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DandelionPowderman
The litmus test on good melodies is often whether you can hum or whistle them (and hopefully they still sound good and recognisable).
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DoxaQuote
DandelionPowderman
The litmus test on good melodies is often whether you can hum or whistle them (and hopefully they still sound good and recognisable).
We are not talking about how catchy the tunes are but how beautiful they are here...
- Doxa
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Bliss
I think most people know what a beautiful melody is; the selections here show that. Not catchy, not hummable, but esthetically lovely.
Great thread, by the way.
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Doxa
I don't want any "Beatles/Abba/-sing-a-long-quality", I don't think that's any criterion to do with the Stones melody beautiness. Take all those ballads like rubytuesdays, astearsgobys, ladyjanes, backstreetgirls etc. that pretty common stuff for any decent pop writers. The Stones melodical greatness lies in somewhere else, painted in blue. For me the melody and the whole atmosphere of "Winter" is one of the best things they - or anyone - ever have one (Yeah, Taylor's guitar has an distinctive role in it). The way the chorus goes, with all those little but genious note changes is simply unique. So beautiful. The same is with things like "Sway" or, as noted here, "Rocks Off": an incredibly genious, beautiful melody line for a pure simple rock song. Just play those things with piano, slow the tempo a bit, and you will hear the pure genious. "100 Years Ago", a bit more more flashy done with a bigger structure, but that's another too. There are many, many others as well. If we want more typical 'ballads', "All About You" is terrific, for example. "Waiting On A Friend", "Moonlight Mile", "Wild Horses"... even cheesy "Angie". All of those things have the unique blues-touch written in melody I admire on most beautiful Jagger/Richards tunes. The melody of "Sympathy For The Devil" is damn beautiful in its simplicity and distinctiviness as well. The list goes on (but most likely would cover most their mature but still fresh late-60's/early 70's material).
It could be that I understood the question wrong, if the thing is to estimate which Stones song sounds most like some easy-listening, conservative Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel or Abba evergreen. For me the beautifulness of the melody lies in somewhere else as far as the Stones are concerned.
- Doxa
...for me too, love it !!!Quote
matxil
"Heaven"
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Witness
One objection only, Doxa, but a vital one, now you are narrowing down the diversity of what Rolling Stones music may comprise with decency. The call in the opening post, however, was for songs that are described as "beautiful melodies". There are many, can I call it, idioms for that in the Rolling Stones canon. You seem to insist in excluding some of them. I am not embarassed by one of them more or less ( I would still say less) overlapping with a Beatles mode, but am attracted to them as well with their marked Stones characteristic difference. I am very surprised by your remark with a quite general aim that Beatles' songmaking was conservative, without qualification, then meaning all over. (I have never been attracted to Simon & Garfunkel, and I see no relationship there. The German Decca compilation box THE BEST OF THE REST has got a track, where the Stones are joyfully and shamelessly playing around with the Ronettes song " Be My Baby". I guess that you hardly can like or even accept it, where I do).
Ì may be attracted to music out of different reasons. What I am often attracted to, is music that I myself find has got an emotional intensity in some way, even if I may by taste exclude much music that also does. For instance, "Indian Girl" that possibly for you are easy listening music, to me has that superb quality. The two songs I nominate in this thread, may for some listeners be heard as easy listening. That is not the reason for their appeal to me.
By the way, apparently within your boundaries, there is one beautiful Keith sung song, not mentionned, I think. I seem to remember from earlier on that, surprisingly enough, the really beautiful "Coming Down Again" does not have so much appeal to you, whereas I may share your verdict on "All About You". The attraction of the latter to me, however, is not most of all its beauty, but the masterful way the song serves as a musical vehicle for expressing bitterness.
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DandelionPowderman
Have you tried to play the "melody" in SFTD on the piano?
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Palace Revolution 2000
"Angie" is a great love song. IMO one of the greatest in the pop era. Again - so much of the beauty of the melody is the combination of the lyrics and the delivery by Mick Jagger.
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DandelionPowdermanQuote
Doxa
I don't want any "Beatles/Abba/-sing-a-long-quality", I don't think that's any criterion to do with the Stones melody beautiness. Take all those ballads like rubytuesdays, astearsgobys, ladyjanes, backstreetgirls etc. that pretty common stuff for any decent pop writers. The Stones melodical greatness lies in somewhere else, painted in blue. For me the melody and the whole atmosphere of "Winter" is one of the best things they - or anyone - ever have one (Yeah, Taylor's guitar has an distinctive role in it). The way the chorus goes, with all those little but genious note changes is simply unique. So beautiful. The same is with things like "Sway" or, as noted here, "Rocks Off": an incredibly genious, beautiful melody line for a pure simple rock song. Just play those things with piano, slow the tempo a bit, and you will hear the pure genious. "100 Years Ago", a bit more more flashy done with a bigger structure, but that's another too. There are many, many others as well. If we want more typical 'ballads', "All About You" is terrific, for example. "Waiting On A Friend", "Moonlight Mile", "Wild Horses"... even cheesy "Angie". All of those things have the unique blues-touch written in melody I admire on most beautiful Jagger/Richards tunes. The melody of "Sympathy For The Devil" is damn beautiful in its simplicity and distinctiviness as well. The list goes on (but most likely would cover most their mature but still fresh late-60's/early 70's material).
It could be that I understood the question wrong, if the thing is to estimate which Stones song sounds most like some easy-listening, conservative Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel or Abba evergreen. For me the beautifulness of the melody lies in somewhere else as far as the Stones are concerned.
- Doxa
Have you tried to play the "melody" in SFTD on the piano?
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DoxaQuote
Witness
.
Thanks, good points. I need to clarify myself that I didn't mean to say all those rubytuesdays, ladyjanes, astearsgobys etc. were bad or that I disqualify them or something. Absolutely not! They all are great, beautifully written songs, and I like each of them very much. Like I do of many The Beatles, Abba or Simon & Garfunkel songs (but not so much as I do of the mentioned Stones songs). And I do accept the argument that it is that kind of more traditionally written songs one can whistle the catchy melody easily, are the ones belonging to the category of "beautiful melodies". But I was attracted to the word "most" here - while Jagger/Richards are able to write some damn beautiful melodies in that mentioned sense, I think their true uniqueness and strength - and the one which attracts me most - is their more idiosyncratic way to handle the melody in 'odd' contexts, such as in bluesy rockers. For example, I think "Sway" and "Rocks Off" and, say, "Soul Survivor" are masterpieces in this sense. I don't think anyone can do better than they do that, inwheras one could easily argue that writers like Lennon/McCartney or Paul Simon or the Abba guys are able to do a better work in that more traditional catchy melody field, think of things like "Yesterday", "The Winner Takes It All" or "The Boxer" (although I agree with you that the Stones ballads and melodically catchy tunes have a kind of 'Stonesy' idiosyncratic character in them). Plus Jagger/Richards have that "bluesy" feel in the their style of writing melodies they had learned by the time of making BEGGARS BANQUET, many of the songs being damn simple structurally. The 'less is more' philosophy there. They are bluesmen by heart. To me that sounds beautiful and clever melodically (although I am sure many in music world would oppose me here).
By the way, I belong to a small group of people who actually likes "Indian Girl" very much. As I do of "Coming Down Again". "Bye Bye Baby" is a fantastic song!
- Doxa
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WorriedAboutYou
Backstreet Girl.
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jp.M
... Back street girl.....
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DoxaQuote
DandelionPowderman
Have you tried to play the "melody" in SFTD on the piano?
Not, but with church organ. Sounded brilliant!
- Doxa
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35loveQuote
jp.M
... Back street girl.....
I don’t like it. It’s a tough time for the gals
lately, don’t want anymore negativity.
Some songs the lyrics ruin it for me.
Some songs don’t bode with modern times for me,
another example was the RS cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Commit A Crime’
I didn’t want to hear Mick singing about his drinks being poisoned/ messed with
We can thank Bill Cosby for ruining that one.