There was a thread a couple years ago in which I pointed out how this is actually a song in which Mick unsentimentally remembers the early days. In case you missed it, here are my interpretations of the lyrics:

It was a filthy block of flats
Trash was on the floor
The stink was in my nose
Hinges off the door

[A perfectly accurate description of the flat at 102 Edith Grove that Mick shared with Keith and Brian in 62-63. The "stink" was the smell of the feces that the boys smeared on the walls.]

She took me in her room
All was spick and span

[The hookers who lived in the same building kept their flats nice and clean. Spic And Span means immaculately clean and is also the name of a household cleaning product.]

And the rain fell down

[As it often does in London.]

And the phone kept ringing

[This is the line that made me realize the song is set in 1962. It kept ringing because before people had answering machines that's what phones did. They kept ringing until you picked up or the caller hung up.

Everybody's jazzed

[The British blues boom was a reaction to everyone being sick to death of trad jazz.]

The bankers are @#$%& every Thursday night
they just vomit on the ground

[The Stones played at the Marquee on Thursday nights. The "bankers" may refer to certain people who showed up for the gigs, but who were there mainly to get loaded and had little interest in the music .... much like some of the people in the audiences today!]

Everybody's dreaming
Everybody's scheming

["Everybody" meaning the Stones and their friends.]

She cooked up some eggs
Then she made some tea
Kissed me on the cheek
Then I turned on her TV

[The hookers who lived in the building would often cook and clean for the boys in return for their sexual services. Hookers don't like to kiss on the mouth. Germs, you know.]

It was all the usual crap
All the usual sleaze
For 10,000 quid
Some bimbo spilled the beans

[This is what makes me positive the song is set in 62-63. Mick is watching a news report about how one of the girls involved in the Profumo Affair sold her story to the newspapers for 10,000 quid. Also, Mick says "quid". He hasn't thought in terms of "quid" since the Stones left England.]

On the ABB tour, the song was often played right after As Tears Go By, which is also a song about London.

"All I hear is the sound of rain falling on the ground"

And the phone kept ringing

A reference to "Off The Hook"?

I thought the song was about @#$%& a girl on a rainy night.

>> the feces that the boys smeared on the walls <<

wtf are you talking about -
gobs of spit & snot, for crying in the dust. not feces



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-07-07 17:48 by with sssoul.

with sssoul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >> the feces that the boys smeared on the walls
> <<
>
> wtf are you talking about -
> gobs of spit & snot, for crying in the dust. not
> feces


"The tenants made themselves right at home. Before long the rooms were strewn with putrid, half-eaten sandwiches, grimy clothes, and shards of glass and smashed crockery. Rats skittered across the floor, which was covered by a carpet of cigarette butts. By was of decoration, Jagger, Richards, and Jones smeared excrement on the wall and signed it."

From Jagger Unauthorized, page 52.

TooTough Wrote:
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> I thought the song was about @#$%& a girl on a
> rainy night.

It is, but in 1962, not 2005. Mick doesn't visit "filthy blocks of flats" anymore, much less @#$%& the people who live in them.

with sssoul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >> the feces that the boys smeared on the walls
>
>


DooDoo Lounge....LOL!

pay pay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> with sssoul Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > >> the feces that the boys smeared on the walls
> >
> >
>
>
> DooDoo Lounge....LOL!



Laugh if you want, but the ABB CD contains a secret hidden message for the person who figures out the clues. It's the first line of the very next song, which is "You're awful bright, you're awful smart".

Funny how the press got all worked up about pissing on a wall. That was nothing. That was a full three years after they smeared shit on a wall. Yep, they had it, Infamy, right from the start.

tatters Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> with sssoul Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > >> the feces that the boys smeared on the walls
> > <<
> >
> > wtf are you talking about -
> > gobs of spit & snot, for crying in the dust.
> not
> > feces
>
>
> "The tenants made themselves right at home. Before
> long the rooms were strewn with putrid, half-eaten
> sandwiches, grimy clothes, and shards of glass and
> smashed crockery. Rats skittered across the floor,
> which was covered by a carpet of cigarette butts.
> By was of decoration, Jagger, Richards, and Jones
> smeared excrement on the wall and signed it."
>
> From Jagger Unauthorized, page 52.

Yeah well I still don't believe that. Who smears shit on the wall of the apartment they're living in? Does anybody really buy that? Snot and spit...sure, but shit? They had girls over to Edith Grove and the Beatles even came over......do you think they would have let anybody in that place with shit smeared on the wall? That biography might say that, but I don't believe it for a second.

Could this author of Jagger Unauthorized mean anything else by the word "excrement"? I just don't believe that story and I don't think anybody else should either just because ONE AUTHOR makes that claim. Hell, most of us don't believe that story about Keith punching Ronnie at Wembley in '82 but it's been printed and reprinted over and over again my mulitple authors, but we still don't believe it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-07-07 18:44 by Tumblin_Dice_07.

Tumblin_Dice_07 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> tatters Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > with sssoul Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > >> the feces that the boys smeared on the
> walls
> > > <<
> > >
> > > wtf are you talking about -
> > > gobs of spit & snot, for crying in the dust.
> > not
> > > feces
> >
> >
> > "The tenants made themselves right at home.
> Before
> > long the rooms were strewn with putrid,
> half-eaten
> > sandwiches, grimy clothes, and shards of glass
> and
> > smashed crockery. Rats skittered across the
> floor,
> > which was covered by a carpet of cigarette
> butts.
> > By was of decoration, Jagger, Richards, and
> Jones
> > smeared excrement on the wall and signed it."
> >
> > From Jagger Unauthorized, page 52.
>
> Yeah well I still don't believe that. Who smears
> shit on the wall of the apartment they're living
> in? Does anybody really buy that? Snot and
> spit...sure, but shit? They had girls over to
> Edith Grove and the Beatles even came over......do
> you think they would have let anybody in that
> place with shit smeared on the wall? That
> biography might say that, but I don't believe it
> for a second.



What makes you think the Beatles were such neat freaks?

tatters Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
>
> What makes you think the Beatles were such neat
> freaks?


I didn't say they were neat freaks. The Stones looked up to the Beatles at the time. Would YOU invite people to your apartment if there was shit smeared on the walls?

Are you the author of Jagger Unauthorized or something? I don't know why you take this rediculous statement as the gospel truth from an author who is obviously going to write some outrageous things about Mick. You can tell that by the title of the book.

You mentioned the line from "Rain Fall Down" that says "stink was in my nose" and said it had to be from the feces smeared on the wall. Did the rotten food and dirty socks and stale cigarrette smoke not stink? Nah couldn't have been, there must have been shit smeared on the walls.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-07-07 18:58 by Tumblin_Dice_07.

Tumblin_Dice_07 Wrote:
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>
>
> The Stoneslooked up to the Beatles at the time.

The Beatles were taller, I think.

Tumblin_Dice_07 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> tatters Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> >
> >
> > What makes you think the Beatles were such neat
> > freaks?
>
>
> I didn't say they were neat freaks. The Stones
> looked up to the Beatles at the time. Would YOU
> invite people to your apartment if there was shit
> smeared on the walls?

Probably not, but you should have seen my mother-in-law's place the first and only time I ever went over there. SOMETHING was smeared on the walls. Maybe it was blood. Point is, people who live like that are used to it and don't see why it should be a problem for anybody else.

Why this need to jump to their defense over this story? Of all the things they may or may not have done in their lifetimes, a little fingerpainting in excrement gets you worked up? "OH, NO!, NOT MY BOYS! THEY WOULD NEVER PLAY WITH THEIR OWN POOP!"

....dear god in heaven are we still talking about smearing sh!t on the walls of one's own residence?......tatters, not to be disrespectful, but isn't it possible that there is no "hidden message" and that the descriptions in the song are intended to create a mood for the listener?.....for example, "phone kept ringing" makes me think that the woman was willing to ignore her obligations to make love with her visitor, as though what she was doing was more important than answering the phone....perhaps her boyfriend was trying to reach her but she didn't want to talk to him...."answering machines," indeed.....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-07-07 19:42 by Lukester.

tatters wrote:

the ABB CD contains a secret hidden message for the person who figures out the clues.

Brian is dead?

"No Anchovies, Please"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-07-07 20:04 by Elmo Lewis.

The Beatles: The Beatles - Charlie Manson

The Rolling Stones: A Bigger Bang - tatters

:-()

.....and good god tatters, did I just read that your freakin' mother in law has blood smeared on her walls???.....that sounds more like a crime scene than a poetic statement.......

Actually, tatters' first post makes a lot of sense. I too thought it was about banging a trashy chick - but maybe he's right.

Majesty, the Manson thing might be a little harsh, but it sure was funny!

"No Anchovies, Please"

....yeah the 10,000 quid thing does lead me to think tatters may be on to something.....I just can't get past the wall feces.....sorry..

10,000 quid and wall feces pretty much sounds like the same thing..........when ya stop and think about it...........which I probably should'nt.

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

Lukester Wrote:
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> ....I just
> can't get past the wall feces.....sorry..


Why not? Truth is stranger than fiction:


...

...nice try HighwireC, but a dirty graffiti covered wall aint the same as one smeared with sh!t....

I always thougth that the song was more contemporary because the "Feel like were living in a battle ground" reminded me of terrorism, weather its the IRA or what we deal with now or whatever. The early 60's was a time of relative peace there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-07-07 21:22 by ryan.

ryan Wrote:
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> I always thougth that the song was more
> contemporary because the "Feel like were living in
> a battle ground" reminded me of terrorism, weather
> its the IRA or what we deal with now or whatever.
> The early 60's was a time of relative peace there.



The song was released after, but written and recorded before, the 2005 London terror attacks, if that's what you're thinking. Mick may have thought of the London in which he grew up as a "Battleground". It HAD been bombed in WWII after all, and that was something that was still fairly recent history, even in the early 60s. Or he could be talking about the "battle" in the early 60s between the people who were into blues and the people who were into jazz.

those are some good points. but theres also when he turns on all the TV "all the usual crap, all the usual sleeze, for ten thousand quid bimbo spills the beans" that sounds like today's Sensational "Infotainment" tv.

Lukester Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ....dear god in heaven are we still talking about
> smearing sh!t on the walls of one's own
> residence?......tatters, not to be disrespectful,
> but isn't it possible that there is no "hidden
> message" and that the descriptions in the song are
> intended to create a mood for the
> listener?.....for example, "phone kept ringing"
> makes me think that the woman was willing to
> ignore her obligations to make love with her
> visitor, as though what she was doing was more
> important than answering the phone....perhaps her
> boyfriend was trying to reach her but she didn't
> want to talk to him...."answering machines,"
> indeed.....



Maybe. Call girls tend to get a lot of phone calls. But then why would the phone ring at all. She'd have it on mute if she was in the middle of something, wouldn't she? Unless it was a long time ago, before most people owned answerinng machines. Also, Mick is telling a story about something that happened to HIM. Why would a 62-year-old multimillionaire be screwing someone in some ghetto woman's apartment? Keeping it real? Getting in touch with the common folk? He's an artist, but he's not THAT much of an artist! No, he could only be talking about his own experience if it's an experience he had a long, long time ago.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-07-07 22:02 by tatters.

ryan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> those are some good points. but theres also when
> he turns on all the TV "all the usual crap, all
> the usual sleeze, for ten thousand quid bimbo
> spills the beans" that sounds like today's
> Sensational "Infotainment" tv.

Exactly! That's why it's such a great lyric. Mick is saying that when he turned on the TV in 1962, what he saw was not that much different than what you see on TV today, that in 45 years, nothing has really changed. It's STILL the same crap and sleeze that it was then. It's like in that "Crocodile Hunter" movie, when he sees a TV and says "I watched television once" and he turns it on and sees I Love Lucy and he says "Yep, that's what I saw".

Smart insight, but I don't get that

She cooked up some eggs
Then she made some tea
Kissed me on the cheek
Then I turned on her TV

[The hookers who lived in the building would often cook and clean for the boys in return for their sexual services. Hookers don't like to kiss on the mouth. Germs, you know.]

Who offered sexual services ? The Stones or the hookers? Because if the hookers give eggs, it is to pay something in return. Otherwise, it means the Stones had free sex, and also free eggs? Or was it a kind of special bed and breakfast service?

tatters Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TooTough Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I thought the song was about @#$%& a girl on a
> > rainy night.
>
> It is, but in 1962, not 2005. Mick doesn't visit
> "filthy blocks of flats" anymore, much less @#$%&
> the people who live in them.

In 1976 Mick Did have a woman who lived in the poor part of town. Hed go see her some time, and they'd make love so fine...

My comments: Beatles & Stones were almost perfectly equals.
The Liverpudlians a lil bit ahead.
Polka-Dot Perkins & Green Jenkins etc were snot balls etc.
The crap thing is a misunderstanding. Such happens.
But it must have been a disgusting place.