Re: Mick Jagger: good lyricist or just average?
Date: April 14, 2005 23:28
Since I´m neither an educated literature scholar nor trained lyrics-reader/listener (but - I did interpret J Morrisons work once... ).
No matter if his good or not. Jagger/Richards are ranked far above all others earthly creatures in combining lyrics & music; especially the former, I´d say.
The parade example is "Shine A Light", where the sung melody, phrasing, harmonies, arrangement... Everything! is so goddamn perfect until the last vibr*to by Taylor... But you can trace this back to 1965 and the earliest of their songwriting: How the song melody line sort of pulls the song like a fast locomotive. And theirs no boundary between lyrics and music - it´s all One. On Exile the recording is so On, so f*cking right as well!
... Yeah! Now we´re talking. The holy duet, the Glimmer Twins, these two blokes. It proves that 1+1 not always is 2 och 3; but ... Rock 'n' Roll. The Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band In The World. And soon we are all gonna see them!
Jiving Sister Fanny (Jagger/Richards) [straight from SFJ]
Jivin' Sister Fanny, told her man from Philadelphia, PA
Uh, huh, huh, huh
He saw us down the station said she didn't like the way we played
Uh, huh, huh, huh
--- If you got a favourite guy, get you babe, real no why
Man from you down inside, got it feathered by the while
Ooh, child, you got me walkin' down the broad highway
Uh, huh, huh, huh
--- Now, Jivin' Sister Fanny got the brain of a dinosaur
Uh, huh, huh, huh
Well, she hocked my fancy mother and she hocked my electric guitar
Then she's waitin' in the store, tell her to wait, er, waitin' for
Glad she's on the waiting good
By Charles oh watch 'er, you wait good
Ooh, child, you got me walkin' down the broad highway
See what I mean? The mans voice is like piano keys pressed in the way Nicky, Billy or sooner Stu would have pressed´em.