Jimi Hendrix, Belly Button Window | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 82^nd edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Belly Button Window” by the late, great Jimi Hendrix. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 82^nd edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Belly Button Window” performed by Jimi Hendrix. 

“Well, I’m up here in this womb and I’m looking all around,” the late, great Jimi Hendrix sings on “Belly Button Window,” adding, “Well, I’m lookin’ out my belly button window / And I see a whole lot of frowns / And I’m wonderin’ if they don’t want me around.” That’s deep! Hendrix penned the 10^th and final track on his 1971 posthumous LP, The Cry of Love.  He produced it alongside Mitch Mitchell and Eddie Kramer. This bluesy cut is accompanied by guitar.  That is fitting given the skills of Hendrix. Between the lyrics, Jimi spoils us with stellar guitar riffs.

Revisiting the depth lyrically, Hendrix addresses his existence related to his parents. Is he wanted? Hendrix experienced a rough childhood which is implied in “Belly Button Window.” Speaking from the womb, he asserts, “‘Cause you know if you just don’t want me this time around / Yeah, I’ll be glad to go back to spirit land.” In the first verse, he recollects, “Man, I sure remember the last time, baby / They were still arguin’ about me then.” In the second verse, he addresses both parents. “So, I’m comin’ down into this world, daddy / Regardless of love and hate,” he sings, continuing, “And I’m gonna sit up in your bed, mama, huh / And just a-grin right in your face.” “Belly Button Window” is thought-provoking. It isn’t the biggest Jimi Hendrix song, but it marks another grand addition to his catalog, even as a posthumous arrival. Hendrix earns high marks thanks to his guitar playing, captivating lyrics, and expressive vocals.

Jimi Hendrix // The Cry of Love // Experience Hendrix L.L.C. / Sony Music Entertainment // 1971

Jimi Hendrix, Belly Button Window: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 82 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Experience Hendrix L.L.C. / Sony Music Entertainment; OpenClipart-Vectors, Speedy McVroom via  Pixabay]