Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Baby Break It Down
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Windmill Lane Recording Studios, Dublin, Ireland,
November 3 - December 11, 1993 and Don Was’ Private Studio &
A&M Recording Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US,
January 15 - April 23, 1994

Mick Jagger - lead vocals, backing vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar, piano, backing vocals
Charlie Watts - drums
Ron Wood - pedal steel guitar
Darryl Jones - bass
Ivan Neville - B-3 organ, backing vocals
Bernard Fowler - backing vocals

Baby break it down, baby break it down, we've got a long way to go
Baby break it down, baby break it down, we've got a long way to go

You're standing on your side, I'm standing on mine
It only needs one step and we could be crossing the line
There's nothing between us, or maybe too much
Whatever it is it's too fragile too touch

Baby break it down, baby break it down, we've got a long way to go
Baby break it down, wrap your love around, babe, we've got a long way to go

And who jumps the fences and who builds the walls
Whoever takes chances must surely fall

Baby break it down, baby break it down, babe, we've got a long way to go
Baby break it down, we'll be safe and sound, we've got a long way to go
Baby, too far to go, yeah, too far to go, too far to go, yeah

There's no river running, yeah, that we can't cross
Does one or the other of us have to be the boss, yeah, I’ll tell ya

Baby break it down, baby break it down, babe, we've got a long way to go
Baby break it down, wrap your love around, a long way to go, come on
Baby break it down, wrap your love around, babe, we've got a long way to go, yeah
Baby break it down, baby break it down, long way to go
Come on, we've got a long, long way to go, we've got a long way to go
Long, long way…

Produced by Don Was & The Glimmer Twins

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Voodoo Lounge” 2LP
(Virgin Records V 2750) UK, July 11, 1994



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-11-24 19:35 by René.

Vey nice , not annoying song .Very good voices on chorus.

One of my fave on VL. Great gospel feeling.

Weak riff + mediocre lyrics = FILLER

Great guitar playing from Keith

one of my fave tracks on VL, never get bored with it.

Great tune! Going back to the basics that they do so well. Simple but effective melody with deeper gospel/soul vibes. Jagger also sings this one very well, a classic Jagger performance.

One of the best on the album!! LOVE IT - wish they'd play it live!!

Weak

I love this track!

A classic.

the consummate filler track competing for filler attention on a filler-filled album....

it's a nice little tune, buried in a dreary stretch of a flabby album. I thought all it would have needed was a little genuine inspiration to turn it into a keeper, but now reading those lyrics for the first time, I think it lacked more than a little inspiration.

Love this one, it just grooves, maaan!

On the whole I think the "VooDoo..." album is brilliant, simply a great collection of songs and some equally great B-Sides, 'The Storm' in particular being a gem.

"..Lounge" bristles with life, a wonderful Rolling Stones album.

I think the basic problem and point when this one gets turned down or off is when they hear Jagger's lyric on this Keith song "Those who take chances, surely must fall." Clearly an excuse for Mick's aweful solo output. I'm getting sick to my stomach just thinking about it. Really painful.

Lyrically it's very high horse (close to Hold Back - hear the voice of experience, a word from the wise) drama gooey sap garbage with exception to the chorus, which is just OK.

Musically it's brilliant as far as being something different, rhythmically, it's a nice riff, etc...

For me when Mick gets all preachy about life and religion (Blinded By Rainbows, Saint Of Me are musically great, lyrically just bad - all that kind of crap has been said before, give me something new) when we know he's not - it's just too much and comes off heavy handed. These types of songs lyrically make Sweet Neo Con seem that much better - and that one is pretty bad.

In keeping with the rest of the Voodoo Lounge album, the track's production is beautifully understated, giving the guitars a more isolated and distinctive sound, and interacting superbly with Jagger's magnificent vocal performance.

A superb track from a truly great album.

Great tune! I've been listening to it a lot and heard it recently in a restaurant. My friend asked me if it was a Mick Jagger solo song since he had never heard it before.

its great - mick should have left it for keith tho!

i love VL anyone that cant appreciate it needs to turn out the lights and imagine that all is well and that it is really still 1973.

OLDKR

I like it pretty well, towards the middle of the pack for me. I agree this sounds like a Keith song that Mick sings. I don't know how much Mick might've changed the lyrics, but even some of those sound like Keith to me.

Nice tune stupid lyrics ..at least for me

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can anyone hear the piano that keith played?

i hear an acustic-guitar - but there is no credit...maybe it´s keith strumming?

Quote
oldkr
its great - mick should have left it for keith tho!

i love VL anyone that cant appreciate it needs to turn out the lights and imagine that all is well and that it is really still 1973.

OLDKR

that's funny, I think the problem with VL is that the Stones were doing just what you describe.

Quote
T&A
the consummate filler track competing for filler attention on a filler-filled album....

Classic

Love Bernard's live version with Tim Ries.

Keith's demo version does it for me
"getting by on guts & balls"

Great! I like same as ''Driving So Fast'' from ABB. Underrated by Stones...

Lyrically forgettable, but musically strong enough to overcome it. Thoughtful arrangement. Easily one of the best tracks on the album.

[thepowergoats.com]

Cringeworthily weak. Guitar parts are totally transparent and predictable, base on a riff pattern recycled fro Main Offender (twice) and also to be found on LIS.

I concur with T&A: "the consummate filler track competing for filler attention on a filler-filled album...."

Ans a Barn owl wrote:

"In keeping with the rest of the Voodoo Lounge album, the track's production is beautifully understated, giving the guitars a more isolated and distinctive sound, and interacting superbly with Jagger's magnificent vocal performance.

A superb track from a truly great album."

You jest, surely. Yes, you jest.

That album is full of jagger's and Richard's solo-album cast-offs, all repackaged with dire production into a formatted ,,,,,,,, I really can't be bothered to go on. It's the antithesis of their once instinctive and natural approach. On a par with 'Bang' - planned and contrived.


Inverness Caledonian Thistle 5 Liverpool 0

Quote
Four Stone Walls
Cringeworthily weak. Guitar parts are totally transparent and predictable, base on a riff pattern recycled fro Main Offender (twice) and also to be found on LIS.

I concur with T&A: "the consummate filler track competing for filler attention on a filler-filled album...."

Ans a Barn owl wrote:

"In keeping with the rest of the Voodoo Lounge album, the track's production is beautifully understated, giving the guitars a more isolated and distinctive sound, and interacting superbly with Jagger's magnificent vocal performance.

A superb track from a truly great album."

You jest, surely. Yes, you jest.

That album is full of jagger's and Richard's solo-album cast-offs, all repackaged with dire production into a formatted ,,,,,,,, I really can't be bothered to go on. It's the antithesis of their once instinctive and natural approach. On a par with 'Bang' - planned and contrived.

What difference does it make whether something is a "cast-off" or not?

It didn't do Tattoo You any harm.

Ditto with many other artists. Some of Springsteen's best ever work (the Tracks compilation as an example) are songs that never made it originally on to record, while Dylan has numerous Bootleg Series releases stuffed with classics that were never intended for public consumption (Dignity, Blind Willie McTell etc).

...and what's up with an album that is "planned and contrived?". In fact when did the Stones EVER make an album that wasn't "planned and contrived"? Isn't that what artists are supposed to do? In fact, isn't that the real reason why some tracks are released and others are not?

In this respect, Voodoo Lounge (like Exile) is an album where the the sum of the parts far outweighs the whole, and one which they were more than happy to show off in large chunks on the subsequent tours.

I repeat; it's a classic.

So stop theorising and take a listen.

Wrexham for the cup!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-11-18 21:17 by Barn Owl.

I've always loved the lesser known album tracks like this, no use in crying, all about you, melody, must be hell, too tight, etc. Call them fillers or whatever, but it's the stones being the stones to me.

For me the guitar work on Baby Brake It Down epitomizes the "Ancient Art of Weaving" that Keith & Ronnie have (or had) perfected. You just can't tell who's playing what on this unless you listen really, really carefully. I think that "Ancient Art" was lost on A Bigger Bang.

Great track.