Rolling Stones Single-By-Single Thread

Geez, I try to get some sleep and I wake up and you've already posted "Paint It Black"( one of my all time favorite records by anyone) and you've stolen all the things I would have said.

It's dark , it rumbles along like a train and has one of my all time favorite "little moments ".
That would be when the bass and drums cut out and Mick sings "I could not foresee this thing happening to you "

Charlie's little drum fill then hits like a a slap in the face and the rest of the band takes off on a wild, manic ride until the end of the record . Fab.

 

"Paint it Black" never quite reached me the way so many of their other songs have -- possibly that raga-influenced 2/4 ish beat seems to be trying too hard to be on-trend ca. '66 or something -- but I'll tell you this, it has two of Mick's best bits in it, great writing and amazing delivery/phrasing, what was he all of 21 years old or something?

and of course the devastation of

 

Back in the 60s, music was more political, in content, and as a cultural force. There was a need to be in the here and now. There wasn't much awareness or desire for teens of the 60s to look back. To look back was to go back to a time when people and personal freedoms were suppressed, when young people were told how to think, what to wear, what to believe in. The youth culture was moving away from that.

 

Paint it Black - Love it! I don't remember hearing it from that time, though. My love for it developed in the 90s. I imagine the lyrical content, if they even could decypher it, must have scared a lot of parents back then.

 

Not sure what the particulars were, but the timing here suggests he is largely referring to Chrissie Shrimpton. What I have read about this was that she seemed to have some behavioral issues, but what they in fact were I don't know.

Putting aside the accusation of misogyny, always imo dicey when talking about a specific person or persons, I thought this was a great song.

 

not sure what you think you are arguing with here, but I will leave it at that you seem to be attacking a straw man.

 

As for the meaning of the lyrics, I don't normally feel compelled to comment on them. But here while on the literal level the first person narrative is from a man whose wife/girlfriend has died, I think there's a metaphorical connection here to the same concerns that underlined Stupid Girl. Girl in effect coincides with the "death" of his relationship with one or more, but at least one in particular, girl. The anger from that song takes on a more generalized while symbolic form in Black, almost wallowing in nihilism and a rejection of his existential condition.

Any listener to whom that kind of connection is appealing will have the song speak to them that much more strongly. On one level I kind of get it, having been there once or twice myself. But the wallowing part is in fact a bit problematic for me.

 

I purchased the Batman 45 theme . My older sister tried to get me to buy 19th nervous breakdown 45.

 

Keith has described "Paint It Black" as being "Hava Nagila played sideways." That's not how I see it. It can't possibly be a coincidence that it became a huge hit only a few months after this extremely similar sounding huge hit:



Note that the competition from other British acts at this point in history was overwhelming. The Beatles had "Paperback Writer," The Kinks had "Sunny Afternoon," The Hollies had "Bus Stop" and Petula Clark had "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love."

More trivia: 12 year later, Elvis Costello "borrowed" the bridge of "Stupid Girl" for the bridge of "This Year's Girl."

 

Also worth noting: This was a hit in the UK around the same time as "Paint It Black." It failed to make much of an impression in the U.S, where it was released on the MGM label. The Rolling Stones' version of it wouldn't appear in the UK until three years later on the British version of the "Through The Past Darkly" compilation:

 

OK but the drug reference would be missing. Sometime lyrics get sanitized.

Would you say the same about George Harrison, and John Lennons melody on Norwegian Wood?

Are you really saying that J and R wrote a song to conform to Brians skills? Why would that even happen?

 

Paint It Black you devils. This is a cool one because the sitar makes it more Eastern and exotic sounding. They have played this one live occasionally in recent years.

Stupid Girl - An Aftermath track that I like. Some people don't like the lyrics but they don't bother me too much. They used to play this one live back in they day. Wish they would break it out again.

Long, Long While - This sounds like it was influence by an Otis Redding soul ballad but I dig it. One of their better slow numbers in my opinion. Mick Jagger sounds more convincing and sincere. It wasn't released in the U.S on lp until it appeared on More Hot Rocks and in the U.K. on No Stone Unturned. Richie Unterberger rates it as one of their better rare b-sides on Allmusic.

 

Not sure what you mean. Mick sings “had that fool”.

 

Gabor Szabo cover of Paint It Black

 

The verse concludes with tripping and mind rearranging. Maybe it was my teenage imagination but I always thought Mick was referring to weed in the first stanza, as part of the statement. It is still possible. As I said, things can get sanitized. Why would they do that? It's rock and roll?

 

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Los Mockers from Uruguay. As Los Shakers were the Uruguay Beatles, Los Mockers was the Uruguay Rolling Stones.

This song is very "Paint It Black" influenced................


They covered "Paint It Black" too.

 

Some of the that South American/Mexican/Spanish psych/garage stuff is really cool. I am a big fan.

 

I’m surprised there’s still been no mention of the comma (or no comma) in “Paint It Black”. Unless I’m misremembering, there were some interesting theories as to the use/non-use of that punctuation mark.

 

Wiki says:
"It was originally released as "Paint It, Black", the comma being an error by Decca Records, but, nonetheless, stirred controversy among fans over its racial interpretation.[15]"

Seems like an innocent clerical error to me. I'm happy to hear other theories.

 

Yeah, that’s what I remember, some people had a problem with the comma, interpreting it as a directive. I didn’t think I was imagining that.

 

And here they are:


Time for me to go back to the beginning of the thread and re-read & listen with a fresh/new perspective.

 

They look beautiful! I never did buy them because I already had all the music on other things, but they sure do look cool. Have fun!

 

Keith mentioned it in a RS interview.

 

Paint It Black is sublime. A breathtaking piece and brilliant counterpoint to the mid-sixties Swinging London zeitgeist. Dark psychedelia rears its fearsome, beautiful head.