Aftermath

Certain Songs #2027: The Rolling Stones – “Under My Thumb”

February 7, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Aftermath
Year: 1966

. . .

When I was first thinking about these Rolling Stones posts — sometime in 2017, truth be told — my original conception was to have a section on every post about what was problematic with the song, as they got away with a lot of things in the 60s, 70s & 80s that would be unthinkable in our more evolved era.

Like, of course, “Under My Thumb,” the first truly famous Rolling Stones song that was never released as a single in either the U.S. or the U.K.

Certain Songs #2026: The Rolling Stones – “Lady Jane”

February 6, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Aftermath
Year: 1966

. . .

While most of Aftermath consisted of uptempo rock songs — sometime colored by Brian Jones, and sometimes not — about how Mick’s relationships were going wrong, there were a couple of exceptions. One was “Going Home,” a mid-tempo song about Mick deciding to come home to his baby, which they somehow stretched to 11:35 without ever reaching, er, a climax.

And the other was the drop-dead gorgeous “Lady Jane,” where Mick pretends he’s a courtly man, I guess, and isn’t fucking everything in sight. Or, I guess, not anymore. So, he’s playing a character, whom — of course — has to stave off the amorous affection of other ladies in favor of the titular Lady.

Certain Songs #2025: The Rolling Stones – “Paint It Black”

February 5, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Aftermath (U.S.)
Year: 1966

. . .

Sometimes you can listen to a song for years and years, and never really hear it, until it suddenly catches you by surprise.

That’s what happened to me with “Paint It Black,” a song that had been on the radio when I was a kid, and, of course was the opening track of Aftermath, which I bought in early 1981, and didn’t like as much as I had expected to.