“Just Call Me Helium”: Jimi Hendrix Reflects on His Reality-Bending Writing Style

Considering his monumental role in ushering in a new wave of psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll, it’s unsurprising that Jimi Hendrix reflecting on his reality-bending writing style sounds like something one might come up with while on LSD. The guitarist’s debut studio album, Are You Experienced, completely changed the way rock ‘n’ roll looked and felt for decades to come.

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And fascinatingly, how something looked to one person compared to another set of eyes was something at the top of Hendrix’s mind when he wrote music.

Jimi Hendrix Reflects On Reality-Bending Style

As one of the vanguards of psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll, Jimi Hendrix spent most of his short-lived tenure as a celebrity answering questions about how his new style of music was affecting the rest of the world. One such conversation occurred with Blank on Blank in 1970, just days before Hendrix would tragically die of an overdose in London. Hendrix’s interview with Keith Altham was a treasure trove of insights into the “Purple Haze” singer’s writing style, which, interestingly enough, was never purposefully meant to be “psychedelic.” The process came first. The psychedelia was a byproduct.

“The way I write things, I just write them with a clash between reality and fantasy, mostly,” Hendrix told Altham. “You have to use fantasy in order to show different sides of reality. That’s how it can bed. As a word, reality is nothing but each individual’s own way of thinking. Then, the establishment grabs a big piece of that. All I write is what I feel. That’s all. I don’t really round it off too good. I just keep it almost naked, you know. Like, when we go to play, you’re flipping around and flashing around and everything. They’re just seeing nothing but [what] their eyes see. Forget about their ears.”

While there’s no denying that Hendrix’s LSD habit contributed to the otherworldly, reality-bending ways he would write music, there was also a natural element to his psychedelia. From his on-stage aesthetics to his subject matter to the wide color palette of tones he would pull from his electric guitar, Hendrix’s music naturally leaned toward the abstract and eccentric.

The Guitarist Never Thought His Music Was Heavy Or Angry

Rock ‘n’ roll was a well-defined genre by the time Jimi Hendrix made his way into the spotlight. But what made Hendrix so singularly unique was the tone, power, and approach to the guitar. Most notably, Hendrix preferred distortion and overdrive over a clean, precise tone. These days, this kind of crunch and supersized sound is to be expected in rock ‘n’ roll. But back in Hendrix’s prime, many considered his music heavy or angry. Hendrix, however, would have disagreed. In fact, he argued that his music was the opposite.

Hendrix denied writing “angry” or “anti-establishment” music during his 1970 Blank on Blank interview. “If it was up to me, there would be no such thing as the establishment, you know. It’s nothing but blues. That’s all I’m singing about. Today’s blues.” The guitarist said, although he avoided overtly speaking about politics, “It all comes out in the music most of the time.”

“There’s too many heavy songs out nowadays,” Hendrix continued. “Music is getting too heavy, almost to the state of unbearable. I have this one little saying: when things get too heavy, just call me helium. The lightest known gas to man.”

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