The Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were at the forefront of rock and roll creation. They’ve been to the proverbial ‘there’, and done the axiomatic ‘that’. They have literally done it all. All of it. They didn’t leave much for anyone else either, but they shouldn’t since they are the best. Here are my 10 favorite songs by The Rolling Stones.
10) 19th Nervous Breakdown. Early on, The Rolling Stones were infamous for writing songs that Sigmund Freud would have liked. This is one of them. It kind of goes hand-in-hand with Mother’s Little Helper in the discography of the mentally challenged Stones songs. Luckily for the world, we all know that it takes 20 nervous breakdowns to stall a career, so here’s hoping they continue to fall one short.
9) Angie. This is the go-to song for all women, or men, I guess, whose name is originated in the vicinity of the word Angie. If you are Angela, Angie, Ange, Anne, Gee, Sally, or Angel, you believe this song was written just for you. And it was. That’s the beauty of The Rolling Stones. They are all-knowing and omnipotent in the matters of the heart.
8) Let’s Spend The Night Together. Rumor has it that Ed Sullivan was buried face-down bottom-up just so he could get the final one-up on Mick Jagger over this song. Of course rumors are seldom true. In other news, Keith Richards was replaced with a Madame Tussauds wax dummy back on the Voodoo Lounge tour.
7) Wild Horses. If The Rolling Stones had formed about 20 years earlier the chorus might have been, “Wild Tyrannosaurus’ couldn’t drag me away.” Thankfully they were just school children at the time and waited a few years before writing this gem.
6) (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. This song is as old as The Beatles. It’s also as good as The Beatles. Because The Beatles disbanded after less than a decade, they will always be considered greater than The Rolling Stones, but it’s not a fair comparison. Talk about getting no satisfaction. The Beatles are great, though.
5) You Can’t Always Get What You Want. Unless you are Keith Richards. Then you get to be reincarnated as Johnny Depp. That’s a wish that is genie-worthy.
4) Honky Tonk Women. Possibly the paramount of rock and roll awesomeness. This song is responsible for for the creation of bar rock, pub rock, trashy women rock, and guys who want to hook up with trashy women rock. Love this song every day of the week and twice on Friday night.
3) Gimme Shelter. That hauntingly seductive melody will siren-call you into its grasp and keep you trapped like Shelob did to Frodo. This songs builds to a never-occuring crescendo of passion and power, but instead just keeps on trudging forward as if John Elway was helming the lyrics. Rarely can a song combine as much emotional rescue within its confines as this.
2) Sympathy For The Devil. I’m gonna guess that your name is genius and that the nature of your game is doing all things genius-like. This was the song playing in the background when Daniel Webster met ole Luce. For an added bonus of insanity try counting the “woo-hoos” you hear in the entire song. You’ll be running for Mother’s Little Helper after a few minutes.
1) She’s A Rainbow. Just a perfect song. One of the most underrated songs of the rock and roll generation. Listen to it again. Do it now!