3 Rolling Stones Songs That Will Make You Understand the Hype

Formed in London in 1962, The Rolling Stones are easily one of the most influential rock groups to emerge from the British Invasion. From someone who didn’t listen to a lot of The Rolling Stones before, here are a few songs from their catalog that stand out. 

“Gimme Shelter”

This song draws inspiration from many places. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, “Gimme Shelter” is about the Vietnam War and racial injustice, as well as the personal struggles we all face. In his memoir Life, Keith Richards described “Gimme Shelter” as being written on “a stormy day.” 

“…I was sitting there in Mount Street and there was this incredible storm over London,” he explained, “so I got into that mode, just looking out of Robert’s window and looking at all these people with their umbrellas being blown out of their grasp and running like hell. And the idea came to me… My thought was storms on other people’s minds, not mine. It just happened to hit the moment.”

“Wild Horses”

“Wild Horses” is definitely one of the more obviously introspective pieces in The Rolling Stones’ catalog. The song’s theme centers around the line “wild horses couldn’t drag me away.” 

While Jagger’s ex-girlfriend Marianne Faithfull has claimed that she was the one who said the wild horses line first, Jagger has also shared that he doesn’t think this song is about her. He talked about this in the liner notes for The Stones’ album, Jump Back.

“Everyone always says this was written about Marianne [Faithfull] but I don’t think it was;” he explained. “That was all well over by then. But I was definitely very inside this piece emotionally. This is very personal, evocative, and sad. It all sounds rather doomy now, but it was quite a heavy time.”

“Paint It, Black”

The Rolling Stones made “Paint It, Black” with an indian instrument and a dream. The bones of the song started with lyrics from Jagger and a melody idea from Richards. When guitarist Brian Jones added sitar to the song, that’s when it really came together.

“I love the instrument,” Jones said to Melody Maker. “It gives you a new range, if you use an instrument like that. It has completely different principles from the guitar and opens up new fields for a group in harmonics and everything.”

This song has a surprising amount of groove to it. It’s definitely not one to overlook in The Rolling Stones’ catalog.

Photo by: Ron Pownall/Getty Images

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