Why Certain Songs Weren't Performed Live for 25+ Years

Is there any reasoning behind why certain songs hadn't been performed live for 25 years or more?

The Rolling Stones have had a few Top 10 hits that meet this context:
"As Tears Go By" (#6, 1/1966) -- only classic "live" performance was on The Ed Sullivan Show (2/13/1966), but was not officially performed in concert until 2005.
"Emotional Rescue" (#3, 9/1980) -- not performed live for 33 years... care to guess why?

~Ben

 

It's usually some prosaic reason. Dead fans had all sort of conspiracy theories about why they never played St. Stephen. But when asked, the band usually said something like "it's too weird and we don't feel like playing it."

As for the Stones tunes, perhaps it had something to do with them associating As Tears Go By more with Marianne Faithful than the Stones. And maybe Emotional Rescue is tough to pull off with their touring instrumentation.

Or maybe Nick and/or Keith just doesn't like the tunes for some reason.

 

It is well-documented Keith hated that song, and Sir Mick's falsetto... could he really keep that up night after night?

~Ben

 

I can certainly believe Keith hating the tune (Emotional Rescue). It's one of the least Keef-like songs they ever recorded. At least until the Undercover album came along!