"You have to forget about what other people say, when you're supposed to die, or when you're supposed to be loving. You have to forget about all these things"

Jimi Hendrix challenges the notion that our lives must be dictated by external expectations. When he says to forget about what other people say regarding moments of death or love, he is urging a rebellion against the social pressures and judgments that dictate not only how but also when we are supposed to feel or act. Society often imposes a timeline for major life events: we are told when it is appropriate to fall in love, make significant decisions, or even contemplate mortality. Such expectations can be suffocating, causing individuals to suppress genuine feelings and desires in favor of following the crowd.

By advising us to let go of these constructs, Hendrix advocates for a life driven by internal authenticity rather than conformity. Love and death are among the most profound human experiences, intensely personal and ultimately experienced alone, despite their universality. Outsiders, with all their opinions and advice, cannot dictate the timing or nature of such powerful experiences. Individuals risk missing out on the immediacy and beauty of living authentically if they constantly filter their decisions through the lens of societal approval or condemnation.

The passage suggests a deeper freedom that comes from self-knowledge. Instead of living according to prescribed rules, whether they pertain to whom or when to love, or even to how we face the end of life, true fulfillment comes from learning to trust oneself. Forgetting about the noise from others is not about apathy or rebellion for its own sake, but about creating space for genuine expression and decisions. In this way, Hendrix offers a kind of spiritual liberation, one that asks us to silence the voices that constrain us and instead be guided by our own hearts and intuitions. By doing so, we reclaim our lives as our own, embracing love and confronting mortality in ways that are honest and meaningful to us as individuals.