3/15/2023 0 Comments Paint it blackHowever, The Rolling Stones began to hit a rocky patch after its release, and controversy and further experimentation led to their popularity sliding. It’s easily one of their greatest tracks, and one of the best number 1s of the 60s. A world away from their early blues tracks, it proved The Rolling Stones could be just as effective at experimenting as The Beatles. Released on 13 May, Paint It, Black quickly knocked the sunshine of Pretty Flamingo from the top of the pops, and cast a dark cloud over the optimism of the spring and summer of 1966. The whole band put in excellent performances, from Richards’ flamenco opening to the finale, in which Wyman goes crazy on the bass. The Beatles get all the credit for popularising the sitar, but Paint It, Black was one of the first pop songs to do so too, and the best, for the time being. Inspired by George Harrison, he was taught by Harihar Rao, a disciple of Ravi Shankar. To compliment the new Moroccan feel to the song, he laid sitar over the top. Frustrated with his decline in importance to the band, and with Jagger and Richards now in charge, he began experimenting with new instruments and sounds. The key ingredient that elevates Paint It, Black to a classic, however, came from Brian Jones. The band decided this rhythm would make a nice counterpoint to the bleak lyrics. Something the band were to experience themselves soon…Īlthough Jagger has never said who the song refers to, many believe it concerns a soldier in Vietnam, which is backed up by Stanley Kubrick playing it over the credits of Full Metal Jacket in 1987.įooling around with the song in the studio, Bill Wyman played on the organ and Charlie Watts improvised a double-time drum beat that became the song’s distinctive, unusual gallop. The ‘line of cars and they are painted black’ refers to the funeral, and ‘I could not forsee this thing happening to you’ suggests how unexpected the death was. ![]() Of course it was there, right in front of me, from the very start, if I’d taken proper notice of Jagger’s lyrics. I only recently realised Paint It, Black specifically relates to a loved one’s sudden death, rather than general malaise and depression. ![]() Initially it had been written with a standard rock-pop arrangement, and lyrically Jagger was continuing on the dark path of their previous two singles, but this time his disgust with the world had a reason.
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