The B side to Tattoo You

If you don't know the last half of The Rolling Stones' Tattoo You, well. I feel lots and lots of compassion for you. You have so much ahead of you. Why you're just like a little hummingbird baby, newly hatched; your supple feathers more like nasty, wet, scales in a mohawk at the top of your head.

According to Wikipedia. Tattoo was more of a Dead Letter Office than a real record. Which i didn't know. My brother had a copy of Tattoo You and listening to it is one of my earliest memories, along with "stairway" in the sunlight of Alabama, driving through trees with my Dad, and lots of ABBA and Willie Nelson at my mom's (really my house) house. According the the mighty wiki, i was 5 or 6. that explains why some of my musical tastes are *SO* entrenched, and important to me.

So the last half of Tattoo is nothing but mid tempo, quieter numbers. Which, normally lose my attention, but sunday i was cleaning the house really good in anticipation of everyone coming over, and damn if I didn't just get mezmerized, and I listened to those last 4 or 5 songs, as a group about 4 or 5 times. Just amazing.

The set starts off with "Worried About You" which U2 totally cribbed for "all I want is you". That phazed out rhodes or what ever it is, just playing either a IV -> I or V->I progression, and the lyrics - which could be just too patronizing - aren't. They speak more to vulnerabilty of the narrator rather than some dumb "protector" stance.

Then we're into "Tops" which is a just great soul derived indictment of every skeezy guy that ever was. And it seems Jagger could very easily be running himself through with his merciless tearning down of the Medalion wearing, paunchy, balding ladies man - trying every trick in the book to get some action. But the real reason this song is in the cannon is the back up singers (Keith and Ronny wood, prolly) doing this endless "Hey Baby!" in a falsetto - that just seems like too much fun to record. Also - the song title blows, but whose counting?

Then, one of the strangest Stones songs ever "Heaven" which is more an Eno type song, all phased guitar and oohs and aahs. Kinda psychadelic. I love it so much. Also its kind of menacing, that midnight rambler/sympathy - even though the text is empowering.

Get ready to weep, childrens - cause "Ain't no use in crying" is up next. That is cold blooded, hear breaking, life affirming...and awesome. Such atmosphere.

Then, it all wraps up with the hit of the record, by far - "waiting on a friend". Which everybody knows is what they play on loop in heaven.

What knocks me out is the solid string of hits and sustained atmosphere that they bring without ever becoming the least bit boring. for like 20 minutes. It's a marvel! If someone like norah jones tried that on me (which she does). I'd stab my eardrums with oak limbs to make the pain stop. But these dudes knock it out the park. Also - this record is THE record that makes it neccesary for a guitarist like my self to own a phaser. You want to grab just a piece of the glory that Keith was laying down from Some Girls to Tattoo You with that sound.