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Bliss
It can be very difficult to work out Mick and Keith's respective lyrical contributions, although there are some songs which are sole compositions which give you a good idea of their style. They do have a distinctive style, but sometimes things are added or fixed up.
Lyrics are sung, and as the singer, Mick could well add some touches to Keith's lyrics that make the song sound better.
But the circumstances that led Keith to write "Gimme Shelter" are so well known that it seems sloppy for the writer to mention it as an example of Mick's lyrics.
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OzHeavyThrobber
Yeah nice contribution to the thread. As a sideline I read lower case just as competently as upper.
Jagger has never made comment as far as I'm aware he had anything to do with the composition of it and Richards basically claims it entirely as his own in 'Life'.
If you've anything to add that sheds light on Jagger having co-written this I'd be INTERESTED.
I think you just managed to completely capture everything that is good about his writing in a single post.Quote
memphiscats
I love the humor in his writing...
"You left me twisting in the wind, dangling in the night
You'll be Mr. Christian and I'll be Captain Bligh...
"It's today that's the day of the plunge
Oh, the gal I'm to marry is a bow-legged sow
I've been soakin' up drink like a sponge"
His amazing ability to turn a phrase...
"Pretty lips were sealed, I wrote a letter
Full of trite confessions about wounds that heal"
The way he can convey loneliness in just a few words...
"And your late night friends leave you in the cold grey dawn"
"And as I watch you leaving me
You pack my peace of mind"
"I got silence on my radio
Let the air waves flow, let the air waves flow"
"One day I woke up to find, right in the bed next to mine
Someone that broke me up with a corner of her smile, yeah"
And how he creates such memorable images using just a few words...
"I've been bit and I've been tossed around
By every she-rat in this town"
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PietroQuote
Come OnQuote
Pietro
There is a "Jagger's Best Lyrics" thread. Which inspired me to start a "Jagger's Worst Lyrics." Here's my choice:
What exactly is gonna happen
When her father finds out
That his virgin daughter has bordello dreams
And he's the one she wants to try out
From "Family" on "Metamorphosis."
He He this is brilliant lyrics in a brilliant song Pietro...
I don't see how anyone can find merit in these lyrics. "Bordello dreams"? So she wants to work in a bordello. And after she gets that job in the bordello, her father wants to try her out. Bizarre!
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DandelionPowderman
Is Mick really underrated as a lyricist, and by who?
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DandelionPowderman
<Maybe it's just that he's not known mainly as a lyricist as say Dylan or Lennon, even though he's every bit as good I think.>
He is not at Dylan's level, so that's rightfully so, imo.
Lennon has a few gems and lots of clunkers, imo.
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latebloomerQuote
DandelionPowderman
<Maybe it's just that he's not known mainly as a lyricist as say Dylan or Lennon, even though he's every bit as good I think.>
He is not at Dylan's level, so that's rightfully so, imo.
Lennon has a few gems and lots of clunkers, imo.
Dylan has written a lot of crappy lyrics as well. It's just that his most famous songs are, generally, his most eloquent and more universal in subject matter. I think Mick is every bit as good as Dylan and Lennon.
Why Thank You!Quote
aliebI think you just managed to completely capture everything that is good about his writing in a single post.Quote
memphiscats
I love the humor in his writing...
"You left me twisting in the wind, dangling in the night
You'll be Mr. Christian and I'll be Captain Bligh...
"It's today that's the day of the plunge
Oh, the gal I'm to marry is a bow-legged sow
I've been soakin' up drink like a sponge"
His amazing ability to turn a phrase...
"Pretty lips were sealed, I wrote a letter
Full of trite confessions about wounds that heal"
The way he can convey loneliness in just a few words...
"And your late night friends leave you in the cold grey dawn"
"And as I watch you leaving me
You pack my peace of mind"
"I got silence on my radio
Let the air waves flow, let the air waves flow"
"One day I woke up to find, right in the bed next to mine
Someone that broke me up with a corner of her smile, yeah"
And how he creates such memorable images using just a few words...
"I've been bit and I've been tossed around
By every she-rat in this town"
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OzHeavyThrobber
Yeah nice contribution to the thread. As a sideline I read lower case just as competently as upper.
Jagger has never made comment as far as I'm aware he had anything to do with the composition of it and Richards basically claims it entirely as his own in 'Life'.
If you've anything to add that sheds light on Jagger having co-written this I'd be INTERESTED.
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Lady JayneQuote
OzHeavyThrobber
Yeah nice contribution to the thread. As a sideline I read lower case just as competently as upper.
Jagger has never made comment as far as I'm aware he had anything to do with the composition of it and Richards basically claims it entirely as his own in 'Life'.
If you've anything to add that sheds light on Jagger having co-written this I'd be INTERESTED.
I wrote this post some time back about a Mick quote in the film "50 feet from Stardom" where he is being interviewed about Gimme Shelter:
Lady Jayne
Saw this today and found it a fascinating and very enjoyable film. The combined talents of the women featured was awesome. Very interesting to hear Merry Clayton and Mick talk of the famous GS vocals - was it throwaway when Mick talked of Merry singing the lyrics "he" had written (I had always thought Keith was responsible for music and lyrics of this one)? Lisa came across very well - as a grounded person and well as a supremely talented one. It also struck me, not for the first time, how much more impressive and entertaining MJ is on the rare occasions he is being asked to talk about something other than himself.
I can't now find a clip on Youtube but I'm pretty clear he talked about 'his' and not 'ours' or Keith's lyric as it took me by surprise given the folk lore about this track.
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memphiscats
I love the humor in his writing...
"You left me twisting in the wind, dangling in the night
You'll be Mr. Christian and I'll be Captain Bligh...
"It's today that's the day of the plunge
Oh, the gal I'm to marry is a bow-legged sow
I've been soakin' up drink like a sponge"
His amazing ability to turn a phrase...
"Pretty lips were sealed, I wrote a letter
Full of trite confessions about wounds that heal"
The way he can convey loneliness in just a few words...
"And your late night friends leave you in the cold grey dawn"
"And as I watch you leaving me
You pack my peace of mind"
"I got silence on my radio
Let the air waves flow, let the air waves flow"
"One day I woke up to find, right in the bed next to mine
Someone that broke me up with a corner of her smile, yeah"
And how he creates such memorable images using just a few words...
"I've been bit and I've been tossed around
By every she-rat in this town"
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StonesCat
I think why MJ gets downgraded in certain people's minds, in relation to a Dylan or a Lennon, is they feel that those two are really digging down deep and presenting something that's important to them. Mick can write great stuff, but it's often seen as being from a distance, or a pose. He doesn't help his own cause by brushing off most connections to people or places in his lyrics. Dylan does kind of the same thing, but critics choose not to believe his denials.
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Lady JayneQuote
OzHeavyThrobber
Yeah nice contribution to the thread. As a sideline I read lower case just as competently as upper.
Jagger has never made comment as far as I'm aware he had anything to do with the composition of it and Richards basically claims it entirely as his own in 'Life'.
If you've anything to add that sheds light on Jagger having co-written this I'd be INTERESTED.
I wrote this post some time back about a Mick quote in the film "50 feet from Stardom" where he is being interviewed about Gimme Shelter:
Lady Jayne
Saw this today and found it a fascinating and very enjoyable film. The combined talents of the women featured was awesome. Very interesting to hear Merry Clayton and Mick talk of the famous GS vocals - was it throwaway when Mick talked of Merry singing the lyrics "he" had written (I had always thought Keith was responsible for music and lyrics of this one)? Lisa came across very well - as a grounded person and well as a supremely talented one. It also struck me, not for the first time, how much more impressive and entertaining MJ is on the rare occasions he is being asked to talk about something other than himself.
I can't now find a clip on Youtube but I'm pretty clear he talked about 'his' and not 'ours' or Keith's lyric as it took me by surprise given the folk lore about this track.
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DandelionPowderman
<Maybe it's just that he's not known mainly as a lyricist as say Dylan or Lennon, even though he's every bit as good I think.>
He is not at Dylan's level, so that's rightfully so, imo.
Lennon has a few gems and lots of clunkers, imo.
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wanderingspirit66Quote
OzHeavyThrobber
Yeah nice contribution to the thread. As a sideline I read lower case just as competently as upper.
Jagger has never made comment as far as I'm aware he had anything to do with the composition of it and Richards basically claims it entirely as his own in 'Life'.
If you've anything to add that sheds light on Jagger having co-written this I'd be INTERESTED.
In this NPR interview Melissa Block asks Jagger, "who did what in writing this song?"
[www.npr.org]
Jagger does not "claim" (just my opinion)
In contemporary music with performed words, song lyrics can be considered part of the composition especially in the case of Jagger-Richards
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DandelionPowderman
<Maybe it's just that he's not known mainly as a lyricist as say Dylan or Lennon, even though he's every bit as good I think.>
He is not at Dylan's level, so that's rightfully so, imo.
Lennon has a few gems and lots of clunkers, imo.
Dylan has written a lot of crappy lyrics as well. It's just that his most famous songs are, generally, his most eloquent and more universal in subject matter. I think Mick is every bit as good as Dylan and Lennon.
That's a fairly bold observation...and not that I disagree, but I think what would be interesting is to take MJ's most profound lyrical venture, and hold them up to something profound by Dylan and Lennon.
How would it hold up?
What is lyrically, MJ's best song?
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DandelionPowdermanQuote
Lady JayneQuote
OzHeavyThrobber
Yeah nice contribution to the thread. As a sideline I read lower case just as competently as upper.
Jagger has never made comment as far as I'm aware he had anything to do with the composition of it and Richards basically claims it entirely as his own in 'Life'.
If you've anything to add that sheds light on Jagger having co-written this I'd be INTERESTED.
I wrote this post some time back about a Mick quote in the film "50 feet from Stardom" where he is being interviewed about Gimme Shelter:
Lady Jayne
Saw this today and found it a fascinating and very enjoyable film. The combined talents of the women featured was awesome. Very interesting to hear Merry Clayton and Mick talk of the famous GS vocals - was it throwaway when Mick talked of Merry singing the lyrics "he" had written (I had always thought Keith was responsible for music and lyrics of this one)? Lisa came across very well - as a grounded person and well as a supremely talented one. It also struck me, not for the first time, how much more impressive and entertaining MJ is on the rare occasions he is being asked to talk about something other than himself.
I can't now find a clip on Youtube but I'm pretty clear he talked about 'his' and not 'ours' or Keith's lyric as it took me by surprise given the folk lore about this track.
I remember it as "when we wrote it", and that he didn't say anything about the lyrics in particular.
And I watched it two weeks ago...
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wanderingspirit66Quote
OzHeavyThrobber
Yeah nice contribution to the thread. As a sideline I read lower case just as competently as upper.
Jagger has never made comment as far as I'm aware he had anything to do with the composition of it and Richards basically claims it entirely as his own in 'Life'.
If you've anything to add that sheds light on Jagger having co-written this I'd be INTERESTED.
In this NPR interview Melissa Block asks Jagger, "who did what in writing this song?"
[www.npr.org]
Jagger does not "claim" (just my opinion)
In contemporary music with performed words, song lyrics can be considered part of the composition especially in the case of Jagger-Richards
Yeah, Jagger would never 'claim' to have written anything. That's not his style. He 'claims' Keith wrote "Let it Loose" and even Keith denies this.
The GS lyrics, imagery, just sound like Mick.
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DandelionPowdermanQuote
Lady JayneQuote
OzHeavyThrobber
I remember it as "when we wrote it", and that he didn't say anything about the lyrics in particular.
And I watched it two weeks ago...
Again ---- the only direct line of questioning thus far in regards to Gimme Shelter comes from the NPR interviewer who asks "who did what". Jagger's responses couldn't be clearer - he says " I wrote the lyrics - Keith wrote the tune"
I agree, he couldn't be clearer than in that interview. It also chimes with my recollection of what he says (unprompted) in the film. In so far as it conflicts with any direct quote from Keith (and I'm not sure it does) I would favour Mick's recollection over Keith's any day.