My Friend est l’une des chansons les plus littéraires de Jimi Hendrix. Sous la forme d’un récit raconté dans l’ambiance d’un bar animé, Hendrix mêle souvenirs, rencontres étranges et impressions de voyage. Le texte avance comme un rêve, sans suivre une histoire parfaitement linéaire.
Derrière cette apparente légèreté se cache une profonde mélancolie. Le thème central est la solitude : le « friend » du titre pourrait être un véritable ami, mais aussi une partie de lui-même, son reflet ou sa conscience. Hendrix décrit un homme entouré de monde, mais qui demeure fondamentalement seul.
La force poétique de la chanson réside dans ses images évocatrices et son atmosphère presque cinématographique. Entre blues, confidences et visions surréalistes, My Friend ressemble davantage à une courte nouvelle qu’à une chanson traditionnelle, révélant une facette intime et sensible du génie créatif de Hendrix.
Y’all pass me that bottle, And I’ll sing you all a real song Yeah! Let me get my key, ahu …
Well, I’m looking through Harlem My stomach squeal just a little more A stagecoach full of feathers and footprints, Pulls up to soap box door Now a lady with a pearl handled necktie Tied to the driver’s fence Breathes in my face, Bourbon and coke possessed words « Haven’t I seen you somewhere in hell, Or was it just an accident? » (You know how I felt then, and so:) Before I could ask « was it the East or West side? » My feet they howled in pain The wheels of a bandwagon cut very deep, But not as deep in my mind as the rain And as they pulled away I could see her words Stagger and fall on my muddy tent Well I picked them up, brushed them off, To see what they say, And you wouldn’t believe: Come around to my room, with the tooth in the middle, And bring along the bottle and a president’
And eh sometimes it’s not so easy, baby Especially when your only friend, Talks, sees, looks and feels like you, And you do just the same as him
(Gets very lonely up this road, baby) (Yeah, hmmm, yeah) (Got more to say!)
Well I’m riding through la (huh), On a bicycle built for fools And I seen one of my old buddies And he say, « you don’t look the way you usually do « I say, « well, some people look like a coin-box » He say, « look like you ain’t got no coins to spare » And I laid back and I thought to myself, and I said this: I just picked up my pride from underneath the pay phone, And combed this breath right out of my hair
And sometimes it’s not so easy Especially when your only friend Talk, sees, looks and feels like you, And you do just the same as him
Just got out of a Scandinavian jail, And I’m on my way straight home to you But I feel so dizzy I take a quick look in the mirror, To make sure my friend’s here with me too And you know good well I don’t drink coffee, So you fill my cup full of sand And the frozen tea leaves on the bottom Sharing lipstick around the broken edge And my coat that you let your dog lay by the fire on And your cat he attacked me from his pill-box ledge
And I thought you were my friend too, Man my shadow comes in line before you I’m finding out that it’s eh not so easy Specially when your only friend? Talks, looks, sees and feels like you, And you do the same just like him
(Lord it’s so lonely here, hmmm, yeah) Yeah! (Pass me that bottle over there…) Yeah, yeah, okay.. My friend and me Télécharger
