Mick on Instagram (video):

"Alok, thanks for the great remix. Hope you guys love it too!"

[www.instagram.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-07-28 23:25 by Cristiano Radtke.

Some analysts here are taking Mick's solo single a bit too seriously. He wrote it, sings it, plays harmonica and guitar. It's a project he undertook impulsively on a whim using minimal resources mainly in his house. A lightweight summery thing, except for the rather dramatic lyrical content:

"It's a deja vu I seen it all before, different season, same score...Everybody wants your head on a spike, but they were singin' your praises the day before"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-07-28 23:28 by chatoyancy.

The reviews from the critics are starting to come in:

Mick Jagger has written not one, but two hideous songs about Brexit

Gotta Getta Grip

By
Anna Leszkiewicz

“Chaos crisis instability Isis”. Let’s take a look at these political lyrics in a little more detail.

Let me begin with a confession: I am an enormous fan of Mick Jagger. I spent my contrarian, anti-femininity, please-let-me-in-your-treehouse-guys youth collecting Rolling Stones records and staring into the eyes of black and white Mick Jagger photos. In my eyes, the man can’t do much wrong.

But, alas, even I must admit that I have never, in the words of John Doran at the Quietus, lain awake at night wondering, “Yeah, I get that the social, political, economic and moral climate in the UK is currently pretty bad and things are getting worse on a daily basis but when oh when are we going to find out what Mick Jagger thinks about Brexit, immigration and the amount of fast food we’re all eating?” And yet, here we are.

Jagger has released two new videos – for “England Lost” and “Gotta Get a Grip” – this week. In fairness, the visuals are great! Both feature good-looking people sweating and running around: the first, Luke Evans in a black and white, wartime British throwback chased-to-the-beaches style thing (ah, sure) and the second, Jemima Kirke hassling a DJ in a nightclub and looking really, really amazing under the coloured lights.

Let’s take a look at these political lyrics in a little more detail.

Gotta Get a Grip

Let us begin with “Gotta Get a Grip”, a song that tells us to, well, get a bloody grip. Because what are people like these days? Writing hot takes! Fake news! Something something Isis! (No, seriously, this is as good as it gets.)

The world is upside down
Everybody lunatics and clowns
No one speaks the truth
And madhouse runs the town

Crazy world we’re living in, right guys? Crazy, crazy world.

Everybody’s on the take
The news is all fake
Let ‘em eat chicken and let ‘em eat steak
Let ‘em eat shit, let ‘em eat cake

I really hope “on the take” here also puns on hot take culture. Brb, telling my editor I’m busy “on the take” forever. Anyway, fake news is bad! Let them eat cake (?!) and also chicken, steak and shit. Is this a dig at the meat industrial complex? I hope so.

Chaos crisis instability Isis
Lies and scandals, wars and vandals
Metadata scams and policy shams

I love how vague these first three words are. Lulls you in a false sense of security, doesn’t it? Ah, Mick is just warbling on about the bad things ever-present in fallible human society, chaos, bla bla, instability, yada yada, then – WHAM. He hits you with ISIS. Bloody Isis! The @#$%&. Also, more songs should include the word “metadata”, in my honest opinion. @#$%& the police! A song about the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 is long overdue.

“England Lost”

I went to see England, but England’s lost

Ah, a nostalgic and fatalistic lyric about the fall of England that is also totally meaningless. Someone get Pete Doherty on the line! Jagger uses a football game as a metaphor here, which makes you think, doesn’t it?

I went to find England, it wasn’t there
I think I lost it down the back of my chair
I think I’m losing my imagination
I’m tired of talking about immigration

The nadir. The peak. The climax. Rhyming the words “imagination” and “immigration”. Truly inspired.

It’s a déjà vu
I’ve seen it all before
Different season, same score
Everybody wants your head on a spike
But they were singing your praises the day before

One thing that confuses me about both these songs is whether they seem to think we are living through a genuine turning point in British politics, a true moment of crisis – or just same shit, different day. Surely both cannot be true? And if this is a crisis moment, is the problem the terrible government and geopolitical chaos or just, like, people being mean on Twitter? Unclear.

Skepta, adding his contribution here, doesn’t seem any more sure, ranting about “everybody” running hot and cold on “you” (who?), but immediately afterwards talking about immigration paranoia. (“No new faces allowed in / They said it’s getting overcrowded”.)

Still fighting over houses
So I just pick it up put down and leave it where I found it
Feel like Macaulay Culkin
I’m Home Alone
Come to my window and throw a stone
Because I hate talking on the phone

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?! Does Skepta pick up a house and leave it where he found it? If the housing crisis is so bad why does anyone have a house to themselves, à la Kevin McCallister? Or is Skepta saying that his house feels too big for him when so many people are living like sardines? Who’s throwing a stone? Why? Is that a searing comment on technology’s isolating effects on our lives or does Skepta just really hate talking on the phone? What is going on?!

Had a girl in Lisbon, a girl in Rome
Now I’ll have to stay at home

Ah, the real tragedy of leaving the EU: Mick Jagger potentially losing easy, visa-free access to sexually available women in mainland European cities.

Truly, poetry of our times.

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

Quote
HMS
Heavy Funk just like R.L.Burnside played back in the 90s... nice groove, some good guitar moments, Mick´s voice sounding pretty good... but these are not really songs, just groove... With stuff like that no wonder they "they hit the wall". After two times of listening you see it´s basically nothing... nearly nothing. To be honest both songs sound just the same to yours truly. To be even more honest, both songs are not far from being crap. How can fans be so easily satisfied... don´t let them get away with anything... Put it on the next re-release of Superheavy so hopefully most people will never ever hear these songs. Sorry for not being all smiles, but in fact there´s not much reason for being delighted. This stuff doesn´t even serve as a b-side.

Man when you come back you come back better than ever

Now the diehards on this thread have worn themselves out with their denial and nervous banter, the reality and magnitude of the miss fire from Mick is filtering through in these posts.
This is something that needs burying under the carpet and quick.

What is unusual about these two tracks is that they are like lousy copies of what Keith comes up with when he needs a bit of filler on an album.
These tracks don't go anywhere, but worse than that they don't really even have a starting point.

I very nearly completely disagree with that, stone4ever, except for the part of me that suspects you're on to something.

Haha.. the critics paying attention what this old bugger is doing! It has been been ages when a Jagger lyric is studied so carefully. Actually it is refreshing to read any Rolling Stones-related review that is actually critical, that is, treating the subject seriously and not saying the same old nice apologetic words for old heroes.. Can't even remember when it last occurred

I kinda agree with Anna Leszkiewicz's take on "Gotta Get A Grip" - the lyrical content is a bit cheap, many of the words are a bit cliche-like. Way too obvious choices and the rhyming goes a bit over the top. Not much poetic creativity aren't used for sure. The impression sometimes is like listening some populist politician using the most easiest rhetorics - fancy words with no real significance - to get the point through and to attract as big audience as possible, though Jagger's stance might be politically rather different (I especially dislike the sentence "no one speaks the truth" - like there is some bloody 'truth' out there.)

But I disagree with "England Lost". I think the football metaphor is a funny, and even a self-ironical one - like football fans know Mick has his share of experience seeing England losing... I am sure he also is aware of his well-known bad karma in that...

But that said, since it is not Dylan talked here, the lyrics should not be taken too seriously, and most importantly, not to be taken out of their musical context. As is typical with Jagger's lyrics important is how they sound, and much of the significance derives from the way he utters them. Did you hear that, Anna!

- Doxa

I thought it rather sad that one critic seemed clueless regarding the reference to Marie Antoinette and the significance of comparing Brexit to another Revolution.

Quote
stone4ever

Quote
HMS
Heavy Funk just like R.L.Burnside played back in the 90s... nice groove, some good guitar moments, Mick´s voice sounding pretty good... but these are not really songs, just groove... With stuff like that no wonder they "they hit the wall". After two times of listening you see it´s basically nothing... nearly nothing. To be honest both songs sound just the same to yours truly. To be even more honest, both songs are not far from being crap. How can fans be so easily satisfied... don´t let them get away with anything... Put it on the next re-release of Superheavy so hopefully most people will never ever hear these songs. Sorry for not being all smiles, but in fact there´s not much reason for being delighted. This stuff doesn´t even serve as a b-side.

Man when you come back you come back better than ever

Funny to see how the comeback of HMS injects new life into your anti-Jagger rants!

Sorry, no fair saying 'the lyrics should not be taken seriously.'
For She was Hot, or She's So Cold, yeah, the lyrics should not be taken seriously. But in the rap game, the lyrics are important.
And judging from Jagger's interviews, he felt these tunes were serious political statements.
...
I did appreciate some of the irony in England's Lost -- a song bemoaning both the rise of nationalism *and* the national soccer team losing.

Quote
sandandglue
I'm going to stick my neck out and purchase this but there's some disparity between the prices - From Universal to Amazon UK the vinyl is a little more expensive on Jagger's own site but the CD is FAR cheaper .. Only two tracks though .. I might have hoped that the remixes were included.

For me the era of buying music is long gone. It's all on YouTube and that means it's free!!! And if you are just a bit of a nerd it can go from YouTube to your hard drive in a flash.

I know that I am being bad but we are talking about an original bad boy after all.

Lurv 'em both .... Dirty funk built for dancefloors ...
Gotta play 'em LOUD .... Groove tunes and lets face it we all knew the Neg Boys wouldn't like 'em ...


Still waitin' for a comment about me from Tinkerbell over at Shidoobeee ... HHHaaaaaaaa



ROCKMAN

Quote
retired_dog

Quote
stone4ever

Quote
HMS
Heavy Funk just like R.L.Burnside played back in the 90s... nice groove, some good guitar moments, Mick´s voice sounding pretty good... but these are not really songs, just groove... With stuff like that no wonder they "they hit the wall". After two times of listening you see it´s basically nothing... nearly nothing. To be honest both songs sound just the same to yours truly. To be even more honest, both songs are not far from being crap. How can fans be so easily satisfied... don´t let them get away with anything... Put it on the next re-release of Superheavy so hopefully most people will never ever hear these songs. Sorry for not being all smiles, but in fact there´s not much reason for being delighted. This stuff doesn´t even serve as a b-side.

Man when you come back you come back better than ever

Funny to see how the comeback of HMS injects new life into your anti-Jagger rants!

Wait a minute dawg, just hang fire old boy, i'm getting into it lol. I can't believe that GGAG gets under the skin after 5 or 6 plays.
It has something, i mean it shouldn't but it does, Micky boy is pullin some demon shit on me here. Yeah this should go against the grain but somehow it works, maybe , just maybe, Mick finally has a winner with this.

Only mick can get away with these lyrics, being the many people he is rolled into one allows him to say what he likes and its like, yeah but that's mick being tongue in cheek or just commenting on what he see's before him.
I could say these lyrics are hypocritical coming from him, but its possible also that he really does mean what he says about England and Brexit.

Like Doxa says, he's got people noticing his lyrics and that's a good thing for a 74 year old man in today's world.
Mick still has fire in his belly and i admire him for that.

You know it goes against the grain? Next you'll be saying your cards are on the table...

Quote
Rocky Dijon
I thought it rather sad that one critic seemed clueless regarding the reference to Marie Antoinette and the significance of comparing Brexit to another Revolution.

Haha... my favourite is the part:

Had a girl in Lisbon, a girl in Rome
Now I’ll have to stay at home

Ah, the real tragedy of leaving the EU: Mick Jagger potentially losing easy, visa-free access to sexually available women in mainland European cities.

Truly, poetry of our times.

I mean... that kind of reference - in the end - to sexual relationships, no matter wht the topic or context is, is so Jaggerian thing as it ever can be, and surely one done with that typical tongue-in-a-cheek style of his... Now this lady totally misses Jagger's grin there and takes the easy route to state the obvious. A cheap shot actually, which actually makes her to sound like some old moralist (the lesson: do not people forget what kind of womanizer this man really is). "No sex, we are English" indeed. She says she is an old Jagger fan - makes me wonder what she might thought about SOME GIRLS at the time...

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-07-29 00:53 by Doxa.

Quote
wonderboy
Sorry, no fair saying 'the lyrics should not be taken seriously.'
For She was Hot, or She's So Cold, yeah, the lyrics should not be taken seriously. But in the rap game, the lyrics are important.
And judging from Jagger's interviews, he felt these tunes were serious political statements.
...

I agree here, I should have said: the lyrics should not be taken poetically or literally seriously (as the critic did above, and seemingly lost the whole point in places). Jagger's stance is more important, and the power of sonical noise in delivering the message.

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-07-29 01:21 by Doxa.

Quote
stone4ever

Quote
retired_dog

Quote
stone4ever

Quote
HMS
Heavy Funk just like R.L.Burnside played back in the 90s... nice groove, some good guitar moments, Mick´s voice sounding pretty good... but these are not really songs, just groove... With stuff like that no wonder they "they hit the wall". After two times of listening you see it´s basically nothing... nearly nothing. To be honest both songs sound just the same to yours truly. To be even more honest, both songs are not far from being crap. How can fans be so easily satisfied... don´t let them get away with anything... Put it on the next re-release of Superheavy so hopefully most people will never ever hear these songs. Sorry for not being all smiles, but in fact there´s not much reason for being delighted. This stuff doesn´t even serve as a b-side.

Man when you come back you come back better than ever

Funny to see how the comeback of HMS injects new life into your anti-Jagger rants!

Wait a minute dawg, just hang fire old boy, i'm getting into it lol. I can't believe that GGAG gets under the skin after 5 or 6 plays.
It has something, i mean it shouldn't but it does, Micky boy is pullin some demon shit on me here. Yeah this should go against the grain but somehow it works, maybe , just maybe, Mick finally has a winner with this.

Only mick can get away with these lyrics, being the many people he is rolled into one allows him to say what he likes and its like, yeah but that's mick being tongue in cheek or just commenting on what he see's before him.
I could say these lyrics are hypocritical coming from him, but its possible also that he really does mean what he says about England and Brexit.

Like Doxa says, he's got people noticing his lyrics and that's a good thing for a 74 year old man in today's world.
Mick still has fire in his belly and i admire him for that.

I could buy you a beer for that post, Riffie!

- Doxa

Quote
Hairball
The reviews from the critics are starting to come in:

Mick Jagger has written not one, but two hideous songs about Brexit

Gotta Getta Grip

By
Anna Leszkiewicz

“Chaos crisis instability Isis”. Let’s take a look at these political lyrics in a little more detail.

Let me begin with a confession: I am an enormous fan of Mick Jagger. I spent my contrarian, anti-femininity, please-let-me-in-your-treehouse-guys youth collecting Rolling Stones records and staring into the eyes of black and white Mick Jagger photos. In my eyes, the man can’t do much wrong.

But, alas, even I must admit that I have never, in the words of John Doran at the Quietus, lain awake at night wondering, “Yeah, I get that the social, political, economic and moral climate in the UK is currently pretty bad and things are getting worse on a daily basis but when oh when are we going to find out what Mick Jagger thinks about Brexit, immigration and the amount of fast food we’re all eating?” And yet, here we are.

Jagger has released two new videos – for “England Lost” and “Gotta Get a Grip” – this week. In fairness, the visuals are great! Both feature good-looking people sweating and running around: the first, Luke Evans in a black and white, wartime British throwback chased-to-the-beaches style thing (ah, sure) and the second, Jemima Kirke hassling a DJ in a nightclub and looking really, really amazing under the coloured lights.

Let’s take a look at these political lyrics in a little more detail.

Gotta Get a Grip

Let us begin with “Gotta Get a Grip”, a song that tells us to, well, get a bloody grip. Because what are people like these days? Writing hot takes! Fake news! Something something Isis! (No, seriously, this is as good as it gets.)

The world is upside down
Everybody lunatics and clowns
No one speaks the truth
And madhouse runs the town

Crazy world we’re living in, right guys? Crazy, crazy world.

Everybody’s on the take
The news is all fake
Let ‘em eat chicken and let ‘em eat steak
Let ‘em eat shit, let ‘em eat cake

I really hope “on the take” here also puns on hot take culture. Brb, telling my editor I’m busy “on the take” forever. Anyway, fake news is bad! Let them eat cake (?!) and also chicken, steak and shit. Is this a dig at the meat industrial complex? I hope so.

Chaos crisis instability Isis
Lies and scandals, wars and vandals
Metadata scams and policy shams

I love how vague these first three words are. Lulls you in a false sense of security, doesn’t it? Ah, Mick is just warbling on about the bad things ever-present in fallible human society, chaos, bla bla, instability, yada yada, then – WHAM. He hits you with ISIS. Bloody Isis! The @#$%&. Also, more songs should include the word “metadata”, in my honest opinion. @#$%& the police! A song about the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 is long overdue.

“England Lost”

I went to see England, but England’s lost

Ah, a nostalgic and fatalistic lyric about the fall of England that is also totally meaningless. Someone get Pete Doherty on the line! Jagger uses a football game as a metaphor here, which makes you think, doesn’t it?

I went to find England, it wasn’t there
I think I lost it down the back of my chair
I think I’m losing my imagination
I’m tired of talking about immigration

The nadir. The peak. The climax. Rhyming the words “imagination” and “immigration”. Truly inspired.

It’s a déjà vu
I’ve seen it all before
Different season, same score
Everybody wants your head on a spike
But they were singing your praises the day before

One thing that confuses me about both these songs is whether they seem to think we are living through a genuine turning point in British politics, a true moment of crisis – or just same shit, different day. Surely both cannot be true? And if this is a crisis moment, is the problem the terrible government and geopolitical chaos or just, like, people being mean on Twitter? Unclear.

Skepta, adding his contribution here, doesn’t seem any more sure, ranting about “everybody” running hot and cold on “you” (who?), but immediately afterwards talking about immigration paranoia. (“No new faces allowed in / They said it’s getting overcrowded”.)

Still fighting over houses
So I just pick it up put down and leave it where I found it
Feel like Macaulay Culkin
I’m Home Alone
Come to my window and throw a stone
Because I hate talking on the phone

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?! Does Skepta pick up a house and leave it where he found it? If the housing crisis is so bad why does anyone have a house to themselves, à la Kevin McCallister? Or is Skepta saying that his house feels too big for him when so many people are living like sardines? Who’s throwing a stone? Why? Is that a searing comment on technology’s isolating effects on our lives or does Skepta just really hate talking on the phone? What is going on?!

Had a girl in Lisbon, a girl in Rome
Now I’ll have to stay at home

Ah, the real tragedy of leaving the EU: Mick Jagger potentially losing easy, visa-free access to sexually available women in mainland European cities.

Truly, poetry of our times.

Anna Leszkiewicz... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA what a tosser.

Quote
Cristiano Radtke
Mick on Instagram (video):

"Alok, thanks for the great remix. Hope you guys love it too!"

[www.instagram.com]

Thank you Cristiano
I have caught the vibe on this tune

I could buy you a beer for that post, Riffie!smileys with beer

- Doxa

If ever we're in the same town at the same time i would love to buy you a beer back Or 10 beers ><

Mick Jagger has never shied away from commenting on the current political or cultural zeitgeist and these two songs are no different in that respect. Need to listen some more, but so far I like what I'm hearing. Good for Mick.

Quote
Doxa


I agree here, I should have said: the lyrics should not be taken poetically seriously (as the critic did above, and seemingly lost the whole point in places). Jagger's stance is more important, an the power of sonical noise delivering the message.

- Doxa

That might be what I find most irritating about Jagger. As an artist, he doesn't stand for much of anything other than taking the piss out of people. Which is somewhat limiting.
There are times you think he wants to be taken seriously, (like in his interviews and the timing of this release) but when you do -- and discover there is nothing there -- then it's back to being a joke.
I get that it's all attitude -- his *stance* against the establishment, which he has belonged to for 30 years, even including the conventional politics -- but it doesn't work if you take it seriously and it doesn't work if you if you like wordplay and rap.

Quote
Rocky Dijon
You know it goes against the grain? Next you'll be saying your cards are on the table...

Well i can walk away or stay,

I'm a changeable Martha Focker, i thought GGAG was ok to start with, i liked it, now its something else, its more than just another Jagger solo effort, its the real deal.
I see it getting 5 million hits on youtube, us keithettes have to be honest with ourselves or its just BS.
Mick did it this time, better late than never

If you are uncertain about GGAG just play it 6 times and play it LOUD ><

Mick wants to get some juices flowing and have some fun and more power to him. This has noting whatsoever to do with the Stones. He gets together with some people and they construct two songs in the dance/house/groove genre. Good for him, he may even get some dance floor airtime in the clubs, just guessing.

Mick does a kind of Old School lefty spin on today's politics, which is not unexpected. Ironically, I think that puts him out of touch with the political winds and he is trailing, not leading. That's a hot potato debate but I just wanted to put it out there.

What these two songs are _not_ going to be are landmark dance/house/groove songs. They fall more into the "Doom and Gloom" class and will fade quite quickly. But so what, they are fun and interesting to listen to, his voice is in very good form, and you take what you want from the songs and leave it at that. He did a perfectly valid small project and more power to him.

Just for fun, in the early Eighties dance music was broadening and evolving, and I will link to two songs that were true landmark songs, one for social commentary and the other for music and production. Even if you don't like these songs they are definitely not forgettable. Mick's two releases are not in the class of these songs.

White Lines by Grandmaster Flash: [www.youtube.com]

Let the Music Play by Shannon: [www.youtube.com]

Get your _real_ groove thang on...

When I am actually listening to the song (Hairball)
the questions the lyrics have provoked in you (me, perhaps the reviewer) by simply reading them from paper/computer screen
don't come up. I hear the words (magnificent selections and entrandres)
but I am not perplexed/ wondering Mick's political view,
I am grooving - I am. The base line (was about to look up who playing the bass?)

Do you see my point? Can you chill w/ the tune thru earbuds, with a bud or Bud lite,
and see if those questions come up, means the same.
'England Lost'
to me now if funny/ Mick is talking about a football game, and hearing Brits around him... maybe.

Quote
stone4ever
I'm a changeable Martha Focker, i thought GGAG was ok to start with, i liked it, now its something else, its more than just another Jagger solo effort, its the real deal.
I see it getting 5 million hits on youtube, us keithettes have to be honest with ourselves or its just BS.
Mick did it this time, better late than never

If you are uncertain about GGAG just play it 6 times and play it LOUD ><

Twice was enough. First time was loud with crystal clear audio. Second time was through crappy laptop speakers which, oddly enough, sounds like that's how it was recorded.

This is IORR; if it's just BS, it's "Brown Sugar."

Here is bit more traditional review, taking also the music into consideration, by UNCUT.

--------------


Reviewed: Mick Jagger’s “England Lost” and “Gotta Get A Grip”

Michael Bonner July 27, 2017


A state of the nation address from the Stones frontman


Over a year since a bruising referendum campaign that saw the UK vote to leave the EU, discussion about the future of these shores has occasionally reached rock’s top table. To some – such as Jeff Beck and Ringo Starr – Brexit offers a positive change. Others, including Roger Waters, take the opposite view – that ending Britain’s forty-four-year partnership with continental Europe is a willful act of self-destruction.

Into this debate comes one Michael Philip Jagger – a former LSE student, with newsworthy views of his own. Jagger has some form in this department, of course: the Stones’ “Street Fighting Man”, “Highwire” and “Sweet Neo Con” dealt with hot topics as a matter of intent. More recently, the brilliant “Doom & Gloom” found Jagger tackling international conflict, environmental chaos and economic inequality; in the end, he surmised, the only solution was to dance.

Today – the day after his 74th birthday – Jagger has released two new songs, “England Lost” and “Gotta Get A Grip”. They are, he says in an accompanying press statement, urgent responses to the “anxiety, unknowability of the changing political situation.” They have been rush-released, he explains, because “I didn’t want to wait until next year when these two tracks might lose any impact and mean nothing.”

Jagger reveals that he wrote these two songs in April – presumably only days or perhaps weeks after Theresa May triggered Article 50 on March 29, beginning a two-year countdown to Britain’s departure from the EU. Jagger goes on to articulate his “confusion and frustration with the times we live in.” Of course, it’s easy to accuse wealthy rock stars of glib political posturing – but Jagger is more astute than most. In 2012, he was spotted at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland; a few years later, Jim Messina, a former White House deputy chief of staff under President Obama, described Jagger as “one of the savviest political observers I’ve come across.”

Jagger explains “England Lost” is “Ostensibly about seeing an England football team lose, but when I wrote the title I knew it would be about more than just that. It’s about a feeling that we are in a difficult moment in our history.” Evidently, though, he sees “Gotta Get A Grip” as a corrective to all the post-Brexit doom and gloom. “The message I suppose is – despite all those things that are happening, you gotta get on with your own life, be yourself and attempt to create your own destiny.” If that sounds like the language of the self-help manual, it marks a sudden change of atmosphere after the more directly engaged “England Lost”. But similarly, on Beggars Banquet the Stones followed “Street Fighting Man” with “Prodigal Son” – retreating from ripped-from-the-headlines urgency to a cover of a blues song by the Reverend Robert Wilkins, as if Jagger suddenly remembered that being in rock’n’roll band was meant to be easy and a lot of fun and nothing like a political obligation.

So what of Jagger’s new music itself? It should perhaps be remembered that his last project outside the Stones, SuperHeavy, featured Joss Stone, Dave Stewart, A R Rahman and Damian “Jr Gong” Marley. Fortunately, there’s not quite the same sense of star-studded overkill here. “England Lost” features Skepta while “Gotta Get A Grip” comes with a handful of remixes by Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, Norwegian producers Seeb, a Brazilian DJ/producer called Alok and the Stones’ own musical director, Matt Clifford.

“England Lost” arrives on heavy, processed beats and a chunky bass line, while bursts of distorted guitars slip and slide in and out of the mix. First thought, it reminds me a little of a mid-Nineties rock/dance mix; Black Grape, maybe? A harmonica solo bursts in halfway through and it’s possible to detect electronic pulses bubbling away under the surface. Jagger treats his framing device – the putative football match – wryly. “It wasn’t much of a game / I got soaked / Didn’t want to come anyway”. As the song progresses, Jagger homes in more directly on the subject at hand. “I think I’m losing my imagination / I’m tired of talking about immigration / You can’t get in, you can’t get out / I guess that’s what it’s really all about”. You can imagine the response on the Daily Mail message boards.

A black and white video directed by Saam Farahmand, stars Luke Evans fleeting from unknown oppressive forces; in a Prisoner-style ending, he is cornered by a group of townsfolk on a beach. “Where did you think you could go?” Inquires their ringleader, a sinister child. Subdued, Evans’ character walks off whistling “Land Of Hope And Glory”.

“Gotta Get A Grip” has a slower groove than “England Lost”, powered by a mighty, rolling riff that sounds like it’s been sampled from “Start Me Up”. In the video a decadent nightclub (is there any other kind in this kind of video?), erupts into artfully choreographed, slow motion chaos, while Jagger rails against everything from corruption to nationalism. “Everybody’s stuffing their pockets, everybody’s on tape,” he howls. “The news is all fake/ Let ’em eat chicken and let ’em eat steak/ Let ’em eat shit, let ’em eat cake“. Later, Jagger free-associates over the beat: “Meditation and medication and LA culture and acupuncture…”

It lacks the headline focus of “England Lost”, but it’s the better of the two songs. It has a richer, more layered atmosphere, with guitars fading in and out, the song heaving under Jagger’s treated vocals. In a way, it reminds me a little (a little) of “Memo For Turner”: another song similarly built around groove and vibe rather than melody. Kevin Parker’s mix, meanwhile, renders the song in gonzoid, psychedelic hues.

Read more at [www.uncut.co.uk]

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- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-07-29 01:57 by Doxa.

Quote
35love
When I am actually listening to the song (Hairball)
the questions the lyrics have provoked in you (me, perhaps the reviewer) by simply reading them from paper/computer screen
don't come up. I hear the words (magnificent selections and entrandres)
but I am not perplexed/ wondering Mick's political view,
I am grooving - I am. The base line (was about to look up who playing the bass?)

Do you see my point? Can you chill w/ the tune thru earbuds, with a bud or Bud lite,
and see if those questions come up, means the same.
'England Lost'
to me now if funny/ Mick is talking about a football game, and hearing Brits around him... maybe.

Not sure what you're saying 35love...ignore the actual lyrics while listening to the song? Or focus on the groove, and pay minimal attention to the lyrics and see the bright side of it all?
For me, half of the strength of a solid tune lies in the lyrics, and these leave something to be desired...maybe I don't have the same sense of humor as Mick (or you).
For the record, I never fully dissed the lyrics in the first place - my first impression yesterday was "Mick's vocals are good, lyrics aren't that great, a bit repetitive, and overall a bit derivative. Nice groove and atmosphere though". I then echoed what someone else who said about the simple rhymes he uses are subpar. Even though I've lost interest already in the two new tunes, they're not terrible and certainly could have been a lot worse.
Maybe if there was an instrumental version of these tunes, or maybe if Mick was just grunting unintelligible noises in the background...maybe they would be better?

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

From the Bonner review: 'the Stones’ own musical director, Matt Clifford.'
...

Uh, oh. Keith is reaching for his knife.

Another review from THE TIMES UK:

Pop review: Mick Jagger: England Lost; Gotta Get A Grip

Gotta Getta Grip

Will Hodgkinson
July 28 2017, 12:01am, The Times

England Lost
(2 of 5 stars)
Gotta Get a Grip
(5 of 5 stars)

An unlikely voice of social conscience has emerged from the annals of rock: one Sir Mick Jagger. The lead singer of the Rolling Stones has kicked his intermittent solo career back into action with two frankly surprising protest songs, both bemoaning the state of Britain. “I went to see England, but England lost,” sings Jagger over the jerky punk-funk of England Lost, which came to him after he attended an England game in the World Cup and, according to the lyrics of the song, got soaked and wished he had stayed at home. Singing about it now is a bit after the event, isn’t it?

From there, however, Sir Mick goes into a general moan about how awful Britain is, with unintentional hilarity. “London’s going to be like Singapore . . . though not as hot,” he gripes, without explaining what he means. Is he worried about our government introducing Singaporean-style fines for chewing gum? Incredibly, Skepta, the UK grime artist of the moment, steps in to offer a few verses, a collaboration few of us could have predicted. If Jagger is wearing mainstays of grime fashion such as a New Era baseball cap and Nike Air Max trainers at the next Rolling Stones concert, we’ll know why.

Much better is Jagger’s other attempt to be the Bob Dylan of Brexit Britain, on which the singer resists his oft-exhibited temptation to get down with the kids in favour of sticking to what he knows and does best. Gotta Get a Grip has a crunching guitar riff and a stomping, semi-threatening beat not dissimilar to those in the Stones’s classic Undercover of the Night, and far more convincing words inspired by his essentially libertarian belief that we are responsible for our own actions and should stop blaming everyone else for our problems.

As well as including Trump’s frequent declaration that “the news is all fake”, Jagger lists the things he has tried to make himself feel better — “meditation and medication, LA culture and acupuncture” — before having a pop at the treatment (and the existence) of refugees and, surprisingly for such a well-read rock star, intellectuals, who he tells to “shut your mouth”.

“Chaos, crisis, instability, Isis,” he continues, seemingly listing off everything bad about 2017 at random, and yet something about Jagger is inherently positive. At 74 he still has that insouciant, rebellious, youthful energy that made him a star. The result is a rare thing: a protest song that makes you feel better about life.

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



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-07-29 02:05 by Hairball.