Great mother*****ing tune on a great album. Only The Stones could make a masterpiece just like this, the chords are nothing special, but the delivery!!!!

all the way down took some time to grow on me, now I really like it. It has an 80's feel and at the same time is classic stones. Its a a fun song. I don't think the vocals are rushed. its a psuedo-rap style, like Shattered. The only song on the Undercover Album that I haven't taken to is It Must Be Hell.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-03-24 03:08 by ryanpow.

I like the song quite a bit--it's a fun song. Undercover, as a whole, is quite a dark album; we get a break from that with All The Way Down. Jagger delivers it in a way only he could, the lyrics are great and chorus is really catchy. I also really like the outtake of this song found on the "Chainsaw" bootleg, with the guitars way more up front.

What dragged this thread up out of the dreck? 4 years later the song is still a throwaway off one of their all time worst albums. And to be a throwaway off this piece of junk album says something about how bad All The Way Down is.

HECK!!!



ROCKMAN

I sometimes wish they would sound like this again.Im listening to undercover right now its way better than a Bigger Bang.

I love all the songs on Undercover and only a few songs from voodoo lounge,Bridges and a bigger bang.

Feel The Fear
And Do It Anyway

Yep, I agree. If I had to listen to a Wood era album front to back, I'd probably choose Undercover. To me, it's kind of in the class of IORR, no super high points, but consistently good. The energy here would never be seen again after this record. All The Way Down would be great live, I'd think.

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StonesCat
Yep, I agree. If I had to listen to a Wood era album front to back, I'd probably choose Undercover. To me, it's kind of in the class of IORR, no super high points, but consistently good. The energy here would never be seen again after this record. All The Way Down would be great live, I'd think.

Not a bad comparison, although I think Undercover of the Night is a cut above, and Too Tough as well.

It's nice to see some praise for this underappreciated gem off UC.

It would take very forgiving years to think this piece of crap is worth ever listening to again. It's so bad they're into the chorus at :20

The best track of Undercover. The bootleg early version is even better!

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24FPS
It would take very forgiving years to think this piece of crap is worth ever listening to again. It's so bad they're into the chorus at :20

I'm not sure I understand from all your posts...are you saying you don't like this song?

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treaclefingers

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24FPS
It would take very forgiving years to think this piece of crap is worth ever listening to again. It's so bad they're into the chorus at :20

I'm not sure I understand from all your posts...are you saying you don't like this song?

Nah, he seems to be warming up to it!

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big4

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treaclefingers

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24FPS
It would take very forgiving years to think this piece of crap is worth ever listening to again. It's so bad they're into the chorus at :20

I'm not sure I understand from all your posts...are you saying you don't like this song?

Nah, he seems to be warming up to it!

It does grow on you!

Like Irelandcalling4 and others, that one line

"I was King. Mr. Cool, just a snotty little fool, like kids are now" / "How the years they rush on by, Birthdays, Kids and Suicides.."

has stuck with me through the years. I was only in my late 20's at the time, but I was starting to accept my career as an MD and suddenly starting to feel my years, way too early as it turns out in retrospect. But it was a time when "all nighter" began to take on a new meaning as a shift at the hospital and not a club night.

I enjoyed the music, I thought Undercover quite powerful musically, still do, and much more vital and daring than later and more acclaimed releases like VL. Yet this little catchy number on side two when releases still had sides was just something to smile to, a relief after murkier darker material. Yet that one line so simply and precisely in a few jaunty words says what people like Joyce take novels to say. That line is Time Waits for No One with a sense of humor.

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treaclefingers

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big4

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treaclefingers

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24FPS
It would take very forgiving years to think this piece of crap is worth ever listening to again. It's so bad they're into the chorus at :20

I'm not sure I understand from all your posts...are you saying you don't like this song?

Nah, he seems to be warming up to it!

It does grow on you!

Like a hairy mole grows on a witches teat.

I´d never heard that early take of ATWD before, that´s some good listening. Are there more (good audio quality) outtakes etc from Undercover? Are they compiled on a bootleg somewhere? (link, please! )

Five years ago I seemingly payed attention solely to lyrics and Jagger's persona. Let me now add that musically it is one my favourites in UNDERCOVER. It has that loose Pathe Marconi feel in it, pure fun translated into music. Not probably much of a song, but who cares - the band just smokes!

- Doxa

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24FPS

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treaclefingers

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big4

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treaclefingers

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24FPS
It would take very forgiving years to think this piece of crap is worth ever listening to again. It's so bad they're into the chorus at :20

I'm not sure I understand from all your posts...are you saying you don't like this song?

Nah, he seems to be warming up to it!

It does grow on you!

Like a hairy mole grows on a witches teat.

Those are awful to get stuck in your teeth.

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peoplewitheyes
I´d never heard that early take of ATWD before, that´s some good listening. Are there more (good audio quality) outtakes etc from Undercover? Are they compiled on a bootleg somewhere? (link, please! )

There's a bunch. Great outtakes of "She Was Hot","Tie You Up", and "Too Tough". The unreleased "Tried To Talk her Into It" that was recorded during these sessions is great as well. All are on Youtube.

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kahoosier
Like Irelandcalling4 and others, that one line

"I was King. Mr. Cool, just a snotty little fool, like kids are now" / "How the years they rush on by, Birthdays, Kids and Suicides.."

has stuck with me through the years. I was only in my late 20's at the time, but I was starting to accept my career as an MD and suddenly starting to feel my years, way too early as it turns out in retrospect. But it was a time when "all nighter" began to take on a new meaning as a shift at the hospital and not a club night.

I enjoyed the music, I thought Undercover quite powerful musically, still do, and much more vital and daring than later and more acclaimed releases like VL. Yet this little catchy number on side two when releases still had sides was just something to smile to, a relief after murkier darker material. Yet that one line so simply and precisely in a few jaunty words says what people like Joyce take novels to say. That line is Time Waits for No One with a sense of humor.

What a great post kahoosier! That line is Jagger's brilliant take on a lifetime piling up

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Sam4741

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peoplewitheyes
I´d never heard that early take of ATWD before, that´s some good listening. Are there more (good audio quality) outtakes etc from Undercover? Are they compiled on a bootleg somewhere? (link, please! )

There's a bunch. Great outtakes of "She Was Hot","Tie You Up", and "Too Tough". The unreleased "Tried To Talk her Into It" that was recorded during these sessions is great as well. All are on Youtube.

"Chainsaw Rocker" is another, as well as "Can't Cut The Mustard" an early version of "Had It With You". "Still In Love" is another.

People can consider this a tossed off piece of crap but the lyrics would betray that opinion. Despite the sardonic delivery of some of the lines, this seems to be Mick's honest look back at the early days and a woman who meant a lot to him back then. Perhaps those hookers who lived downstairs from them in Edith Grove?

This song kicks off full of sleaze, attitude and sarcastic double entendres but things start to change at the third verse and then further emphasized by an almost wistful bridge which is followed by the "how the years rush on by birthdays, kids, and suicides" verse-a very straightfoward and sober look back by Mick and then he makes a bit of fun of himself, even calling himself a fool before straight out calling the woman a slut (as if he's still angry with her or disappointed in her) then it's back to the chorus where towards the end the tempo slows with a vaguely out of left field psychedelic feel.

But what really stands out on this section is the acoustic strums which appears just for a few moments-freakin' brillant. The final verse is the payoff though because after calling out the woman in the previous line, now Mick is showing an odd regret of how things ended with her, actually questioning himself, "Was every minute just a waste, was every hour a foolish chase?" Then even more direct he sings, "No I don't believe you slipped all the way" before covering his sadness about what happened to her with the double entendre meaning of the chorus.

This is some of the most honest, behind the mask lyrics Mick has ever written, and in a true genius move he disguises this love song of regret in a sleazy kiss off punkish pop rocker.

One of their best offerings post-TTY.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014-03-26 03:03 by big4.

love your analysis big4. I don't see this at all as a throwaway track.

Perhaps one of the most underrated tracks this side of Tattoo You.

Yep, a great analysis by big4! A privilege and a pleasure to read stuff like that, you know, of music, especially in times like these when all interest seem to be on technical tour details or on Mick's tragedy. The music, in the end, is that matters most and heals best.

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-03-26 11:34 by Doxa.

Boy, I haven't heard this in ages until this thread.
Pretty good tune that fits in the tone of side one of Emotional Rescue.
Whether or not it's better/worse than Summer Romance or Let Me Go I'm not sure but I lump it in with that overall vibe.
Nothing groundbreaking but in retrospect it takes on more significance because it marks the last real era of a Stones "band" sound, and pretty remarkable that the stuff that seemed throwaway then feels so organic and brimming with personality now. I suppose I took that sound for granted.

Like a lot of Undercover, there's some neat little twists on the formula in there that I wish were developed further. The bridge and the slowed down bit near the end could have been explored with great results had they felt so inclined.

I'm not convinced the lyrics are all that deep, but they are quite droll and amusing. She Was Hot does the same thing a little better on the same album, though, which makes this feel a little redundant if you are listening to Undercover from start to finish.

And yeah, I've done that plenty. I'm funny that way.

Bewildered by all the positive reactions on this song, I just listened to it again, and I am still bewildered.
"Undercover" is not a very good album, but if at least they would have deleted the last 3 songs on it ("Too Tough", "All the way down" and "Must be hell" ) it would have been a lot better (they might wanna have deleted "Wanna Hold You" too, actually).
There is nothing special in the guitars, nothing special in the voice, nothing special in the rhythm or the melody. The break is just silly ("Oh dear, this is getting boring, let's do a break. What kind of break? Oh well, *shrug* let's just slow down and make silly noises" ).
It's at best just an average rocker, but lacking the energy or fun of other "average rockers" like "Hang Fire" or "Crazy Mama". It's on an equal par fodder-wise to "Summer Romance" or "Where the boys go" and just as it always takes an effort to remember the difference between those two, I find "All the way down" and "Too Tough" rather interchangeable.

On slightly different note, I do think that "Tie You Up (Pain of Love)" is a great song, and quite underestimated. It's to "Undercover" what "Slave" is too "Tattoo You" (with the difference of course, that Tattoo You is a great album with no bad songs on it).

All good points matxil. Like I said, Undecover had a lot of potential that went unrealized. Wanna Hold You never should have made the cut. The album does indeed fizzle out at the end. I like the coda of It Must Be Hell, but that's another missed opportunity, and of course repeating the riff from Soul Survivor only invites poor comparisons. Fully agree about Tie You Up. Fantastic grooves, great breakdown section, but the lyrics take the piss out of what could have been a classic.

Nonetheless, there is a certain charm to the "Stones-by-numbers" tracks from 1979-1983 that I have a weakness for. Especially when compared to an album like Steel Wheels, which to me is completely lacking in the personality department.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-03-27 15:17 by andrewt.

NO other band in the World could come up with the trio of what is ER, TY and Undercover.

These 3 albums are all representing what The Stones and no other band in the World can do.

Groovy R n R with minimalistic touches and the great AAOW (ancient art of weaving) and Everything is briliantly produced.

It's the other side of the coin to BB, EOMS, SF and LIB with the brilliance and legendary divine holyness of IORR GHS B&B and SG in the middle.