Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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I Think I’m Going Mad
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas, January 18 - February 12, 1979,
Pathé Marconi Studios (EMI Studios), Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France,
June 10 - October 19, 1979 and The Hit Factory, New York City, New York, US,
June - August 1, 1983

Mick Jagger - lead vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar, piano, harmony vocals
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Ron Wood - pedal steel guitar
David Sanborn - saxophone

Think I'm going mad and I think I'm going mad
Life goes by so fast, time whirls by so fast
And I drink my wine and so all the women come and go
Think I'm going mad, think I'm going mad, think I'm going crazy
All the highs and lows don't mean a thing to me, don't give a damn

Every season that'll pass, think gonna be my last
I know my mind's afloat, sometimes I feel so young and sometimes I feel so old
Think I'm going mad and I think I'm going mad, think I'm going crazy
All the highs and lows don't mean a thing to me, don't give a damn, think I’m going

Yeah, you want to see, you want to see all the kids all laugh
And I’m thinking, I think I’m going crazy
I think and I think I’m going crazy
All the highs and lows don't mean a thing to me, don't give a damn

And I think I’m going crazy, think I’m going crazy
I think I been drinking lots of cups of coffee
I think I lost my head
And I think I should be sacrificed
Think I should be put away
Save yourself pretty baby
And I think and I think I'm going
And I think I’m going mad
And I think I’m going mad
Think I'm going nuts
Think, think I'm going crazy

Produced by The Glimmer Twins & Chris Kimsey

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “She Was Hot / I Think I’m Going Mad” 7” single
(Rolling Stones Records 7-99788) US, January 23, 1984

Great track!

Ronnie Wood said in his radio show that it's him playing the sax.

N

I'm sorry, but not much to write about! It's quite telling though that they have to use a five year old reject for a single b-side.

Not one that did a lot for me to be perfectly honest. Standard fare rock song.

Well, here it is. Can't believe I've never even heard of this. I guess I always thought of 'She Was Hot' as a b-side. Way, way too much like 'Worried About You'.

One of my favorites. It sounds incomplete, so I can understand the b-side....but that half-finished quality makes it seem authentic and organic. Its sad.

I had always assumed that it came from the "Undercover" sessions, and it was obviously not a good fit for that record.

Having come from 1979, it might have slotted onto the second side of Tattoo You with a bit more polish. Yet, the lack of polish is exactly the quality I like about it.

A nice tune, and just like Through the Lonely Nights, we love it precisely because it's a B-side.

You can't trash it as "filler" or "unfinished" when it was a bonus to begin with.

T@3

Nothing special about this song

__________________________

Quote
TeaAtThree
I had always assumed that it came from the "Undercover" sessions, and it was obviously not a good fit for that record.

Having come from 1979, it might have slotted onto the second side of Tattoo You with a bit more polish. Yet, the lack of polish is exactly the quality I like about it.

A nice tune, and just like Through the Lonely Nights, we love it precisely because it's a B-side.

You can't trash it as "filler" or "unfinished" when it was a bonus to begin with.

T@3

Exactly....b-sides are great because they usually sound raw and spontaneous.

I love, LOVE this track!!!! There are actually a few different versions floating around, including the one that 24FPS posted. I love all of them.

Why? The lyrics are so beautiful and devastatingly sad. Jagger sings this one like he means it. The guitar sound is phenomenal; it has that wonderfully resonant, echoey twang that you hear on a lot of Stones tracks from this era. Charlie's drumming is superb. Keith adds some lovely touches with his piano work and harmony vocals. The sax is gorgeous. And the production is superb. It's just a great track, one that has been there for me at my lowest lows and still haunts me in my dreams.

Below is another version. Listen to how beautiful the guitar licks are that start at 2:53 (and especially that gorgeous chord sequence at 3:13), and then Jagger's stunning delivery of the lyrics ... Keith, Ronnie, and Charlie right there behind him, everything clicking perfectly...

This is pure, unvarnished Stones magic. God do I love this band!!





Drew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-07-12 04:06 by drewmaster.

Quote
drewmaster
I love, LOVE this track!!!! There are actually a few different versions floating around, including the one that 24FPS posted. I love all of them.

Why? The lyrics are so beautiful and devastatingly sad. Jagger sings this one like he means it.
Below is another version. Listen to how beautiful the guitar licks are that start at 2:53 (and especially that gorgeous chord sequence at 3:13), and then Jagger's stunning delivery of the lyrics ... Keith, Ronnie, and Charlie right there behind him, everything clicking perfectly...

Yeah, that's my argument for this song. People always seem to write it off as a half-assed attempt because it sounds a bit ragged. But its beautiful and sad....and when Jagger sings those lines 'you oughta see my shakin hands....can't even drink....(?) sip a cup of coffee aahhh....'
Its devastating. Jagger sounds completely defeated and hopeless and maybe drunk.
It's an unpolished gem, which makes it all the more poignant.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-07-13 06:24 by stupidguy2.

A great surprise in that time; it was the first RS's album with no ballads (UC). And here you have your great ballad in the b-side of a great rock tune like she was hot!!!!

This song has always been some mystery to me.......very strange atmosphere....almost like Mick is singing some goodbye song to The Rolling Stones as they once were... anyway...there must be some 12 minute+ version circulating?? I would like to listen to that one... A great song, although it sounds like some unfinished demo

Quote
stupidguy2
....and when Jagger sings those lines 'you oughta see my shakin hands....can't even drink....(?) sip a cup of coffee aahhh....'
Its devastating. Jagger sounds completely defeated and hopeless and maybe drunk.
It's an unpolished gem, which makes it all the more poignant.

YES!!! You nailed it. The defeat and hopelessness in Jagger's voice is absolutely heart-wrenching. And I think this speaks to one area where Jagger's abilities are UNDER-rated: his ability to communicate a persona, to imbue a song with emotion and make it sound like he really IS going through what he sings about. Everyone knows what a great performer he is on stage, but his genius shines through equally (if not more) in the recorded songs.

Drew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-07-14 01:02 by drewmaster.

Ever since I've read this thread, this amazing song is permanently in my head.....

And the more I do think about it, I come to the conclusion that this song is maybe one of the most important songs in their catalogue...

Between the lines I do read that Jagger is suffering about losing his youth, about times passing by, and maybe he did say in some way 'goodbye' to The Rolling Stones of 1963-1978....

Around 1979 they just finished their recordings in Paris and Nassau, and they had just enough stuff to make ER and TY.... and after that everything was uncertain....

It is a sad song, and really some closing song. A Kind of "Time Waits For No One", but much more to the point...much more authentic

Dear Rene, I like your 'track talk' very much. Wouldn't it be a great idea to 'collect' one day, all the input and comments on 'your' thread, and to publish some book?

I mean, all The Rolling Stones songs from A to Z, with comments from the fans. I would absolutely buy it.

Title: "Talkin'about the Songs of The Rolling Stones" or something like that.

Ok, just some idea. In the meanwhile please do continue, there are much more songs to discuss. Great job Rene

Thank you, keefbajaga.
We'll see, first we have about 300 Track Talks to go!

René

Just discovered this track.

I like it! It's different.

It's a strange thing. If it was slotted anywhere, it should have been TATTOO YOU, but having played it with Side Two, it doesn't seem to fit among the other ballads. As a CD-R, I've added it to the end of UNDERCOVER and, although it is very different from the rest of the album, it works comfortably there as an afterthought to that very intense album. There's something interesting about the 1977-1983 period in that mixing (and remixing) gave tracks a coherent identity. Though the track was several years old, that final mix during post-production on UNDERCOVER makes the track sonically fit that somewhat schizophrenic album.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-10-12 23:21 by Rocky Dijon.

I was very excited to see this finally released on CD in the singles set but much to my chagrin they botched it up and it has some defective skip in the beginning of the song. I was told about replacement discs and they sent me one but it also had the skip! It's like an extra beat or something. This is the version...

[www.youtube.com]

They fixed it on iTunes, but that's not much help I understand.

Fixed/rescued Emotional Rescue on my personal CD-R with it, by replacing Indian Girl. Also, Where The Boys Go had to go for Claudine and All About You for We Had It All. These minor cosmetical touch-ups lifted the album considerably, I can tell you.

Of course, there is room for all of those tracks with the original album on CD-R. I couldn't sleep at night knowing I had deliberately butchered EMOTIONAL RESCUE.

Quote
Rocky Dijon
Of course, there is room for all of those tracks with the original album on CD-R. I couldn't sleep at night knowing I had deliberately butchered EMOTIONAL RESCUE.

I sleep better since I did it because it was the first time I could listen to the album all the way through without skipping certain tracks. But I guess one man's butchering is another man's Emotional Recue, what is politically correct in the sense of diversity and politically incorrect at the same time.

Jim Barber posted a cool pic of him and Keef pulling an all nighter and playing g this track during the Undercover sessions

Deathgod,who is Jim Barber and where can we see this photo?

Meet Jim Barber

[www.rising-records.com]

A roadie on both UNDERCOVER and PRIMITIVE COOL whose guitar work appears on both albums. On the former, his Andy Summers-style guitar tone drives "Too Much Blood." On the latter, he joined Jimmy Rip and Vernon Reid to overdub for Jeff Beck mere seconds of guitar parts that you'd never be able to recognize as anyone's signature style (or so Jimmy Rip stated in contrast to Vernon Reid's claims that his solos are showcased on "Peace for the Wicked.").

From Rising Records/Jim Barber site ….. Very small image ...Best I can do …...

Listed in code as Jim Barber - Keith Richards - Paris 1982



[www.rising-records.com]



ROCKMAN

Quote
retired_dog
I sleep better since I did it because it was the first time I could listen to the album all the way through without skipping certain tracks. But I guess one man's butchering is another man's Emotional Rescue, what is politically correct in the sense of diversity and politically incorrect at the same time.

I never skip tracks. That's why my contempt for a number of songs never diminishes. No significant amount of time ever passes before I hear them again. They're like open wounds that never grow a scab.

Political correctness is censorship under a different bluenose. I don't object to general politeness which is certainly sorely lacking in our society, but I'll never embrace censorship regardless of whose side is claiming it is right and proper.

Jim Barber posted this alongside the pic Rockman shared

Looking back at a younger Moi, I remembered the photos on the orange screen in the top right corner of this photograph... it was behind Keith’s Boogie combo. KR would often walk in the studio, go right over to his Amp and place a 38 Revolver on it, with a thump - so that everyone noticed, or as on one occasion, he took out a huge hunting knife and literally stuck it into the top of the Combo...
On the screen, he had taped some photos of his then, new model girlfriend Patti Hansen, and for some reason, Mick had added some photos of himself and Jerry Hall, I guess as not to be outdone as they had recently done a photo-shoot in Paris for Vogue magazine... I had turned up at the studio in readiness for the evening’s recording, and was looking at Mick’s rather ‘camp’ photos, when Keith came up next to me and I said to him “Which one is Mick?” He pissed himself laughing and told Mick what I’d said when MJ minced into the studio that night.
Luckily, I worked for Keith - mainly.