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tatters

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DandelionPowderman

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tatters
Some years ago I put forth the proposition that Mick is actually singing about his days living in the flat on Edith Grove. No one seemed to agree with me, though.

Good one! Maybe Keith and Brian made some eggs for him

It was a filthy block of flats
Trash was on the floor
The stink was in my nose
Hinges off the door

A perfectly accurate description of the flat at 102 Edith Grove that Mick shared with Keith and Brian in 62-63.

She took me in her room
All was spick and span

The hookers who lived in the same building kept their flats nice and clean. Spic And Span means immaculately clean and is also the name of a household cleaning product that has been around since the 1930s.

And the rain fell down

As it often does in London.

And the phone kept ringing

This is the line that made me realize the song is set in 1962. It kept ringing because before people had answering machines that's what phones did. They kept ringing until you picked up or the caller hung up.

Everybody's jazzed

The British blues boom was a reaction to everyone being sick to death of trad jazz.

The bankers are @#$%& every Thursday night
they just vomit on the ground

The Stones played at the Marquee on Thursday nights. The "bankers" may refer to certain people who showed up for the gigs, but who were there mainly to get loaded and had little interest in the music .... much like some of the people in the audiences today!

Everybody's dreaming
Everybody's scheming

"Everybody" meaning the Stones and their friends.

She cooked up some eggs
Then she made some tea
Kissed me on the cheek
Then I turned on her TV

The hookers who lived in the building would often cook and clean for the boys in return for their sexual services. Hookers don't like to kiss on the mouth. Germs, you know.

It was all the usual crap
All the usual sleaze
For 10,000 quid
Some bimbo spilled the beans

This is what makes me positive the song is set in 62-63. Mick is watching a news report about how one of the girls involved in the Profumo Affair sold her story to the newspapers for 10,000 quid. Also, Mick says "quid". He hasn't thought in terms of "quid" since the Stones left England.

Also, on the ABB tour, the song was often played right after "As Tears Go By" which is also a song about London in the early days.

"All I hear is the sound of rain falling on the ground"


And there's even a secret message for anyone who figured out the clues. It's the first line of the next song on the album.

"You're awful bright, you're awful smart"

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peoplewitheyes
Just hearing this version for the first time...


I'm digging the melodic flourishes - principally from the blaxploitation strings. A shame in doesn't have the vocals on it (excepting the odd phrase), as I am quite partial to Mick's part in the original.

I think a braver 70s Stones would have gone in this direction for the album released version - on things like Fingerprint File they got pretty far out of their 'comfort zone' (I don't like that phrase, but I'm too relaxed to think of a synonym).


What d'yall make of it?

Rain Fell Down remix

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DandelionPowderman
Pretty good track. IMO, better live than on record, where it sound somewhat generic sound-wise. Nice bridge.

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GasLightStreet
I heard Stereo MCs song Connected.

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HMS
Rain Fall Down is one of their best post-DW-songs, maybe the best song from Bigger Bang. In fact when Bigger Bang came out, this song impressed me the most. It should have replaced Miss You in their touring-setlists since 2005. RFD is one of my all-time-latter-day-Stones-favorites. It´s pure magic, totally outstanding and always a great pleasure listening to this very very fine song.

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Testify
Rain Fall Down ? Fantastic song !

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Chris Fountain

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Testify
Rain Fall Down ? Fantastic song !

It worked great in concert as well!

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drewmaster

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GasLightStreet
I heard Stereo MCs song Connected.

Now that you mention it, yes indeed ... and Connected is infinitely better.

Drew