[faroutmagazine.co.uk]

I’m fed up with it”: The Rolling Stones song Mick Jagger was sick of singing
Lucy Harbron
@lucyharbron
Wed 23 October 2024 18:00, UK
With so many songs under their belts and so many of them being hits, the process of crafting a set list for The Rolling Stones is a difficult one. With only so many minutes on stage and tens of thousands of fans staring back at them, all eager to hear their own personal favourites, it’s a delicate balance between pleasing the masses, getting the job done and making sure that the band themselves aren’t totally sick of their own show. When it came to discussions over one track, Mick Jagger couldn’t roll his eyes hard enough as he was completely and utterly done with it.

This has happened a few times now. It’s understandable. After a decades-long career, it makes sense that certain songs Jagger penned back when he was a 20-something-year-old wouldn’t quite have the same appeal now he’s an OAP. It’s a testament to their talent that their crowds still want to hear songs that came out so long ago, but it causes an ongoing challenge to the band to either somehow keep the tracks feeling fresh or simply grin and bear it through the ones they’re sick of.



There are plenty of songs Jagger has been open about growing tired of. He said that ‘Street Fighting Man’ doesn’t have “any resonance for the present day”, stating plainly, “I don’t really like it that much.” The same goes for tracks like ‘She Smiled Sweetly’, ‘2000 Man’, ‘Complicated’ and more. Then, in 2002, another song was added to the list as he put up a fight about having to sing one song.

“On the Forty Licks tour, when we were preparing the set list for a show in Yokohama, Chuck Leavell suggested we play ‘Loving Cup,’ the ballad from Exile on Main St,” Jagger recalled in 2003. While the band have always been good at keeping their set lists fresh and keeping each night different by diving into the back catalogue for an underrated gem, Jagger wasn’t keen on this one.

“I didn’t want to play the tune,” he said, happy to go in on a rant about the track. “I said, ‘Chuck, this is going to die a death in Yokohama. I can’t even remember the bloody song, and no one likes it. I’ve done it loads of times in America, it doesn’t go down that well, it’s a very difficult song to sing,” adding a final blow, “I’m fed up with it!”

The track was over 30 years old by this point, so being fed up is understandable. But just because Jagger is sick of singing a song, doesn’t mean his crowd are sick of hearing it. “Chuck went, Stick in the mud! so I gave in and put it in the set-list. Lo and behold, we went out, started the song and they all began applauding,” the singer said, being humbled by his own fans.

It was a valuable lesson to learn, and probably one that fans ever since have gained from when their old favourite tune gets dusted off and performed by the band. It’s also a lesson to the band that sales numbers nor years past can even accurately judge a crowd’s love for a song as Jagger concluded, “[it] just proves how, over time, some of these songs acquire a certain existence or value, that they never had when they first came out. People will say, What a wonderful song that was when it was virtually ignored at the time it was released.”

Loving Cup done it loads of times in America?? Eh....?

Quote
The Joker
[faroutmagazine.co.uk]

I’m fed up with it”: The Rolling Stones song Mick Jagger was sick of singing
Lucy Harbron
@lucyharbron
Wed 23 October 2024 18:00, UK
With so many songs under their belts and so many of them being hits, the process of crafting a set list for The Rolling Stones is a difficult one. With only so many minutes on stage and tens of thousands of fans staring back at them, all eager to hear their own personal favourites, it’s a delicate balance between pleasing the masses, getting the job done and making sure that the band themselves aren’t totally sick of their own show. When it came to discussions over one track, Mick Jagger couldn’t roll his eyes hard enough as he was completely and utterly done with it.

This has happened a few times now. It’s understandable. After a decades-long career, it makes sense that certain songs Jagger penned back when he was a 20-something-year-old wouldn’t quite have the same appeal now he’s an OAP. It’s a testament to their talent that their crowds still want to hear songs that came out so long ago, but it causes an ongoing challenge to the band to either somehow keep the tracks feeling fresh or simply grin and bear it through the ones they’re sick of.



There are plenty of songs Jagger has been open about growing tired of. He said that ‘Street Fighting Man’ doesn’t have “any resonance for the present day”, stating plainly, “I don’t really like it that much.” The same goes for tracks like ‘She Smiled Sweetly’, ‘2000 Man’, ‘Complicated’ and more. Then, in 2002, another song was added to the list as he put up a fight about having to sing one song.

“On the Forty Licks tour, when we were preparing the set list for a show in Yokohama, Chuck Leavell suggested we play ‘Loving Cup,’ the ballad from Exile on Main St,” Jagger recalled in 2003. While the band have always been good at keeping their set lists fresh and keeping each night different by diving into the back catalogue for an underrated gem, Jagger wasn’t keen on this one.

“I didn’t want to play the tune,” he said, happy to go in on a rant about the track. “I said, ‘Chuck, this is going to die a death in Yokohama. I can’t even remember the bloody song, and no one likes it. I’ve done it loads of times in America, it doesn’t go down that well, it’s a very difficult song to sing,” adding a final blow, “I’m fed up with it!”

The track was over 30 years old by this point, so being fed up is understandable. But just because Jagger is sick of singing a song, doesn’t mean his crowd are sick of hearing it. “Chuck went, Stick in the mud! so I gave in and put it in the set-list. Lo and behold, we went out, started the song and they all began applauding,” the singer said, being humbled by his own fans.

It was a valuable lesson to learn, and probably one that fans ever since have gained from when their old favourite tune gets dusted off and performed by the band. It’s also a lesson to the band that sales numbers nor years past can even accurately judge a crowd’s love for a song as Jagger concluded, “[it] just proves how, over time, some of these songs acquire a certain existence or value, that they never had when they first came out. People will say, What a wonderful song that was when it was virtually ignored at the time it was released.”

He sang it loads of times in America? What, like at the beginning of the 72 tour and then dropped it. I would bet that it was more the issue that it was a harder song to sing, as judged by his performance of it at Hyde Park in '69.

If there is any truth to that Far Out article, it's a shame, because myself and many other hard core Stones fans love that song. Definitely one of the more underrated and better tunes from Exile. This article also demonstrates that Jagger may not be the best judge of what he thinks his audiences like.

Not questioning the validity of this, but if it was true, and he cares about songs not getting a good reaction, thats strange given some songs they've pulled out on a semi regular basis, that 100% no one would expect and probably don't get an incredible response, despite being big hardcore songs.

FTR from Dean Goodman’s review on Yokohama Arena, March 12, 2003 on the IORR:

The crowd seemed reasonably lively, and certainly enjoyed the b-stage segment and the "yeah! yeah! yeah! wooo!!" bit of "Brown Sugar." (…) On the other hand, the Japanese debut of "Don't Stop" received only polite enthusiasm, while "Loving Cup" seemed to wash over the masses.

He is probably sick of singing many songs but sings them anyway to appeal to the masses or promotors or in rare cases the audience.

its a clickbait site

How could he be sick of singing songs like,2000 Man,Complicated, She Smiled Sweetly , when he has never sung them live ever? He probably hasn’tin 50 yearsand would not remember their lyrics if he tried to sing them today.And Loving Cup was only sung at Hyde Park and a couple of shows in 1972 until later in this century.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-10-24 12:28 by Taylor1.

I really like the comments above. Shows how knowledgeable, discerned and inspired are IORR contributors. The finest on Stones topics
Yeah, I was too a bit surprised by Loving Cup... Memories of bootlegs (Park 69, Vancouver 72).... Then I listened to it live in Rotterdam 2003, just before Vredenburg show... Well to be honest, I just found the youtube recording, so I thought "I must have listened to it, because I was there".
Yes, it's exciting, despite, or because, Jagger voice is rough and pushed to limits...

I always found this a difficult song to perform, and honestly it never sounded as good as on the album, compared to other songs.

While I could understand the 'Street fighting man' is a bit dated nowadays (and, btw, it is a bit dangerous if you see the growing violence everywhere), I think that 'She smiled sweetly' is a great song. I also wonder how Mick Jagger is supposed to be 'sick and tired' of it when he has only performed it once at all in concert. Of course, it works only in smaller venues and not in a stadium.

I love this song, it's one of my all time favorite Stones tracks. I loved it ever since I got my bootleg Hyde Park record back in the 90s.

These wandering click bait stories are ridiculous and regurgitated every six months, this thing is older than Keith's broken strings from 2003.

The version live with Jack White is really good; Mick and Jack are into the song and they seem to have fun with it. I like Jack White but I know some here don't!

[youtu.be]