A beautiful song, perfectly played and recorded.

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VT22

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Mathijs

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DandelionPowderman

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stupidguy2
Does anyone know how to play this song. I used to think it was an organ through a leslie...

It's all simple chords (D/C/G/F#-D/A/G). The genius trick is the A/G-thing. Keith does a few fills here and there in between chords, but it's very do-able finding your way to those fills.

That second chord is not a straight C, it is a C with a strangely raised B to Gflat on the A-string.

So you get:

x x
x x
0 0 -> 2
4 x
3 x
x x

So first that strange C chord, tham hammer on from G to A on the G string, than full G chord (tus with added D on the B string).

I always suspected that Nicky Hopkins had a hand in the chord sequence, as this strange C-chord is a piano chord more than it is a guitar chord.

Mathijs

That "strange" C-chord is an ordinary C#11, containing a raised f (not a lowered g), as it also functions as a guide tone to the root of the G-chord.

The first chord is a D9, and the song has two keys: D and G major.
Actually the keys are F and B-flat, as the capo is in 3.

A beauty of a song.

The guy below almost nails it, and for those who doubt, I posted the original as well.

Enjoy.

[www.youtube.com]

[www.youtube.com]

I found this video which seems to be pretty much right:

[www.youtube.com]

So, it's in F, but with a capo you get a D-shaped cord and then an indeed weird C-kinda-chord.

It's actually when looking at the chords and how Mick sings on top of it, you see how the structure of the songs works and how the melody varies on top of that same chord loop, with the ending alternating between either the A-shaped chord or the Em shaped chord. It reminds me of Sweet Virgina, such a delightful flowing loop, how each chord begs for the next one, but here the melody switches position, either singing on the first or on the second part of the loop.
I am not sure I describing it right, but it's very clever.
The amazing thing about Exile on Main Street is how deceivingly simple and basic it seems but it's so full of intricate patterns. I never cease to discover new layers to that album.
It's really the interplay between Keith and Mick which is purely magic in this song.

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z

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DandelionPowderman
Lots of theoretical stuff here (which is greeek to me, he he).

But did we manage to play the correct chords?





[www.youtube.com]

In fact the second chord is wrong, DP. You should take the second note 2 steps (a whole tone) up.

I knew it had to be something wrong there



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-01-14 15:15 by DandelionPowderman.

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Nimrod
One of their all time best songs and one of Jagger's best, if not THE best, recorded vocal performances. Also stands out as the guitar figure is not typical Keith.

absolutely agree on Jagger. This along with the cover I Don't Know Why.

Absolute stunner. One of the very best STONES tracks ever recorded. Sublime.

Rod

I just read this article where Jagger specifically mentions this song as rambling, and that he could not connect with it. All Keith's lyrics. Jagger said he actually had another set of lyrics.
Yet, it is undoubtedly one of his best performances.

Great great strack, gold Stones era.

***
I'm just a Bad Boy Boogie

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Naturalust
... I tried to do a version of it in my home studio but decided to take an approach which wouldn't even try to do what Mick did with the vocal, can't touch it. I've already posted it on this board but it is a tribute to my favorite band so here it is again.
...

I missed this previously. Really nice cover by Naturalust!

100% CLASSIC STONES

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Since the very first time I heard this song, I have loved it. So haunting and melancholy. I love the way the horns softly cry, not overwhelming the song, complementing the piano and guitar. Mick’s voice is so soulful. The backing vocals are so perfect. I float in the water of this song, pulled along by its currents. Probably my favorite song on Exile. But it is hard to pick a favorite song on Exile because all the songs on Exile are truly excellent.

Nicky Hopkins magic here!

Do we know what this song is all about?
Maybe it's someone in love with an Escort?

Let it loose...

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Eleanor Rigby
Do we know what this song is all about?

Ah tough question. Is the 1st line a jab at Bianca - written by Keith - or a jab at Anita - written by Mick? Both work : Bianca dragged Mick into the jet-set crap and Anita was not frnakly a healthy influence on Keith.

Or is it an entirely different thing?

Years later Keith admitted some of the lyrics of All About You were aimed at Jagger, so the biographical/topical aspect of the bands lyrics cannot be under-estimated.

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Eleanor Rigby
Do we know what this song is all about?
Maybe it's someone in love with an Escort?

Let it loose...

I think Keith wrote that, actually. That's a very weird, difficult song. I had a whole other set of lyrics to it, but they got lost by the wayside. I don't think that song has any semblance of meaning. It's one of those rambling songs. I didn't really understand what it was about, after the event.

- Mick Jagger, 2009

It is very much a Keith lyric like 'Happy' is -all loose sentences sounding great, but without a real meaning to it.

Mathijs

without any real meaning.....maybe no storyline or grand message, but they convey a common emotion like desire in a 'great sounding way'. Pretty close to the definition of art...

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Mathijs

It is very much a Keith lyric like 'Happy' is -all loose sentences sounding great, but without a real meaning to it.

Mathijs

Exactly.
A most excellent song.
And apart from the exquisite guitar arpeggio, Jaggers epic delivery, the mercury sound of the brass, the warmth of the background singers; is the majestic arrangement.

I have wondered many times how much planning that went down getting that arrangement right, especially that middle part when the guitar just keeps going on and on with the arpeggio.

Sort of strange, isnt it, given that the instrumental must have been recorded a long time before the background singers were added in LA? Imagine arriving in the studio with that idea....
Keith: " yeah I´m gonna noodle around a bit with the arpeggio ....for thirty seconds or a minute , you know... then Charlie is gonna re-enter and the horns will add perhaps the most beautiful passage on the record. Probably gonna add some background singers there or something later. Does that sound like a plan?"

Yeah Keith... that sounds great.

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I miss this kind of guitar arpeggio in sweet sounds of heaven. I got the blues, time is on my side, if you need me..... excellent examples

I thought Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine covered 'Let It Loose', but it isn't the same song.

Great song. Great playing by Keith along with a soulful delivery by Mick.