Castles Made Of Sand

It amuses me that I can get on this at school :) These types of things are normally blocked because the teachers all have some fear that instead of actually doing work on computers we might actually be on MySpace etc, blogging and basically having fun-they are right to have this fear evidently :)

I should be revising right now-after all that is what study-leave is about, but really right now i can't be bothered. I've just had a maths exam in which I'm pretty sure I failed spectacularly in (big whoop!!) and tomorrow I have Geography paper 1 (all about merry little England-another frenzied cheer) So forgive me if I am too tired to make much sense.

Anyway this will be the second blog on music me thinks:

Castles Made of Sand:

This song has one clear message-simply; nothing lasts forever. A rather depressing image maybe but a depressing song-never. With its intricate solo and questionable chorus (is there one?) it has all the ingredients that a perfect song needs. It is by far my favourite Hendrix song which is weird because it's definitely not one of the most famous. For instance when I first tried to look for it on YouTube, for a while all I could find was one real version of it (the others being fat twits doing things with their voices that frankly in a civilised society just shouldn't be done...ever).
On another occasion, while out for a meal with my friends, I was talking to one of them-Lets call him Bill, anyway Bill and I were talking about Hendrix and a few other music greats. A bit of background information- Bill is in a band, Bill claims to love Jimi- all okay so far. Until this song is brought up, all of a sudden I'm getting it from all angles, another of my friends "Barry" claims never to have heard the song. Bill takes a different route, looking at me sympathetically and asking "Do you mean Spanish Castle Magic"? NO!! I did not mean Spanish Castle Magic. I would understand if the two songs were on different albums but they aren't. They are six songs apart. Granted Castles made of Sand is on the other disc but seriously?
At this point I realised (okay I had realised this before but it had never sunk in) that many "Band Types" list "Hendrix"in their influences, and claim that they love him because it sounds cool. In reality they know nothing about his music or songs, rarely knowing more than a couple of songs (always the most famous-Voodoo Child being right up there-great song-have a bit of variety though). I bet If I had a conversation about Hendrix with Bill again today, and questioned his favourite tunes the answers would be typical. "Voodoo Child, Purple Haze,Spanish Castle Magic etc" All great songs yes undoubtedly, but all a little too obvious. I wonder if I asked him about Castles made of Sand again, I'd get the same response. Or maybe my obvious annoyance encouraged him to do his own research into a legend like Jimi. encouraged him to maybe expand on his knowledge-listen to more songs (an idea-if he's your favourite-maybe listen to all his songs out there) and develop an actual opinion that is your own and not that of Rolling Stone's greatest songs ever list.

Talking about people who are in bands and claim Hendrix as influence and such, recently I was talking to another mate who also has a band, Bob. We were discussing various legends in music and Hendrix was thrown in. I nearly hyperventilated on the spot when he asked (genuinely asked-no joke) "Who's Jimi Hendrix anyway?" What?? You are in a band and you don't know who Hendrix is? More Worryingly still when later I browsed their band site-under influences who should I see but Hendrix. To be fair there are other members in his band but you would think he would have had some input into that list and when names came up that he didn't recognise maybe would have had the intelligence to maybe take a gander at them. After all they were his bands influences for Christ sake.

While writing this I did realise that some people who read it may well be in bands and may well actually say they like people like Hendrix and mean it. You may be reading thinking "But I know other songs other than the norm" well done. Although in my opinion Castles made of Sand should be quite a normal song to like, after doing some research (yes just around my area) very few people know it. Was I just lucky when i happened across this beautiful piece? No, because it's on an album, it's not an obscure song that has just come to light, it's not a bootleg or basement tape (like many of Dylan's less known songs) its on an album. If you have the album you should have heard it. If he is your "favourite singer" then really you should have the album. Do you see where I get confused? Do you understand my complaint? Why lie to make yourself look cool when you could easily be exposed as being a bit of a fool? It just doesn't make sense. It's not a requirement to list famous people as influences when you start a band so if you don't actually know them or like them then DON'T list them. It's simple really.


Ha my friend has just looked over and laughed "I can't believe you're still ranting"- to her I say- shut up. I'm on a roll lol. No I better stop now- I may well have offended a lot of people and to others i will definitely have made myself look a bit stupid. A Rant on one song-sad you may think. I don't know. I love music so much and really believe people should try to expand their horizons when it comes to bands. When I say I like someone, I say it not because i like just one song by them but because I have devoured album after album before coming to that conclusion.
It may just be my way, but I think it's a good way :)

Anyway still in school-boring times- maybe i should get a little revision done-as the whole point in staying was because I knew if i went home- I wouldn't. Much good that did me lol :)

Au Revoir