based on himself and his ancestry, and how native American Indians were virtually wiped out, having at one time thought that they would be around for generations - the young boy dreaming of growing up to be a fearless warrior - only to be cut down in their prime. The third verse just sums up how shit life can be sometimes, but that ending it all isn't necessarily the best solution, and that things may not be as bad as they seem, after all. Put it all together, and you've got a beautifully crafted song that is one of my favourite ever. | |
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C.J. Wanna Be |
#17 by C.J. Donnelly at Sep 30, 2007 at 10:27 AM EST |
| don't don't don't post post post three three three times times times! ! ! ;) | |
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Chad Wanna Be |
#18 by Chad Barri at Sep 30, 2007 at 1:30 PM EST |
| typing too much is great! ^^ | |
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Tony Wanna Be |
#19 by Tony Moreno at Oct 1, 2007 at 12:10 AM EST |
| All is Vanity and love just wrote this...i think it applies...please advise WINDOWS TO THE INFINITE Creating windows through which to see, Marking a path from our place to eternity Crystal prisms fastened in place Mechanisms by which we seek our Grace Windows we design and fashion with care Made by man – do they betray what is there? From feet of clay to infinite sight Can we hurdle such boundaries and dare achieve such heights? amen i hope :) | |
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slapslappopslap Badass |
#20 by slapslappopslap at Oct 1, 2007 at 7:56 AM EST |
| Bodester, Jimi broke his leg in an accident, that might of been the death., The first and second verse are all explained. | |
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Green Day rocks Average |
#21 by Green Day rocks!!!! at Oct 2, 2007 at 5:35 AM EST |
| I agree with most of the people above... He is talking about dreams that you put all your hopes and dreams into but they get destroyed, demonstrated when he sings: "And he built up a dream that when he grew up He would be a fearless warrior indian cheif Many moons past and more the dream grew strong until Tomorrow he would sing his first warsong and fight his first battle But something went wrong, surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night " This also can mean that the things they had hoped for didn't turn out the way they wanted to...which is demonstrated above. I agree with Temujin on the chorus, Jimi does a great job with the lyrics in this song. | |
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TK Average |
#22 by TK at Oct 2, 2007 at 4:17 PM EST |
| I think this song is about broken dreams. Things that you believed in, and put faith in, that just crumbled around you. | |
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NEKIDBASSIST Rhythm Player |
#23 by NEKIDBASSIST at Oct 3, 2007 at 8:32 PM EST |
| "And he built up a dream that when he grew up He would be a fearless warrior indian cheif Many moons past and more the dream grew strong until Tomorrow he would sing his first warsong and fight his first battle But something went wrong, surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night " Jimi Hendrix was part native american, and fought in Vietnam...I think he may have started out imagining he could be a "fierce Indian warrior chief"..."but something went wrong" "suprise attack [of some change of heart] killed him [the fierce Indian warrior chief] that night..." I wonder if this is about some kind of experience or first experience of something, possibly before his first experience of combat, or before he got to Nam. | |
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Jess Average |
#24 by Jess Willie at Oct 5, 2007 at 11:10 AM EST |
| I think the song describes situations and dreams that were based on false beliefs. Jimi's point is that because these dreams were never rooted in anything real and they unravel by themselves. I love this song. I hate to make it this superficial, but its a great breackup song because it puts things into perspective. | |
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Eric Average |
#25 by Eric Smith at Oct 5, 2007 at 5:05 PM EST |
| Indian boy - Jimi Iiis part Cherokee indian Relationship problems - Jimi's dad Al and his mom got a a divorce Dont know about the little girl | |
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Allistair Average |
#26 by Allistair at Oct 6, 2007 at 10:09 AM EST |
| this song is about knowing that you can't plan everything in life because theres no way you can predict every single event that will happen to you | |
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