‘Little Wing’ is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1967. It is a slower tempo, rhythm and blues-inspired ballad featuring Hendrix's vocal and guitar with recording studio effects accompanied by bass, drums, and glockenspiel. Lyrically, it is one of several of his songs that reference an idealized feminine or guardian angel-like figure. At about two and a half minutes in length, it is one of his most concise and melodically focused pieces.
The origins of ‘Little Wing’ have been traced back to the 1966 recording of ‘(My Girl) She's a Fox’, an R&B song which features Hendrix playing Curtis Mayfield-influenced guitar accompaniment. He developed the song while performing in New York City's Greenwich Village prior to his involvement with producer Chas Chandler. After being inspired by events at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, Hendrix completed the song in October 1967, when it was recorded by the Experience during the sessions for their second album Axis: Bold as Love.
Jimi explained the backstory to ‘Little Wing’ in a 1968 interview with a Swedish writer. "It's based on a very, very simple Indian style," he said. "I got the idea when we were in Monterey and I was just lookin' at everything around. So I figured that I take everything I'd see around and put it maybe in the form of a girl, or something like that, and call it 'Little Wing,' and then it will just fly away." The song appears on Axis: Bold as Love and has been covered by Derek and the Dominos, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sting and many, many others.
The song is particularly revered among guitar players. Tom Morello wrote in this 2011 tribute to Hendrix in Rolling Stone: "It's just this gorgeous song that, as a guitar player, you can study your whole life and not get down, never get inside it the way that he does. He seamlessly weaves chords and single-note runs together and uses chord voicings that don't appear in any music books."
‘Little Wing’ is one of Hendrix's most popular songs and has become a standard, with interpretations recorded by musicians in a variety of styles. It is ranked number 188 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Labels – Track (UK), Reprise (US)
Songwriter – Jimi Hendrix
Producer – Chas Chandler
SONG LYRICS
[Intro][Verse 1]
Well she's walking through the clouds
With a circus mind that's running round
Butterflies and zebras
And moonbeams
And-a, fairytales
That's all she ever thinks about
Riding with the wind
[Verse 2]
When I'm sad, she comes to me
With a thousand smiles she gives to me free
It's alright, she said, it's alright
Take anything you want from me
Anything, anything
Fly on, little wing
[Outro]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, little wing