| "Wait Until Tomorrow" | |
|---|---|
| Song bythe Jimi Hendrix Experience | |
| from the albumAxis: Bold as Love | |
| Released | December 1, 1967 (1967-12-01) |
| Recorded | October 26, 1967 |
| Studio | Olympic Sound, London |
| Genre | Rhythm and blues[1] |
| Length | 3:00 |
| Label | Track |
| Songwriter(s) | Jimi Hendrix |
| Producer(s) | Chas Chandler |
"Wait Until Tomorrow" is a song bythe Jimi Hendrix Experience from their 1967 second albumAxis: Bold as Love. Written byJimi Hendrix, the song details the scenario of a male protagonist addressing his female love with whom he plans to leave home, only to be shot dead by her father. Despite not being released as a single, "Wait Until Tomorrow" has been recognized as one of the strongest songs on the album.[2][3]
"Wait Until Tomorrow" was one of the first "situation song[s]" written by Hendrix and is said to be influenced bysoul artists such asthe Isley Brothers (with whom Hendrix performed before forming the Experience)[2] and stylistically similar to guitaristSteve Cropper.[4] A "head-on boy–girl song",[4] "Wait Until Tomorrow" was one of the final songs recorded for the album on October 26, 1967, before the album was completed with the recording of title track "Bold as Love" three days later.[4] In anAllMusic review, Matthew Greenwald described the progression and style of the song:
A great bass and guitar duet is the core riff, and, as usual, Hendrix builds up to gentle and entertaining crescendos from there. Lyrically, the song finds Hendrix writing a situation song, creating characters in the first person. This was one of his first attempts at this, and it's fun listening to him stretch his songwriting abilities.[2]
Reviews ofAxis: Bold as Love have generally mentioned "Wait Until Tomorrow" in a positive light. Matthew Greenwald of allmusic identifies the "playful song" as "one of the low-key highlights" of the album,[2] while Parke Puterbaugh ofRolling Stone describes it as a "taut, funky, could've-been-hit."[3] In reviewing the album for theBBC, Chris Jones summarised "Wait Until Tomorrow" as "a wry, funky little tale",[5] while Sputnikmusic reviewer "Broken Arrow" comments:
The intro is light and quick, [with a] guitar part and a real heavy bass [line] that only consists of one note but really adds to the intro. As Jimi [Hendrix]'s vocals and Mitch [Mitchell]'s drums come in the band goes into more of a groove. After a nice guitar fill that resembles the intro the extremely catchy chorus comes with some nice background vocals. The intro theme gets repeated a few times in the song before every verse. Mitch plays some very nice fills in this song and keeps a solid beat throughout [it]. 4/5[6]
