Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Can You Hear The Music (Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Dynamic Sound Studios, Kingston, Jamaica, November 25 - 30 &
December 6 - 21, 1972 and Island Recording Studios, London, UK,
May 28 - June 20, 1973

Mick Jagger - vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Mick Taylor - electric guitar
Nicky Hopkins - piano
Jim Horn - flute
Jimmy Miller - percussion
Pascal - percussion
Rebop Kwakuh Baah - congas

Can you hear the music, can you hear the music, can you feel the magic
Hangin' in the air, can you feel the magic, oh yeah
Love is a mystery, I can't demystify, oh no
Sometimes I wonder why we're here, but I don't care, I don't care
When I hear the drummer, get me in the groove, when I hear the guitar
Makes me wanna move, can you feel the magic
Floatin' in the air, can you feel the magic, oh, oh yeah
Sometimes you're feelin', you've been pushed around
And your rainbow just ain't here, don't you fear, don't you fear
When you hear the music, trouble disappear, when you hear the music
Ringin' in your ears, can you feel the magic, floatin' in the air
Can you feel the magic, oh yeah, yeah

Can you hear the music, can you hear the music, can you feel the magic
Dancin' in the air, can you feel the magic, oh yes
Love is a mystery, can't demystify, oh no
Sometimes I'm dancin' on air, but I get scared, I get scared
When you hear the music, ringin' in my ears, can you hear the music, oh yeah
Can you hear the drummer, gets you in the groove, can you hear the guitar
Make you wanna move, yeah, can you hear the music, oh yeah
Can you hear the music, ringin' in my ears, can you hear the music
Yeah, I hear the music, can you hear the music, yes, I hear the music
Can you hear the music, yes, I hear the music, can you hear the music, oh yeah
Can you hear the music, oh yeah, can you hear the music, oh yeah
Can you hear the music, oh yeah, can you hear the music, can you hear the music
Can you hear the music, can you hear the music

Produced by Jimmy Miller

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Goat’s Head Soup” LP
(Rolling Stones Records COC 59101) UK, August 31, 1973



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-11-25 15:09 by René.

......



ROCKMAN



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-04-14 10:13 by Rockman.

One of those examplary tracks showing the shift in direction that GHS presented - more melodic and playful. When I first got into GHS, I didn't like it much. I thought it was just a pointless mess not unlike those jam pieces from Their Satanic Majesties (Sing This All Together).


But nowadays my view has changed. I really like the song's topic and how it refers to the "music in the air" discovered during recording in Jamaica. The whole track seems to breathe this air of lazyness and fascination, and I think the verse melody is really quite amazing, reminding me of other gems of the era like Waiting on A Friend or later ones like Heaven. Still it sounds unfinished to me. I think they could've bettered it. And I wonder what would've happened if they'd played it live on their 1973 European Tour (at least they rehearsed it, as it seems, and I quite like what I heard from these Rotterdam tapes).



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 2009-04-14 18:22 by Greenblues.

I like what you write, Greenblues, but it still does not work for me. I think it is a brave
experiment, but it failed. In my opinion it took until Continental Drift before the boys got
this kind of music right.

I see what you mean, marco. In fact, I think we're not that far apart. You just have a different impression about what I call "unfinished". It's obviously far from perfect, that's true. But still it soaks you in after a while... ;-)

You can watch this same effect with "Dancing with Mr. D". At first sight it's just a lame attempt at recycling the "Sympathy" topic, adding a half-baked Keith riff as a backing track. But once you're in the right mood, it suddenly all comes together: The riff starts crawling like a lazy lurking snake and the words create a thick musty Voodoo air that somehow seems to put you right into the head of a doped up Keith.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-04-14 18:56 by Greenblues.

If one wants to line this one up against Continental Drift, it's easy - CYHTM blows CD away.

They have CYHTM and then on IORR If You Really Want To Be My Friend, another long slow song. I like that they did two in a row like that. The next one could have come out on Black And Blue but it was kept until Tattoo You - Worried About You. They haven't done one since.

This is a great song. The only thing that doesn't work 100% is the intro: I wouldn't have started direct with the chorus. The melody in the verse is fantastic, and Jagger's singing is great too.

C

The intro sucks? No way! It's fantastic! The Leslie guitar swirling around like that, all screwed up - excellent. And then how it just falls in - great tune. Nice guitar lead, a wonderfully murky production that makes sense.

it's unique, i'll give it that...and i'd give it credit for having longer legs than continental drift, which was a noble experiment that ultimately failed...

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liddas
This is a great song. The only thing that doesn't work 100% is the intro: I wouldn't have started direct with the chorus. The melody in the verse is fantastic, and Jagger's singing is great too.

C

Yeah, It's got a lovely melody. And thanks for pointing out the "reversed order" of the song. I just noticed I was referring to the chorus, talking about the great melody in my earlier post, when I should have been referring to the verse instead ;-) [...corrected now]



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2009-04-14 18:45 by Greenblues.

It´s hypnotic...vibes...groove...always loved that track !

I really like this song... was surprised to learn that it's one of the reasons held up for Goats Head Soup not being a good album. It's excellent! This, "Winter," and "100 Years Ago" give GHS a unique mood.

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cc
I really like this song... was surprised to learn that it's one of the reasons held up for Goats Head Soup not being a good album. It's excellent! This, "Winter," and "100 Years Ago" give GHS a unique mood.

What he said!!I feel the same way,I love the Stones more for it.I for one dont need ever song to be open G or Chuck style rock.There is a time and place for all there songs.Can't wait for the remaster for this album.

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cc
I really like this song... was surprised to learn that it's one of the reasons held up for Goats Head Soup not being a good album. It's excellent! This, "Winter," and "100 Years Ago" give GHS a unique mood.

Yeah, it gives the mood, but I think goes too weird, back to the mess of SATANIC MAJESTIES or something. But like noticed here, it is the structure of the song that makes it strange. It has great melody parts or ideas in it (funny, I hear a resemblance of "Tops" in the verse melody), but somehow it is screwed up. Where as "100 Years Ago" and "Winter" seem to nail their ideas. In this sense it is more like "Dancing with Mr. D" - the band sounds a bit unsure and insecure what they are trying to accomplish. They do not sound convincing (the same effect with MAJESTIES).

- Doxa

hmm, but I think it's a track that starts from a song idea, rather than the Satanic Majesties numbers that seem to be developed from jams. Just "too weird"? I don't usually think of "weird " as a negative term. I guess you're right that the Stones are essentially pop band ("Angie" is on the same album), but they can stretch out. I would agree that the song is not altogether cooked. We might blame this on keith, as I imagine he checked out on this one--thought it was "too weird"--and might not have contributed to the mixing and arranging.

Doxa states that he hears a resemblance to Tops in the melody. Correct me if I'm off base, but it seems that CYHTM is more comparable to Moonlight Mile.

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cc
hmm, but I think it's a track that starts from a song idea, rather than the Satanic Majesties numbers that seem to be developed from jams. Just "too weird"? I don't usually think of "weird " as a negative term. I guess you're right that the Stones are essentially pop band ("Angie" is on the same album), but they can stretch out. I would agree that the song is not altogether cooked. We might blame this on keith, as I imagine he checked out on this one--thought it was "too weird"--and might not have contributed to the mixing and arranging.

Yeah, it could be that "weird" is not the best word to describe the scene - maybe just "out of focus" - I feel that their ship is sailing without the capitan in charge with a clear intuition of the direction in his mind. Maybe that IS something to do with Keith's - and Jimmy Miller's - condition at the time. Like said, there are good ideas there but somehow - I think - they are not resulted in a great, sharp distinguihed Stones way.

Side note of MAJESTIES: I think there were good songs or sketches for songs to begin with - the bootlegs now circulating seem to indicate that - but they messed the whole thing with their unclear wanna be-psychedelic ambitions in studio.

- Doxa

Mick Taylor playing Brian May type guitar overdubs along with Keith's rude rude tone make this a keeper!

I think Can You Hear The Music is absolutely brilliant - there's nothing like it in the RS catalogue - I think. Because it's not just an experiment....it's like this bizarre mood came to them naturally during late 1972

It's great as are nearly all of the tracks on this underrated album.
Imagine if GHS had never been released but did come out this year.
It would sound even better after the mainly-crap ABB.

I agree with most (?) of you, here above...Absolutely wonderful song. Beautiful melody, and Mick and Mick sound so honest...pleading...wanting us to see, feel...that love is a two (or a thousand) way street...a mystery...and...Well, I got a bit carried away...sorry. And - me and my first REAL (...) girlfried used to listen to GHS every saturday night...before my dad came to pick me up and it was time to go home...A VERY romantic track indeed - to me...

This track is one of their few duds to me. Better than IYRWBMF - but then so are most songs.

Horrible production on both.

But who cares? I love "Melody" and "Luxury" and I seen to be in the minority around here.

And then imagine if they'd of put Criss Cross, Through The Lonely Nights and Tops on this album how stellar it would have been.

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squando
This track is one of their few duds to me. Better than IYRWBMF - but then so are most songs.

Horrible production on both.

But who cares? I love "Melody" and "Luxury" and I seen to be in the minority around here.

what's the point of your last paragraph? I like both of those songs, but what does that have to do with this one?

and the album is excellent as it is; I don't see how "Tops" would have improved it. "Tops" fits on Tattoo You. "Criss Cross Mind" is a great track, but it might have damaged the mood of Goats Head Soup.

I agree pretty much with Doxa's view that the song tends to sound a little unfocused and lacking in direction, yet in many ways it's that hazy quality which i find so intoxicating. Can You Hear The Music is probably the most extreme example, but many of the songs on Goats Head Soup sound a little that way (slightly lethargic) and i think ultimately that's pretty much where the album's beauty tends to lie, although of course the critics and some fellow stones fans may not see it that way. I disagree with comparing it with Continental Drift mind, which to me displays all the elements of the clean and tidy eighties sound, even if the style is a little different. Can You Hear The Music is a lot more impenetrable, and not a little messy - something which is the very antithesis of the ultra clean and tidy music being produced today, whatever the form may be. I really do miss those days in the sixties and seventies when almost anything seemed possible. I'd rather hear a failed experiment than no experiment at all (and i don't think Can You Hear The Music is a failure, by the way). Heaven forbid another A Bigger Bang.

I have Tops and Lonely Nights on my media play list for GHS and they fit in great. I used to have Criss Cross but somehow I lost it. Which I've never been able to understand.

I've always loved Can You Hear The Music. Hell, I've always loved Goats Head Soup. It really is a fantastic album. Hazy - yes indeed - I like it. What were they gonna do, make another Exile? It got even hazier with IORR, which is hilarious. As technology improved their albums, overall, started sounding worse! Compare IORR to Sticky Fingers - HUGE difference. But I like it. Coming Down Again and Can You Hear The Music are fantastic examples of that sonic quality that is so far away from Bleed/Fingers.

Beggars and GHS...are MY albums!!! Give an ISLAND!!!

Give ME an ISLAND...

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skipstone
What were they gonna do, make another Exile? .

I think that what is absolutely great in GHS is that they are seemingly once again in their way into a new direction - it is as fresh as anything they did prior it. Ans it is a GREAT album over-all, with full of nuances and ideas that makes it still a treasure to re-listen again and again. But (now comes the 'but' part)... I think they didn't QUITE managed in their plans - the whole album lefts the tone of not quite hitting the mark. I think the word I have in my mind is insecurity. The four masterpieces prior it are so strong and convincing statements - no hostages taken - but they somehow lost that conviction in GHS. They are not QUITE facing their music or believing on it. I think this is the reason why the golden era stops with EXILE, even though GHS is an incredible album in its on terms. I think I once wrote that there were potentia in the album that didn't quite realized - especially the sonic, lyrical interplay of two Micks (of which "Winter" is a masterpiece).

Back to "Can You Hear The Music?" - I agree with Edward Twining that the efforts they did back then, even if they failed (I think this is the case with this particular song), are still exciting to listen - because one can hear the creativity and vitality there. I have a theory that with GHS the Stones a bit gave up the energy level and concentration they had used to. That means that the results perhaps does lack the final take or icing. But that is still incredible compared to anything they have done since, say, STEEL WHEELS. ABB is extreme case of 'don't care less'. They put as much effort to it as to their first album, but insofar THE ROLLING STONES is full of energy of young vital guys, ABB is just the old devils in autopilot.

- Doxa



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2009-04-15 22:46 by Doxa.

Doxa - how does one "re-listen" again and again? It's simply - and only - listening! You listen every time you're listening. Regardless, I listen to GHS a lot!