Day 4 "All Along the Watchtower"

The song of the day:
"All Along the Watchtower"
by Jimi Hendrix...and Bob Dylan



"There must be some kind of way out of here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
I cant get no relief
Businessman they drink my wine
Plow men dig my earth
None will level on the line
Nobody of it is worth
Hey hey
No reason to get excited
The thief he kindly spoke
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
So let us not talk falsely now
The hour's getting late
Hey
All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Bare-foot servants too, but huh
Outside in the cold distance
A wild cat did growl
Two riders were approachin'
And the wind began to howl
Hey
All along the watchtower
Hear you sing around the watch
Gotta beware gotta beware I will
Yeah
Ooh baby
All along the watchtower"

An incredibly fantastic song, if I may say so myself. I would rank Mr. Hendrix in the top 5 of the best guitar players ever if my opinion matters at all. I can't give Hendrix credit for the lyrics, because Bob Dylan actually wrote the song to begin with, but as it usually goes with Dylan, someone else picked up the song and it became a lot more famous. (I'm not knocking Mr. Dylan. I'm really starting to get into his work as well.)

A little over a week ago, I was in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (A fantastic place that every rock music enthusiast needs to go to before they die!) While there, they had an exhibit that pulled up some back story on the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Included on this list was "All Along the Watchtower" as performed by Jimi Hendrix. It stated that Bob Dylan really enjoyed the new version of his song, and as a matter of fact, he plays Hendrix' version as a memorial to him.

But, the first time I really got into the song, it was actually because of the movie "Watchmen," which featured a fantastic soundtrack...if one could mentally block the horrendous version of "Hallelujah" in the middle of the movie...but I digress. The song was actually quoted in the graphic novel, (with Dylan's name, instead of Hendrix...since he did write it and all...) but they used Hendrix in the movie, which I think was a brilliant idea.

The lyrics themselves are a work of art, with Dylan doing what he does best...commentating and stating opinions about the 60s in a nice symbolic way. Hendrix' guitar creates an intense and an equally beautiful frame for that work of art. If I had a ranking system for songs up here, I would give it a 5 out 5.