On August 24, 1981, the Rolling Stones published the second page of Tattoo You. Yes, the Stones published the first page of Tattoo You that day. And Side One is great. But Side Two proved that the band could still put art above entertainment. In the entire Stones catalog there is nothing better than the five-song passages from “Worried About You”, “Tops”, “Heaven”, “No Use in Crying” and “Waiting on a Friend”.
The LP begins with the fact that magnetic machismo, risky hubris and recycled riffs are always enough to maintain Mick Jagger and Keith Richards’ status as rock gods. Then Tattoo You makes a U-turn on a series of songs with a band that actually engages with personal reflections, while content themselves with laying down dirty, relaxed, and somber grooves and then wallowing in them for 22 minutes.
Heading into the 80s, the Stones ruled rock with as much market share as ever. The band had outlasted the Beatles, while Led Zeppelin’s run shaped hits and made short work of every enthusiasm from disco to reggae. The Stones’ 1978 tour took them to crowded stadiums and arenas.
Releases like Some Girls and Emotional Rescue showed that all they had to do was tweak their sound to keep selling millions of records. The band had gotten so good at what they did that it seemed like the autopilot could overtake the Glimmer Twins from 1981 onwards.
“‘I’ll still play rock’ n ‘roll when I’m in a wheelchair,'” Richards said at the time. ” As long as people want to hear it. ”
Watch the Rolling Stones “Start Me Up” video
Side one of Tattoo You comes hard. With a few guitar sweeps, a few hard drum hits and Jagger grunts and cleaning, “Start Me Up” immediately defines the Stones at 20 – completely irrelevant and irresistibly catchy (and rightly the band’s biggest hit in three years). This unironic hymn of praise for Jagger’s sexual strength rolls straight into other tasty rockers: the raging “Hang Fire”, the thrust and pulse of “Slave”, the old-school rave-up “Little T&A”, the Chicago blues homage “Black Limousine” and the pounding “Neighbors.” Then they toss all the ego and volume aside.
The second page begins with “Worried About You” and the lyrics “Sometimes I wonder why / You do these things to me / At some point I worry, girl / That you are not in love with me.” Could be the huge egos and bigger ones Libidos of the Stones being questioned? Gone is the band cheering “Start Me Up”, and in their place is an introspective group of ace songwriters and musicians who are middle-aged and wondering about their relevance.
The song, like much of the album, was written and recorded years earlier – this one during the sessions for Black and Blue in 1975. But the band decided to revive it and reopen the album with its slow burn soul, Jagger sings in a wounded falsetto and Richards jumps into the chorus to repeat the mood of the song with harmony vocals. The whole affair is downright tender, almost sweet. Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman are in no rush to get anywhere, and Billy Preston comes over for a couple of nice electric pianos. Jagger ends the grave complaint with a little regret: “I’m sure I’ll find the girl one day / Until then, I’ll be worried / Lord, I just can’t find my way around.”
Watch the Rolling Stones’ Concerned About You video
Next comes another outtake for Tattoo You, but “Tops” is hardly a song. It’s more of a long vampire, a fat groove where Jagger talks about getting a woman to the top, but pulling back enough that his coo outnumber his screams. The groove basically serves as a bridge between the more traditional “Worried About You” and what “Heaven” is.
In the middle of Side Two comes “Heaven”, one of the Stones’ strangest tracks. A feverish dream on tape, the song was created together with Jagger, who sang and played guitar, Watts behind the kit and Wyman did the rest. One of only two songs that were specially composed for Tattoo You is whispered by the trio and walks through a vortex from delicate noises. It riffs on psychedelia, funk and experimental music and at the same time sets the stage for genres like dream pop and shoegaze.
“Heaven” evaporates to “No Use in Crying”. Like a sister song to “Worried About You”, it unfolds with similarly slow soul notes. But in contrast to “Worry About You”, “No Use in Crying” is not surprising about life. It is resigned: Love is gone, hope is gone, whatever was is over. ”Jagger sings:“ Standing at the station / Gazing down the track / There is no train coming baby / I ain’t never, never come back ”as if he were Clarence Carter would be who writes a sadder sequel to slip away. “
Check out the Rolling Stones’ Waiting for a Friend video
The album and page close with “Waiting on a Friend”. The LP started with Jagger bragging about being with a woman who can “make a dead man cum”; It all ends with the singer saying: “I don’t need a whore, I don’t need alcohol / I don’t need a virgin priest / But I need someone to cry to / I need someone to protect / Make love and break hearts / It’s a game for the youth. ”For a man who will turn 40 by this time, brooding has a mature honesty and a sadly sober feeling.
“Waiting on a Friend” is perhaps the most mature and clear-eyed song the Stones have ever recorded. The guitar line has a simplicity that makes “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” sound like a Bach fugue. The rhythm section drives the track and is still barely noticeable. The piano hides in the background and politely emphasizes small moments. It’s like everyone wants to build the bare framework to show Jagger’s insight and a saxophone solo by Sonny Rollins that drives the track into ecstasy.
The Stones would not stop here in the morass of the Middle Ages. They wouldn’t be the Stones if they did. The next album started with the single “Undercover of the Night”. The new wave meets hard rock blowup contained political texts with a lot of sex, dirt and force. But the second page of Tattoo You is a reminder that the Stones have it all to play slowly, smart and curiously, just as they do it fast, bluntly and wildly.
Rolling Stones album ranking
Ready for a journey through the past (dark)? Check out the Rolling Stones albums that ranked worst to best.