Down the street you can hear her scream "You're a disgrace"
As she slams the door in his drunken face
And now he stands outside
And all the neighbors start to gossip and drool
He cries "Oh girl, you must be mad
What happened to the sweet love you and me had?"
Against the door he leans and starts a scene
And his tears fall and burn the garden green.
And so castles made of sand
Fall in the sea eventually.
A little Indian brave who before he was ten
Played war games in the woods with his Indian friends
And he built a dream that when he grew up
He would be a fearless warrior, Indian Chief
Many moons passed, and more the dream grew strong
Until tomorrow he would sing his first war song
And fight his first battle
But something went wrong
Surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night.
And so castles made of sand
Melts into the sea eventually.
There was a young girl whose heart was a frown
'Cause she was crippled for life and she couldn't speak a sound
And she wished and prayed she could stop living
So she decided to die
She drew her wheelchair to the edge of the shore
And to her legs she smiled, "You won't hurt me no more"
But then a sight she'd never seen made her jump and say
"Look, a golden winged ship is passing my way"
And it really didn't have to stop
It just kept on going.
And so castles made of sand
Slips into the sea eventually.
As she slams the door in his drunken face
And now he stands outside
And all the neighbors start to gossip and drool
He cries "Oh girl, you must be mad
What happened to the sweet love you and me had?"
Against the door he leans and starts a scene
And his tears fall and burn the garden green.
And so castles made of sand
Fall in the sea eventually.
A little Indian brave who before he was ten
Played war games in the woods with his Indian friends
And he built a dream that when he grew up
He would be a fearless warrior, Indian Chief
Many moons passed, and more the dream grew strong
Until tomorrow he would sing his first war song
And fight his first battle
But something went wrong
Surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night.
And so castles made of sand
Melts into the sea eventually.
There was a young girl whose heart was a frown
'Cause she was crippled for life and she couldn't speak a sound
And she wished and prayed she could stop living
So she decided to die
She drew her wheelchair to the edge of the shore
And to her legs she smiled, "You won't hurt me no more"
But then a sight she'd never seen made her jump and say
"Look, a golden winged ship is passing my way"
And it really didn't have to stop
It just kept on going.
And so castles made of sand
Slips into the sea eventually.
inviata da Pluck - 21/8/2025 - 17:32
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Album: Axis: Bold as Love (1967)
"Castles Made of Sand" di Jimi Hendrix non è, nel suo complesso, una canzone esplicitamente contro la guerra. Tuttavia, la sua seconda strofa, che narra del coraggioso giovane nativo americano trucidato nel sonno la notte prima della sua prima battaglia in difesa dei diritti della sua gente, sottolinea la tragica futilità e l’assurdità di ogni guerra.
Richard Warren Field's Blog
The song presents three little stories, each followed with the refrain: “And so Castles Made of Sand fall/melts/slips into the sea, eventually.”
The stories might seem to be unrelated — a man crying not to end a relationship with a lady, an Indian brave killed in a surprise attack the night before his first battle, and a crippled young girl wishing to die.
But there is a unifying theme. All three of these people are thwarted from achieving their desires.
The crying man is left sobbing at the door. The Indian brave dies in his sleep on the eve of battle after dreaming of his first battle “for many moons.” And the crippled young girl wants to die. A “golden-winged ship” — an apparent metaphor for Heaven, in my opinion — passes her by.
And the song’s title, the tag line after these stories, lets us know that all ambitions/achievements/goals, thwarted or not, fade away eventually. Sure, the tone of the song is dark.
But the art of it, the way the music and words slide together in unison to create that effect of falling, of melting, of slipping, of rising out of a sandy beach to stand magnificently but not permanently — all of this makes “Castles Made of Sand” a treasure of a song.