Album: Tattoo You
Year: 1981
. . .
Not all of the songs on Tattoo You were reclamation jobs from previous albums. There were a couple that were written especially for the record, both by Mick, as it happens, but still. The first, “Neighbors” was a drum-driven stomper all about Keith’s desire to annoy his neighbors with loud music, but the second, “Heaven” was something entirely different.
Performed by just Mick, Charlie and Bill, “Heaven” is probably the most atmospheric song on a Rolling Stones album since “I Just Wanna See His Face”
That said, while “I Just Want To See His Face” was concerned with the spiritual, “Heaven” has more, let’s say, earthbound concerns:
The smell of you baby, my senses, my senses be praised
The smell of you baby, my senses, my senses be praisedKissing and running, kissing and running away
Kissing and running, kissing and running away
Senses be praised
Senses be praised
The only guitar is Mick, and it’s phased-out and flanged as all fuck, and Charlie Watts plays almost a Latin groove, hitting his snare drum as lightly as he possibly can to the point where I think he might be doing nothing but rimshots. While Bill Wyman adds both bass and some atmospheric synth, “Heaven” is really a collaboration between Mick and Charlie, as Mick’s guitar and Charlies drums play hide and seek with each other.
You’re my saving grace, saving grace
Nothing will harm you
Nothing will stand in your way
Nothing, nothing
Nothing will stop you
And nothing will stand in your way
And then, of course, there’s the vocals — Mick sings in falsetto throughout, and they’re overdubbed and psychedelicized and swoop in and fade out at random intervals, giving “Heaven” a weird, etherial feeling, and ensuring that it never comes quite into focus.
Which is probably why I was puzzled by “Heaven” at first, and even when I came around to loving it, I kinda distrusted myself, as it sounded like nothing else the Stones had ever recorded, and while there would be some sonic experiments on their future albums, like Keith’s songs, they always seemed to part of the negotiation so that those recorded would actually exist, as opposed to a spontaneous bit of expression like “Heaven.”
“Heaven”
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