Coming Down Again
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Coming Down Again” | |||||
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| Song by The Rolling Stones | |||||
| Album | Goats Head Soup | ||||
| Released | August 31, 1973 | ||||
| Recorded | November & December, 1972 | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 5:54 | ||||
| Label | Rolling Stones/Virgin | ||||
| Writer | Jagger/Richards | ||||
| Producer | Jimmy Miller | ||||
| Goats Head Soup track listing | |||||
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"Coming Down Again" is a song by the Rolling Stones featured on their 1973 album Goats Head Soup. It is sung by guitarist Keith Richards.
Credited to Mick Jagger and Richards, "Coming Down Again" is largely the work of the latter, who went as far as to say, "Coming Down Again' is my song," at the time of its release. A slower ballad similar in mood to album mate "Angie", "Coming Down Again", in the words of Tom Maginnis, "...concerns the well-worn topic of love gone bad."[1] The lyrics tell of Richards' relationship with then-girlfriend Anita Pallenberg and his taking of her from Brian Jones.[2]
| “ | Share your thoughts, there's nothing you can hide; She was dying to survive; I was caught, oh, taken for a ride; She was showing no surprise | ” |
| “ | Slipped my tongue in someone else's pie; Tasting better ev'ry time; He turned green and tried to make me cry; Being hungry it ain't no crime | ” |
Another interpretation is the song as a response to Richards' then-worsening addiction to heroin. Maginnis interprets the chorus as, "world-weary words more than hinting at a drug reference of coming down off an artificial high."[1]
| “ | Coming down again; Where are all my friends... On the ground again, coming down again | ” |
The song opens with Stones recording veteran Nicky Hopkins front and center alongside a prominent bass performed by Mick Taylor. Guitars are performed by Richards, who uses the wah-wah pedal for much of the song, an effect used often on Goats Head Soup. Also utilized by Richards is a Leslie speaker. Charlie Watts performs what Maginnis calls a "trademark start-stop drum arrangement from [a] restrained Watts that by now had become a familiar device, heard in such previous hits as "Wild Horses".[1] Bobby Keys performs a saxophone solo near the middle of the song. The great session guitarist Miles Miller is thought to have laid down guitar lines that didn't make it onto the final album version. Jagger gives support to Richards on backing vocals, with Maginnis saying, "...Jagger helps out on the song's carefully drawn-out choruses, adding multi-layered harmonies giving the lines a soulful ache... Richards and Jagger interweave separate vocal lines through an extended last chorus employing an unusually complex array of harmonies..."[1] [2]
Recorded at Kingston's Dynamic Sound Studios in November and December, 1972, "Coming Down Again" is regarded as one of Richards' best lead vocal performances.[1] Despite some popularity, Richards has never performed the song live on tour with the Rolling Stones.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Maginnis, Tom. "Coming Down Again". allmusic. allmusic. Retrieved on 2006-08-02.
- ^ a b "Coming Down Again". Keno's Rolling Stones Lyrics Page. Retrieved on 2006-08-02.
