Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
_______________________________________________________________________________

Shattered
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Pathé Marconi Studios (EMI Studios), Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France,
October 10 - December 21, 1977

Mick Jagger - lead vocals, backing vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar, backing vocals
Charlie Watts - drums, percussion
Ron Wood - electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, bass,
percussion, backing vocals
Ian Stewart - piano
Simon Kirke - percussion
Hassan - percussion

Shattered, shattered
Love and hope and sex and dreams are still surviving on the streets
Look at me, I'm in tatters, I'm a shattered, shattered
Friends are so alarming and my lover's never charming
Life's just a cocktail party on the street, Big Apple
People dressed in plastic bags directing traffic, some kind of fashion, shattered
Laughter, joy, and loneliness and sex and sex and sex and sex
Look at me, I'm in tatters, I'm a shattered, shattered
All this chitter-chatter, chitter-chatter, chitter-chatter 'bout shmatta, shmatta, shmatta
I can't give it away on 7th Avenue, this town's been wearing tatters, shattered
Work and work for love and sex, ain't you hungry for success success success success
Does it matter, shattered, does it matter

Look at me, I'm a shattered, I'm a shattered, look at me, I'm a shattered, yeah
Pride and joy and greed and sex, that's what makes our town the best
Pride and joy and dirty dreams are still surviving on the street
And look at me, I'm in tatters, yeah, I've been battered, what does it matter
Does it matter, does it matter, I'm a shattered, shattered

Don't you know the crime rate is going up, up, up, up, up
To live in this town you must be tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough
You got rats on the west side, bed bugs uptown
What a mess, this town's in tatters, I've been shattered
My brain's been battered, splattered all over Manhattan, what’d I say?

This town's full of money grabbers, go ahead, bite the Big Apple
Don't mind the maggots, shadoobie, my brain's been battered
My friends they come around, they flatter, flatter, flatter, flatter, flatter, flatter, flatter
Pile it up, pile it up, pile it high on the platter

Produced by The Glimmer Twins

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Some Girls” LP
(Rolling Stones Records CUN 39108) UK, June 9, 1978



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-04-07 10:39 by René.

A Live-Killer!



2 1 2 0

The most important song on Some Girls. It simply proved that the Stones could be relevant, dangerous, inventive and raw again.

Musically, the track is imo much deeper than many give it credit for. The lyrics are among their best ever, being spot on social commentaries.

A closer listen will reveal some reggae/ska-elements (Keith), spicing up the transcendal groove of this track. And Mick... he is simply brilliant

true! great song! the stones at their best!

Quote
DandelionPowderman
The most important song on Some Girls. It simply proved that the Stones could be relevant, dangerous, inventive and raw again.

Musically, the track is imo much deeper than many give it credit for. The lyrics are among their best ever, being spot on social commentaries.

A closer listen will reveal some reggae/ska-elements (Keith), spicing up the transcendal groove of this track. And Mick... he is simply brilliant

Yes. Thank you. One of their best imo.

Great track! I prefer the studio version to the live version.

Studio version is great. Great lyrics. The bridge is one of their most elegant ones.

one of my all time favorite songs ever !!!!!!!!!

I love in in Still Life, my favourite version of this wild song

A brilliant coda to their most dynamic album in years, Shattered is a loving poke in the eye to the city that never sleeps, in all its seediness and blight. And, at the same time, it is a masterful distillation of the 70’s rock-star life – and perhaps the life of many other high-flying New Yorkers at the time – with all the bountiful sex and the groveling sycophants that “success” hath reaped. The Stones have never sounded more brash yet cynical than they do here.

The production values are worthy of note as well; that slightly processed guitar sound adds a very cool vibe to the festivities.

Drew

Doesn't work live very well, but the Some Girls version is great. Fantastic lyrics and you definitely need Mick Jagger to sing it, and great drive and guitar-work.

It's never been a favorite of mine.....

Eventhough the lyrics aren't too bad.

"Shidoobee", sounds so childish to me...

Quote
KeithNacho
I love in in Still Life, my favourite version of this wild song

+1

Excuse my ignorance. Who or what is "Hassan"?

Worst song the Stones ever recorded. It's just awful.

I think it is the last completely original rock and roll song ever written. It borrows no elements from any song ever done before, from the Stones or anyone else. It's completely it's own thing. And no one has ever done anything like it since either.

Quote
From4tilLate
I think it is the last completely original rock and roll song ever written. It borrows no elements from any song ever done before, from the Stones or anyone else. It's completely it's own thing. And no one has ever done anything like it since either.

You're probably right. Shattered, one of the most underrated songs in the history of rock, is unique. The riff/lead motif is very cleverly done, the bridge is not some forced thing, it feels natural, it follows the mood of the song. The studio version is the best but no there are hardly any bad live versions either. Actually I dont think their "VEgas era" versions sort of stands the test. Not the same, not even close, but not bad either. Timeless Stones groove. One of my top ten favourites.

Quote
DandelionPowderman

A closer listen will reveal some reggae/ska-elements (Keith), spicing up the transcendal groove of this track. )

I thought it was the first rap song ever.

Absolutely love it!

What a drag it is gettin' old

Told they would never do this live again.

Quote
kleermaker

Quote
DandelionPowderman

A closer listen will reveal some reggae/ska-elements (Keith), spicing up the transcendal groove of this track. )

I thought it was the first rap song ever.

I said a closer listen



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-04-07 18:46 by DandelionPowderman.

Quote
More Hot Rocks
Worst song the Stones ever recorded. It's just awful.

Sigh.

Quote
From4tilLate
I think it is the last completely original rock and roll song ever written. It borrows no elements from any song ever done before, from the Stones or anyone else. It's completely it's own thing. And no one has ever done anything like it since either.

Indeed a great song, but I think its roots are in Negrita and Slave.

C

I can't stand the song. It's just stupid all around.

Stones goes punk. Not a great song, really. But it works well. A gritty groove. Nice guitars. Hasn't worked well live though since 81/82.

Great song. I've loved it since I first heard it in 1978. And the live versions are great too (esp. 1978, 1981 and 1982 versions).

Love the riff of the live version.

C

Besides Satisfaction, probably the second Rolling Stones' song that I can really remember listening to.

It grabbed a hold of me and dragged me through the dark alley of Rock n' Roll madness. Truly a life-changer for me.

I can't imagine what fans and general listeners thought when they first heard the SG album. Much of it must've sounded at times almost like a different band to many ears. I would imagine to the '60s Stones fans still around in '78 it reminded them somewhat of the mid-60s Stones. That sneering attitude, simple to the point songs. The tenderness found in the grooves of GHS-IORR-B&B was gone save for BoB and BTMMR, in the latter's case a tenderness built upon a sense of holding one's head up in the face of desperation. But the final track Shattered. I wonder if some people dropped the needle there first out of curiousity from the title or to hear how the Stones closed out their newest album.

The song's title, "Shattered" is intriguing probably some thought it would be funky sounding like Hot Stuff as well as "Fingerprint File" or maybe a short soul-inflected ballad snuck on at the end.

Instead the listener would've found the song wrapped up SG where it started on the streets of New York via a Paris recording studio. The song seems to comes from the point of view of a man walking the war zone of late '70s NYC giving a blow by blow account of experiences and encounters, a true exile on Main Street or maybe 42nd Street.

It's interesting that the band would pick up the narrative, if not, the sound on the opening track on ER. Mick in Shattered takes on the roll of Lou Reed but less fatalistic and sardonic, Mick's character sounds like he's actually on his way to Studio 54 or maybe Traamps, shaking his head in bemusement and astonishment of the sights and sounds he's encountering.

The poor soul of Miss You has decided to embrace his new found unattached status like a stranger in a strange land on Shattered and despite his personal condition and those surrounding him, just sort of going with it. Yeah, he's Shattered but he's beyond his pain or sadness now. He's in the biggest city in the world the "American zone" as it implodes around him. But you know what-"Shi-doo-bee" he says because I mean what else can you say when you're "Shattered".

The music behind the lyrics is great with the phased guitar, Ronnie's b-string bends the weird reggae-new wave-country vibe of the sounds. Charlie and Bill provide just the right wobble.

Shattered is a stone-cold Stones classic.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-04-07 20:41 by big4.

I remember when the Stones opened Shep. Bush with this & Charlie was beating the skins so hard his stick went right through the snare. That opening was a FORCE, the crowd was packed so tight, it was terribly hot...what great angst...incredible.

Getting All Down The Line a few songs later...that show ROCKED when they turned up the tempo.