This morning we listen to the Jimi Hendrix version of “All Along The Watchtower.” It is a Bob Dylan song, of course — during that period where Dylan just couldn’t seem to do anything wrong. Clearly, the song relates to Isaiah 21:5-9. But more broadly, it is about a group of people waiting for some kind of attack or catastrophe. And because of that, some find it curious that the song ends just as “it” starts to happen.

To me, it seems like the siege of Troy. The people just wait around anticipating the inevitable. And there are two ways to approach that: look for an escape or accept death. Interestingly, it is the joker who looks for escape and the thief who is accepting.

Hendrix’s version of it is rightly considered the best. It contains the very best of his guitar work.