Let me preface this: my lovely partner loves the Rolling Stones; she has a soul/blues spirit even though she's as white as milk. I, on the other hand, lean more towards Talking Heads, The Cure, Ultravox, and so on.
That said, I'm tired of reading that 'the Rolling Stones haven't done anything good since Exile on Main Street,' how annoying!
If this album had been composed and played by that half-talented Jack White, everyone would be shouting about a miracle, all saying 'wow, it sounds like the Rolling Stones.'
So, since it's written by the Rolling Stones, let's say it: the riffs are rock solid, the blues is very bluesy, and the heart-wrenching ballads make you want to find a soulmate, lose them, find them again, and have 25 kids together.
'Rough justice' is sharp and ironic, with Mick making fun of himself; 'Streets of love' is sad but with a catchy melody, you sing along even when it bores you; 'Back of my hand' sounds like it was written with Robert Johnson in 1937; 'This place is empty' feels like it came out of a musical with characters wandering through an empty house searching for memories of their lost love; 'She saw me coming' clatters joyfully; but overall, the whole album sparkles and rolls along like a train. The Rolling Stones don't do anything new anymore? So what?
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
08 Biggest Mistake (04:07)
When love comes so late, it'll really hit hard
It slams through the gate, it'll catch you off guard
Everyone said, "What a perfect love match
'Cause she is so smart, she's a hell of a catch"
I was drinking in love, gulping it down
Drifting for months on a billowing cloud
But after awhile I stopped to rebel
I'm back in the past and I'm raising up hell
But I think I've just made the biggest mistake of my life
And I think I've just made the biggest mistake of my life
We'd been living together for over a year
The harmony's perfect, it rang loud and clear
But then very slowly, my nerves start to fray
The little things big, that's what they say
I acted impatient, I acted unkind
I took her for granted, I played with her mind
She didn't deserve it but it was too late
I walked out the door and left her to her fate
But I think I've just made the biggest mistake of my life
And I think I've just made the biggest mistake of my life
(WhoooWhooo Whooo....)
Now I'm down in a slump and I'm eating alone
I ruined the day with some friends on the phone
I never go out, I'm becoming a grouch
I just watch the TV and I drink on the couch
But if love comes again, I'll be really surprised
I'll grab it real fast, keep it right in my sights
'Cause I think I've just made the biggest mistake of my life
Well I think I've just made the biggest mistake of my life
11 Dangerous Beauty (03:48)
In your high school photo
You looked so young and naïve
Now I heard you got a nickname
The lady with the leash
Was it funny on the midnight shift
I bet you had your fair share of stiffs
There were onerous odors
I've got to admit
'Cause you're a dangerous, dangerous
A dangerous beauty
It's so plainfully plain to us
You're doing your duty
Who you got there in that hood, you look so fancy in those photographs
With your rubber gloves on you're a favorite with the Chiefs of Staff
You're doing such a wonderful job
You're a natural at working with dogs
Keeping everyone awake at night
With a touch of the prods
Well you're a dangerous, dangerous
A dangerous beauty
Yeah, disdainfully, painfully
A bit of booty, yeah
You're a dangerous, dangerous
A dangerous beauty
Beauty
Well you're a dangerous, dangerous
A dangerous beauty
If I was your captain, would you salute me
What I say
Yeah everybody
Beauty
Everybody now, yeah
Are you one bad apple in a box
Yeah, dangerous
Dealing out electric shocks
I've seen the gloves coming off
Dangerous
If looks could be killing, I bet you shoot me now
12 Laugh, I Nearly Died (04:55)
I've been travelling but I don't know where
I've been missing you but you just don't care
And I've been wandering, I've seen Greece and Rome
Lost in the wilderness, so far from home
Yeah, yeah
I've been to Africa, looking for my soul
And I feel like an actor looking for a role
I've been in Arabia, I've seen a million stars
Been sipping champagne on the boulevards - yes
I'm so sick and tired
Trying to turn the tide, yeah
So I'll say my goodbye
Laugh, laugh
I nearly died
I've been down to India, but it froze my bones
I'm living for the city, but I'm all alone
I've been travelling, but I don't know where
I've been wandering, but I just don't care
I hate to be denied
How you hurt my pride
I feel pushed aside
But laugh, laugh, laugh
I nearly died
Been travelling far and wide
Wondering who's going to be my guide
Living in a fantasy but it's way too far
But this kind of loneliness is way too hard
I've been wandering, feeling all alone
I lost my direction and I lost my home...Well
I'm so sick and tired
Now I'm on the side
Feeling so despised
When you laugh, laugh
I almost died
(Been travelling far and wide
Wondering who's going to be my guide)
I hurt my pride, hurt my pride, hurt my pride (Been travelling far and wide)
Been travelling, yeah
(Been travelling far and wide
Wondering who's going to be my guide)
(Been travelling far and wide)
16 Infamy (03:47)
Don't you know you've got it in for me
I knew it right from the start
I'm still learning my lines baby
Since you've rewritten my part
Oh why have you got it in for me
Things they are not what they seem
You're living in a nightmare baby
But I mistook it for a dream
Yeah just for a dream
But I mistook it all for a dream, yeah
You've got it in for me
I know you've got it in for me
You didn't miss a thing
It's you that wrote the song, baby
But me who's got to sing
I knew you had it in for me
Where you take it from here?
We got along so famously
This time you made it clear, yeah
You made it very, very clear
You made it abundantly clear
You've got it in for me
I knew it right from the start
You've already convicted me
Why are you hard on my heart
Ooh you're right on my heart
Oh yes so hard
So hard on my heart (you got it in for me)
Ooh in for me, baby (you got it in for me)
Why, baby, why baby why? (you got it in for me)
All you want to do is wipe the floor with me (you got it in for me)
Come on - why, baby, why? (you got it in for me)
Hummm (you got it in for me)
Right from the start (you got it in for me)
Yes you've got it in for me (you got it in for me)
In for me right from the start (you got it in for me)
I should have seen it coming (you got it in for me)
Fine, fine heart (you got it in for me)
Ooh yeah... (you got it in for me)
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