my head is hurting from this Facebook post does no one understand Hendrix played a distorted version of Star Spangled Banner to protest the Vietnam War and not as some act of great patriotism, it’s like the boomers who lived through this event rewrote the history and purpose of Woodstock to fit with their nationalism, the 1960s saw some of the worst acts of American imperialism and racism….these “hippies” were not just anti-establishment, they wanted civil rights and they wanted America to stop killing people in east Asia simply because they were a threat to American wealth
not only was it distorted, he played his guitar in such a way that it sounded like bombs, missiles, and gunfire. the music wailed and screamed with anguish. it was meant to express the horrors of the vietnam war in the most raw way possible. take a listen, it’s really an amazing piece of art and should in no way be erased to further fascist rhetoric!
Also, around the 2:33 mark, he plays the opening notes to Taps, a song typically reserved for funerals of dead soldiers and the like.
