This is one of my all time favorites as well! For those who are unaware, this song has a huge symbolic meaning. Now, I won't pretend I can articulate better than Cracked, so why don't I just let them explain: From this page. Gosh, I've lost many an hour on Cracked during my youth.It's easy to miss, you know, because it's an instrumental, but hiding just under the surface of Hendrix's iconic take on "The Star-Spangled Banner" are various references to the horrors of war. Things start out pretty standard, but when he hits the "... and the rockets' red glare" line, Hendrix goes into full-on freak mode. Those crazy sounds aren't just Jimi making noise for the hell of it; those are the "rockets" referred to in the song dropping and exploding. And after that? Screams. Later he adds in some machine gun noises for good measure.
Still not convinced? Listen closely about a minute later, when Hendrix plays a portion of the musical piece "Taps," a song traditionally played on a bugle at United States military members' funerals. Hendrix just took you on an Apocalypse Now-style tour through war. You heard bombs explode all around you, you heard the screams of the people killed, you got fired on by a machine gun and then you died. All with the backing track of "The Star-Spangled Banner." And probably a shit-ton of acid.