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Anybody Seen My Baby?
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards / k d lang / Ben Mink)

Ocean Way Recording Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US,
March 13 - July 1997

Mick Jagger - lead vocals, backing vocals, electric guitar
Keith Richards - electric guitar, backing vocals
Charlie Watts - drums
Ron Wood - electric guitar
Waddy Wachtel - acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Don Was - keyboards
Jamie Muhoberac - bass, keyboards
Blondie Chaplin - shaker, backing vocals
Bernard Fowler - backing vocals
Biz Markie - rap

She confessed her love to me, then she vanished on the breeze
Trying to hold on to that was just impossible
She was more than beautiful, closer to ethereal, with a kind of down to earth flavor
Close my eyes, it's three in the afternoon, then I realize, that she's really gone for good

Anybody seen my baby, anybody seen her around
Love has gone and made me blind, I've looked but I just can't find
She has gotten lost in the crowd

I was flippin' magazines in that place on Mercer Street, when I thought I spotted her
Getting on a motor bike, looking rather lady like, didn't she just give me a wave
Salty tears, it's three in the afternoon
Cause she disappeared, is she really gone for good

Anybody seen my baby, anybody seen her around
If I just close my eyes, I reach out and touch the prize, anybody seen her around
Oh yeah, that’s what I said

Anybody seen my baby, has anybody seen her, anybody seen her around
If I just close my eyes, I will reach out, reach out and touch the prize
Anybody seen her around, oh yeah, anybody seen my baby

Lost, lost and never found
Oh, yeah, I must have, I must have called her a thousand times
Oh, sometimes I just think, she's just in my imagination

Oh yeah, lost, lost in the crowd

Produced by Don Was, The Dust Brothers & The Glimmer Twins

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Anybody Seen My Baby?” CD single
(Virgin Records VSCDT 1653) UK, September 22, 1997



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-11-24 19:28 by René.

I've always liked this tune. It's got a great atmosphere about it. And it's even a bit mysterious. It's not rock'n'roll but it is a sort of 1990s Miss You/Emotional Rescue in a much better way I think.

Great description. An eerie song. Keith has some great riffs in it, and the keyboards are perfect. Always loved this one and thought it was a great return to form....my only gripe is the rap (I instinctively am repulsed by most rap), but even that is carried off with taste and adds to the grittiness of the song. How well did it do in the charts?

The rap bit, yes - it is weird. I think the beauty of it though - if there is one, if that's possible - is that it's a bit difficult to...distinguish? And at least it's not LOUD. Other than that, rap is just missing a c in front of it.

Maybe they tried some kind of solo and it just didn't work and that...rap...thing somehow worked. I'd love to hear a mix of it without the rap. And what's the damn point of that anyway? That's not the Stones. The Stones being different - OK. The Stones doing what other people are doing? What, are they going to do something that sounds like U2 next? AC/DC? How about Elmore James? Now THAT would be good.

It's a really great tune. Shows that the Stones felt strong enough in the 90s to do something different yet with edge. They could experiment with soul/pop/rap and make something exciting. And the video was good too. I remember how huge hit this song was when it came out. Even radio stations that do not play rock music would air this one. They managed to reach mainstream audience with it - something they failed with Streets Of Love.
Funny enough, this song just NEVER sound that greal live. It's one of the tracks whose studio version is superior to the live versions.

Asmb is not my favourite song, but it has a good groove, it fitted into the time when it was released and it was innovative. I prefer other songs from Bridges, but Waddy Watchell plays a wonderful solo on Asmb. The video was really good!

One of the best sounding Stones song .Great production and mix - hear the bass and drums! guitars are lazy and powerfull , slow tempo and hypnotic beat.Groove and melody.The last great Stones radio song.In a course of time BtB seems to me the best Stones album from the 90`s.

BtB is the best Stones 90s production, I agree.

It always sounded like a Jagger solo record to me...

I quite like it though.

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Sleepy City
It always sounded like a Jagger solo record to me...

I quite like it though.

Jagger solo song with these guitars? I think Waddy Watchtel has made perfect job on ASMB and Saint of me.Another variation of ancient art of weaving.

It's actually one of my favorite tracks, except for that rap they decided to include.. But then again, I absolutely love "Don't stop" aswell, so what do I know right?

-TomR

A fine track, however scudos as a Stones original are diminished somewhat by the fact it utilises the same melody as KD Lang's "Constant Craving"





Obviously some kind of subliminal infection. It was only after the track was in the can when this was realised so it was decided to award KD Lang co-writing credits to help stave off the possibility of litigation.

Never did much for me. Not really Stones worthy lyrics.

It's a great one. It's a shame that it never really took off live though. The studio cut is great. When I heard it live it had some great atmospheric moments, but not more than that. Maybe a hard one to pull off live.

JumpingKentFlash

I like the studio cut. Much more in the context of the album than as a single.

It did not work live, because Jagger couldn't sing it (always flat renderings, always as if struggling with the tonality): odd for a Jagger tune!

C

Brilliant song. Just brilliant. Unfortunately, it's the only one I liked on Bridges to Babylon. Never sounded good live though - impossible to really replicate something so downright eerie (great and apt adjective, whitem) on stage. When I first heard this I swore it was gong to be a huge hit. Not sure what the point of the rap was - except as a way of staying "relevant" (i.e: appealing to the under 22 radio listeners) - because it had bugger all to do with the song.

we came to rock for everybody like this -
a fine statement of purpose. i got no gripe with this tune

performance wise - I dont think there was ever a Stones song in their history as a live band which was so consistently dreadful in concert. It stopped every show dead in it's tracks and was about as welcome as a fart in a space suit.

The studio version though is a little gem that's greatly underrated. Especially the second half of it. Not a classic, but still bloody good.

And I still maintain that Waddy Wachtel's solo at the end is one of the most beautiful pieces of music on any Stones record in the last three decades.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-10-20 15:48 by Gazza.

Great song, and the only 90s song which gets some airplay on the radio.

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jamesjagger
Great song, and the only 90s song which gets some airplay on the radio.

Really? I've heard their rendition of Like A Rolling Stone many times. Same goes for Love Is Strong and Saint Of Me.

JumpingKentFlash

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JumpingKentFlash
It's a great one. It's a shame that it never really took off live though. The studio cut is great. When I heard it live it had some great atmospheric moments, but not more than that. Maybe a hard one to pull off live.

Funny how songs can be perceived so differently - for me this song only took off when I heard the live version from Oct. 25th., 1997 (In the good old days when you would still buy boots)

would have been an ok. jagger solo effort, not more. and the chorus is a rip off (they probably didnt know the other song though).

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Gazza
performance wise - I dont think there was ever a Stones song in their history as a live band which was so consistently dreadful in concert. It stopped every show dead in it's tracks and was about as welcome as a fart in a space suit.

The studio version though is a little gem that's greatly underrated. Especially the second half of it. Not a classic, but still bloody good.

And I still maintain that Waddy Wachtel's solo at the end is one of the most beautiful pieces of music on any Stones record in the last three decades.

Totally agree,not a bad album cut but NEVER did get off the ground live(even in a super controlled atmosphere like the 10 Spot and Fashion Awards!) What sounds strangely interesting(the rap) on the album always sounded dreadful Live!

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scottkeef

Quote
Gazza
performance wise - I dont think there was ever a Stones song in their history as a live band which was so consistently dreadful in concert. It stopped every show dead in it's tracks and was about as welcome as a fart in a space suit.

The studio version though is a little gem that's greatly underrated. Especially the second half of it. Not a classic, but still bloody good.

And I still maintain that Waddy Wachtel's solo at the end is one of the most beautiful pieces of music on any Stones record in the last three decades.

Totally agree,not a bad album cut but NEVER did get off the ground live(even in a super controlled atmosphere like the 10 Spot and Fashion Awards!) What sounds strangely interesting(the rap) on the album always sounded dreadful Live!

Jagger also adapted quite a few rapper moves for the live rendition. In Copenhagen 1998, he made some very rapper-like moves (The one where you hold the mic in one hand and take the other hand from your chest and out to the crowd multiple times to "explain yourself"). It looked a tad cheesy to be honest.

JumpingKentFlash

Excellwnt, idea-filled track. Very original and interesting. It sounds fantastic, imo.

I like it just fine.

great song, I always liked that one. not generally a fan of rap but I thought the rap in the song worked