Somewhere a king has no wife/
And the wind, it cries Mary.

Why is the Wind crying and whispering Mary’s name and what does that mean? It sounds like a ghost from your past. You have taken care of your daily job and things are all in order but still the wind whispers Mary. People are hurrying home at night and a queen is weeping and the wind still cries out Mary. It is like the city is haunted by Mary.

So Jimi asks the wind will there be a different name tomorrow? The wind answers “no, this will be the last.” So obviously something happened to Mary and The Wind is haunting our lives by making us remember her.

The musicianship in Hendrix “Wind Cries Mary” is subtle, but what you have to realize is that Jimi is playing the lead guitar part while singing. And the two parts are not easy to perform together, but he does it effortlessly. We also get to hear his backup band “The Experience” show off their chops a bit here. Both the drums and bass play an important to the sound of the song. Jimi’s voice sounds at its most confident in this song. He feels comfortable with the material in the performance.

The Wind Cries Mary Lyrics

After all jacks are in their boxes,
And the clowns have all gone to bed.
You can hear happiness staggering on down the street.
Footprints dressed in red.

And the wind whispers “Mary”.

A broom is drearily sweeping
Up the broken pieces of yesterday’s life.
Somewhere a queen is weeping,
Somewhere a king has no wife.

And the wind, it cries “Mary”.

The traffic lights they turn a blue tomorrow,
And shine their emptiness down on my bed.
The tiny island sags downstream,
‘Cause the life that they lived is dead.

And the wind screams “Mary”.

Will the wind ever remember?
The names it has blown in the past.
And with its crutch, its old age and its wisdom,
It whispers “no, this will be the last”.
And the wind cries “Mary”.

written by Jimi Hendrix