Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Down In The Hole
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Pathé Marconi Studios (EMI Studios), Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France,
June 10 - October 19, 1979 and Electric Ladyland Studios, New York City,
New York, US, November - December 1979

Mick Jagger - vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Ron Wood - electric guitar
Sugar Blue - harmonica

Will all your money buy you forgiveness
Keep you from sickness, or keep you from cold?
Will all your money keep you from madness
Keep you from sadness, when you're down in the hole

Cause you'll be down in the gutter, you'll be bummin' for cigarettes
Bummin' for nylons in the American Zone
You'll be down in the hole, yeah, down in the hole
No escape from trouble, nowhere to go

Down in the gutter, beggin' for cigarettes
Beggin' forgiveness, all that you know
Down in the hole, after diggin' the trenches
Looking for cover and findin' out
There ain't nowhere, nowhere to go, nowhere, nowhere, nowhere to go

None of your money will buy you forgiveness
None of your jewelry, none of your gold
Your black market cigarettes, your American nightclubs
I think I know where it goes

Something for nothing, all of your friends gone
Something for nothing, that's all that you know

There's something down in the hole
Down, down, down in the hole
There's something down, down, down, down in the hole

Produced by The Glimmer Twins

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Emotional Rescue / Down In The Hole” 7” single
(Rolling Stones Records RSR 105) UK, June 20, 1980



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-12-01 17:50 by René.

One of my favorites.

Excellent track!

Oh what a lovely gem this is! Ala Exile it creeps up on you with the sinuous fade in of Sugar Blue's steaming harp. Then the dry smack of Charlie to jerk you into some of Jagger's most compelling blues vocals on vinyl. The beautiful weaving of Richard's and Woods darts in and out of the lyrics. Really stunning blues by the Cockroaches.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-01-04 14:51 by whitem8.

Like whitem8 mentioned: the harpplayer is Sugar Blue, not Jagger. Great great song anyway.

The outstanding track on Emotional Rescue!

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whitem8
Oh what a lovely gem this is! Ala Exile it creeps up on you with the sinuous fade in of Mick's steaming harp. Then the dry smack of Charlie to jerk you into some of Jagger's most compelling blues vocals on vinyl. The beautiful weaving of Richard's and Woods darts in and out of the lyrics. Really stunning blues by the Cockroaches.

Sugar Blue's harp. Anyways, it's definately top notch.

Sure it's Sugar Blue on harmonica. Don't know why I first gave Mick the credit, strange....

René

Great track.
For some reason the tvseries "The Wire" always pops up in my head when hearing this gem. (At least AFTER having watched it.) Something about the atmosphere.

great track. outstanding performance by mick.

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René
Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!

Why dont you correct them then?

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DandelionPowderman

Quote
whitem8
Oh what a lovely gem this is! Ala Exile it creeps up on you with the sinuous fade in of Mick's steaming harp. Then the dry smack of Charlie to jerk you into some of Jagger's most compelling blues vocals on vinyl. The beautiful weaving of Richard's and Woods darts in and out of the lyrics. Really stunning blues by the Cockroaches.

Sugar Blue's harp. Anyways, it's definately top notch.

Right you are Dandelion! It is funny that is what I first wrote, then I looked at rene's post and thought "oh oh, i have to correct it!" but yeah, that is definitely Sugar Blue! Thanks for confirming! Also on Send it To Me as well!

Ye, he sure is a great harp player. Stunning stuff on Miss You and Some Girls, too. Is it true that the Stones just passed him on a Paris subway station and there and then decided to bring him in for studio sessions??

so did ron write the chord progression for this tune? It's not really like any of their other blues. Great performance all around, though.

Beautiful, atmospheric, haunting blues. Next time the inevitable thread about Mick's most committed and passionate vocal comes around, I'm going to nominate this one. For once he really sounds as if he cares.

from the four song I love on EM LP ,(dance, EM, let me go, Down in the Hole), always love this strange languishing atmosphere of the song

I wished that the Stones continued from the 1980's on with songs like Down In The Hole....

Btw 'Track Talk' is always one of my favorite topics

Gemstone.

Wish it went on and on for 11 minutes...I never listen to it just once; I always have to replay it over and over.

One those tracks that surprise you, get under your skin. And you know what? They probably did it so quick and fast, spontaneuos and boom!!! there it is. Simple but magical. Thats the thing the Stones don't realize now a days that their chemistry is so god damn strong that they are already half way there, but for some reason they try to be a different band. Jesus C they are a bar band!!!

Great track well hidden on Emotianal Rescue, from the creative explotion in Paris.

Bill Wyman shines, great mix! great lyrics..

I think the Stones are Down in The Hole right now... they need to go to the blues!!! Soon!!

KEITH!!! WAKE UP!!!!!!!!! KEITH!!!!!!!

I always like to say that this is the greatest blues-rock song ever written about post-war Berlin. Anyways, a great tune and great (real!) guitar weaving by Ronnie and Keith.


Btw, can anyone start a track-talk thread, or is it reserved for special IORR-ians? just curious...

>> can anyone start a track-talk thread <<

Rene uses the "track talk" title for a series of threads going through the tracks in alphabetical order,
but of course anyone can start a thread about any track whenever we feel like it. i wouldn't call it "track talk", though.

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CharliesSinger

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René
Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!

Why dont you correct them then?

i second that question!

Down in the hole is to emotional rescue the same that back of my hand is for ABB

I always felt that LIND from ABB is a musical cousin of Down in the Hole for some reason.

just LOVE it.
it's almost falling apart. it's sooo looooose and still the nail it perfectly. jagger at his best, great harmonica...fantastic mood...
AWESOME!

The guitars on this track are outstanding, as are the drums. It's just got this sense of doom sound to it, like watching plastic melt. Outstanding track on a somewhat bland album. Which is funny because I like the album. It's just one of those odd albums for some reason.

Ohhhh baby what a great track this is. Like others on here have written, Down in the Hole is so loose and yet so tight at the same time, and it creates this incredible feeling of desperation and doom (I love skipstone’s analogy to watching plastic melt!!). All the elements here … Jagger’s vocal, the guitars, Sugar Blue’s harmonica, Bill and Charlie … everything just meshes perfectly. Pure sonic bliss … the Stones at their very best.

Drew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-09-21 01:28 by drewmaster.

Down in the hole was o.k. back then, but looking back it is the point where their blues tracks grew hollow. They are only there to please the blues purists in the fan base. Back of my hand is the last example.

Cool ,bluesy and would be nice to hear live.

Great track. But what and WHERE is it about?? Mick's political songs in this period were usually about Central or South America, so I initially assumed it was about Latin America and the American "advisors" down there. But then "American Zone" sounds more like an American army base in Europe or Japan....

Anyone know the "back story" of this song?