"You know, there's a big lie in this business. The lie is that it's okay to go out in flames. But that doesn't do anybody much good. I may be wrong, but I think Hendrix was trying to come around"
About this Quote
Rock culture loves a martyr because martyrs don’t have to do the boring part: stick around, get better, live with what they’ve done. Stevie Ray Vaughan is puncturing that romance with the authority of someone who’d watched the myth chew up real people. The “big lie” isn’t just about drugs or fame; it’s about an aesthetic that treats self-destruction as a valid artistic ending, as if the fire itself is the point. Vaughan calls it out as useless spectacle: “go out in flames” makes a great poster, a lousy legacy.
The line lands because it’s half confession, half rebuke. “I may be wrong” is humility, but it’s also a tactical softener before he challenges one of rock’s sacred cows: Jimi Hendrix. By suggesting Hendrix “was trying to come around,” Vaughan rewrites the standard script where doomed genius is destiny. “Come around” is recovery language, plain and unglamorous, and that’s the point. It frames survival as the real counterculture move.
Context matters: Vaughan’s own public arc included a very visible battle with addiction and a hard-won return to clarity. He’s speaking from the aftershock of an era that canonized the 27 Club and sold tragedy as authenticity. The subtext is almost parental: stop applauding the crash. The bravest thing an artist can do isn’t burn brighter; it’s keep playing when the mythology gets bored.
The line lands because it’s half confession, half rebuke. “I may be wrong” is humility, but it’s also a tactical softener before he challenges one of rock’s sacred cows: Jimi Hendrix. By suggesting Hendrix “was trying to come around,” Vaughan rewrites the standard script where doomed genius is destiny. “Come around” is recovery language, plain and unglamorous, and that’s the point. It frames survival as the real counterculture move.
Context matters: Vaughan’s own public arc included a very visible battle with addiction and a hard-won return to clarity. He’s speaking from the aftershock of an era that canonized the 27 Club and sold tragedy as authenticity. The subtext is almost parental: stop applauding the crash. The bravest thing an artist can do isn’t burn brighter; it’s keep playing when the mythology gets bored.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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