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1983, dawn of the plastic decade not yet fully revealed.
"Undercover" is the title chosen to fill a sweltering Sunday in Alto Monferrato. I don't know why, out of everything I could choose from, I decided to put on a neglected and mostly forgotten work by the Rolling Stones. But between an overplayed "Tatoo You" and AC/DC's "Back In Black", I opted for grooves less worn by the needle. "Undercover" is an album released at the threshold of MTV's overwhelming success and its damn music-killing video clips. The Stones follow trends, mostly led by the super-accountant skilled at making money and forging connections, Mick Jagger. Keith Richards is now detoxed and gradually begins to complain about the direction the band is taking, too inclined to wink at contemporary passing trends. Moreover, Jagger keeps his desire to release solo works hidden, and the two begin to clash. Thus, the final product is a tug-of-war between reggae, funk, and blues rock, all too fast and without bite, yet classily managing to fill alarming creative voids and weary repetition. A few extra percussions, a splash of funky rock, and the chart-topping single is "Undercover Of The Night", one of the band's last classics that manages to save the listen mainly due to the curious and hypnotic percussive part and Richards' jarring guitar — the same goes for "Too Much Blood", opening side B, a track that merits attention only for the part embellished by Keith. The rest is less refined stuff like the closing "It Must Be Hell" or the empty "She Was Hot".
My knowledge of the Stones extends to the subsequent "Dirty Work," which I remember as a bit more uniform and raw, but the '80s buried them too.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
08 Too Tough (03:53)
(M. Jagger/K. Richards)
If you want to wreck my life
Go ahead my love
Tried it once with poison
Tried it once with drugs
My circulation's running dry
It's you that drank me up
Screwed me down with kindness
Suffocating love
When it comes to fighting
Trying to play it rough
I will take you twenty rounds
I'm just too tough, too tough
Too tough, too tough
Saw you on TV last night
In a rerun soap
You were young and beautiful
Already without hope
But I don't think you ever knew
What you've bitten off
But in the end, you spat me out
You could not chew me up
I'm too tough, too tough
Too tough, too tough
When it comes to fighting
Trying to play it rough
I will take you twenty rounds
I'm just too tough, too tough
I married yesterday
To a teenage bride
You said it's only physical
But I love her deep inside
I still see you in my dreams
With a kitchen knife
With it poised above your head
Now who you gonna slice?
When it comes to fighting
Trying to play it rough
I will take you twenty rounds
I'm just too tough, too tough
Too tough, too tough
I don't think you'll ever know
What you've bitten off
But in the end, you spat me out
You could not chew me up
I was too tough, too tough
Too tough, too tough
Too tough, too tough
Too tough
Too tough, too tough
Too tough, too tough
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