For a soft side of the guitar guru, "Little Wing" is a short song with (comparatively) humble instrumentation. He sings a poetic description of some woman, perhaps in memory of his mother, a guardian angel, a free-spirited lover, a dream-like imagination, or psychedlia. In an interview, he clarified that the song was written to personify the atmosphere of the 1967 Montery Pop Festival. She is quite the colorful character: "Well she's walking through the clouds with a circus mind that's running round. Butterflies and zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales, that's all she ever thinks about, riding with the wind."
As you listen to the song, let Jimi Hendrix slip past you altogether. Listen for the bells. The glockenspiel's complementary melody is what most intrigues me about this recording. I'm not yet able to describe beauty, but I will elaborate on a transferred concept: support. The glockenspiel supports the electric guitar and voice, and the song would sound entirely different without it. The glockenspiel earns a gig with Hendrix, and Hendrix sounds better.
Support is comforting someone when they need help, but is also celebrating another's success. Support is validating someone's humanity, and also affirming the good, the exciting, the nobel. There is a spectrum of complementary roles we may fill, from selfish manipulator to selfless lover, and including vicarious living, simple chivalry, communication, empathy, altruism, and compassion. How you relate to others defines who you are, how you raise your kids, how you support the people you let in your life, or even what your professional boundaries are. "When I'm sad, she comes to me with a thousand smiles, she gives to me free. It's alright, she says, it's alright." "Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep (Elbert Hubbard)."
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