"I Don't Live Today" is a song by
the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released on their debut album ''
Are You Experienced'' (1967). In a 1968 interview, Hendrix said it "was dedicated to the American-Indian and all minority depression groups". The song was part of the Experience concert repertoire and Hendrix often repeated the dedication during his introductions.
Recording
The song was recorded by the Experience in London during the sessions for ''Are You Experienced''. Scheduling conflicts at
Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios was a renowned British independent commercial recording studio based in Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st century, including Jimi Hendr ...
led manager
Chas Chandler to book time at
De Lane Lea Studios. There they recorded "I Don't Live Today", which featured a manual
wah effect that predated the pedal unit. They completed a working master by the end of the day, though Hendrix eventually recorded a new lead vocal at Olympic.
Composition and lyrics
Musicologist Ritchie Unterberger considers the lyrics to "I Don't Live Today" to be more at home in a
gothic rock
Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...
setting than in
psychedelia, however; he describes the music as being "played and sung with an ebullience that belies the darkness of the lyrics." Author Sean Egan wrote that Hendrix "superbly, and with great economy of words evok
ddespair, whether that despair be an individual's or the despair of a devastated and brutalized race." The song's tribal rhythms served as a platform for Hendrix's innovative
guitar feedback improvisations.
[: guitar feedback in "I Don't Live Today"; : the tribal rhythms of "I Don't Live Today".] In honor of his Cherokee heritage, Hendrix dedicated the song to the
American Indians and other minority groups.
Notes
Citations
References
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The Jimi Hendrix Experience songs
Songs about suicide
Songs written by Jimi Hendrix
1967 songs
Song recordings produced by Chas Chandler