Hi folks,

while very much looking forward to the upcoming US tour and while enjoying Paris 3 2017 at YT, I come across one question I'ld like to ask you and I hope to strice a nerve here.

Ok, I'm german. While it's no problem for me to translate lyrics from songs like YCAGWYW into my mother tongue (I had more to learn from the 4 sides of 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' from Genesis, hehehe) - I simply don't know how to understand lines like this:

"In her glass was a bleeding man,
She was practised at the art of deception,
well I could tell by her blood stained hand!"

Again - no problem to understand the words - but WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Is there a story behind this?
Was he on trip and saw a girl drink a Bloody Mary and he was just carried away or something?

Any hints are greatly appreciated!
And I have lots more of this kind of questions, if you don't mind.

Cheers,
Johannes

I always thought it had something to do with Devon Wilson , Jimi Hendrix' girlfriend who left Hendrix after hooking up with Mick after a party. From songmeanings.com:

by jersey73 on 10-01-2004 @ 07:12:33 PM
This song is about Mick Jagger and Jimi's girlfriend Devon Wilson. Devon threw a birthday party for Jimi...but Devon always had a thing for Mick Jagger too. The story goes that a glass Mick was holding broke and cut his finger. Devon went over and started sucking on Mick bloody finger.

Devon and Jimi had a love/hate relationship.
Incidently, when that party ended, Devon ended up going home with Mick Jagger. Mick in turn wrote the song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" for Jimi Hendrix.

Could be BS, I don't know.

This is definitely one for Mr Michael Phillip Jagger …….



ROCKMAN

"In her glass was a bleeding man,
She was practised at the art of deception,
well I could tell by her blood stained hand!"

With obvious nod to interpretation being subjective, it could mean, just like anything else, a lot.

I doubt its essence is about that, though.

'In her glass was a bleeding man' could be about heartbreak. He is weeping all over her, with tears getting into her glass.

"She was practised at the art of deception" hasn't changed any meaning at all - manipulation of emotions. It's arrogant to say "Women do it all the time" because not all women do. But there seems to be a more women presence about it than men... but that may only be subjective to who you know, perhaps more males than females, and so maybe that leads to a 'women do you wrong' mentality.

"I could tell by a blood stained hand" could mean a few things but in this instance, he broke the glass in a moment of sadness? Jealousy? Rage?

Aside from the inspiration of what happened, allegedley (?), it may be the most descriptive subliminal lyric in the whole song, literally saying you may want this, the woman, but her mind is elsewhere, so no matter what you do to get her attention, you can't...

Mick wasn't explaining anything ever about the lyrics, the recording session for it was apparently 'whatever', seeing that Charlie doesn't even play on it, they were still quite a bit of a mess thanks to Brian being an @#$%&, so maybe it's just a bit deluded to not be exact.

Great question, and it would apply to many other great lyrics that Mick wrote in his prime. Dense, intricate phrases that I would also love to know the inspiration(s) behind.

I think like most good lyrics or poetry it is open for discussion; it is more about what it means to you.
Waterrats asked a good question. I don't think the answer has anything to do with language. We all see the written words. Some posters choose to interpret them literally. "glass" as in 'broken glass'.

I think I have always seen them as 'her man was at her mercy; she has him where she does with him as she pleases; and it is easy to see because of her past, or her guilt and unscrupulousness are written all over her.'

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waterrats

Is there a story behind this?

Dunno - maybe this Book can shed some light on it:


[www.Amazon.co.uk]

Blood stained hands is evidence that she did a crime.

Practiced at the arts of deception mean she was a well-seasoned (much experience) at fraud, tricking, telling lies; deciving.


The glass, I don't know. It's a great Jagger line. My guess is that she had a drink at a reception and her mind was thoughts of hurting a man. Bleed doesn't always mean blood. It can be bleed his bank account dry or some other way to take what he values, etc...

Great song!

"In her glass was a bleeding man,
(her jilted (or soon to be) man, who she had by the..)

She was practiced at the art of deception,
(lying was second nature, clear for all to see)

well I could tell by her blood stained hand!"
(easy to tell this wasn't the first heart she ripped out)

She has power over the man who is disappointed because he was expecting a virgin. She deceives him into thinking she is a virgin because when they have sex she bleeds and gets the blood on her hands.

There was a practice in some parts of the world that women would deceive men by inserting a chicken liver which would produce blood during sex, thus making it look like she was a virgin.

In the early seventies I read an article explaining the lyrics in that way, but can’t remember where.

Always figured it was the female version of Under My Thumb...

I always took it as red wine in her glass. Jagger loves wine haha

Also, Jimmy, is Jimmy Miller, not Jimi Hendrix. Jagger said he played his new song to Miller and he loved it.

Wow, folks, really nice stories and explanations.

I must admit that I don't remember the story of Jimi's (Jimmy's?) girlfriend too well - I might have read it a long time ago but didn't connect it to these lines.

Isn't this Jimi with Devon Wilson?



If yes, then it points to Jimi, not Jimmy ...

Thanks again for the help - I might have more questions like these, if you don't mind.

Cheers,
Johannes

Did Hendrix write Dolly Dagger before or after the Stones wrote about the bleeding man? Dagger rhymes with Jagger. Devon?

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MisterDDDD
"In her glass was a bleeding man,
(her jilted (or soon to be) man, who she had by the..)

She was practiced at the art of deception,
(lying was second nature, clear for all to see)

well I could tell by her blood stained hand!"
(easy to tell this wasn't the first heart she ripped out)

The winner

"No Anchovies, Please"