News The five most disgusting songs by The Rolling Stones
The issue of controversy and ‘political correctness gone mad’ is a particularly hot-button topic as of late, as society attempts to make further moves towards social, racial and gender-based equality. The prevailing response to much of these social and cultural changes comes from the older generation, who shout, ‘It never used to be like this!’ from the rooftops. When you look at the lyrical content of some of The Rolling Stones’ material, you can’t help but feel that maybe there should have been more political correctness back in the day.
Of course, The Rolling Stones are among the greatest rock and roll bands of all time, and you cannot say much to dispute that claim. Throughout history, however, even the greatest artists have had off days. In the case of the Stones, they have been tirelessly producing music for the past six decades. With a plethora of hit singles under their belt and legions of dedicated fans who fill stadiums and arenas around the world to cheer at Mick Jagger as though he is a god, there is little that could really tarnish the reputation of the band.
Nevertheless, the Stones’ discography is not entirely made up of blues rock anthems and hit singles plagiarised from forgotten Black artists; the Jagger and Richards-fronted group have had their fair share of miss-hits and misguided efforts. Inevitably, for a group with over 30 studio albums – especially when a lot of that material was created within the context of rock and roll excess – there are more than a few Rolling Stones tracks which are best forgotten.
Although there are a range of Rolling Stones tracks that are pretty forgettable, both musically and lyrically, there are also a fair few that are cringeworthy at best and offensive at worst. Before you launch into the classic defence of “it was a different time”, it is worth remembering that the Stones formed during the 1960s, an age of sexual liberation, second-wave feminism and the civil rights movement. Hence, some of the Stones’ material is even worse than first thought because it is a “different time”.
So, join us as we count down five of the most offensive and disgusting tracks ever produced by Jagger, Richards, and the rest of the gang.
Five troubling songs by The Rolling Stones:
5. ‘Under My Thumb’
Kicking off the list, we have a misguided ode to misogyny and patriarchal attitudes. Jagger plays the role of a chauvinist dominating a plethora of unnamed women. Released in 1966 on the album Aftermath, the song was only ever released as a single in non-English speaking countries, suggesting that even the record company execs of the 1960s recognised the problematic content of its lyrics.
In contrast, Jagger has since argued that the song is “A bit of a jokey number, really. It’s not really an anti-feminist song any more than any of the others”, though this is slightly contradicted by Keith Richards, who stated the song was “all a spinoff from our environment…hotels, and too many dumb chicks”.
4. ‘Brand New Car’
If you were being generous, you could forgive the previous entry on this list as the misguided sexual attitudes of young men in a rock band. By the time the band released Voodoo Lounge in 1994, however, Jagger was in his 50s, so he does not have much of an excuse for the horrendous lyrics of the track ‘Brand New Car’.
With lyrics like “Jack her up baby, go on, open the hood, I want to check if the oil smells good”, the track is about as subtle as a wrecking ball in a minefield. Aside from sounding like a deleted track from the soundtrack of This Is Spinal Tap, it is also an endlessly cringeworthy number when considering it was being sung by a middle-aged man.
3. ‘Some Girls’
After the advent of punk rock had resigned The Rolling Stones to a reputation of being the older generation of rock music, the band clearly thought the way to deal with that cultural shift was to embrace their more shocking side. The result of this misguided attempt to stay fresh was the 1978 Some Girls, the title track of which is horrendously misogynistic and racist.
Reportedly, the song was meant to be something of a parody, but with lyrics like “black girls just want to get fucked all night”, it is hard to elicit a laugh from the song. It probably doesn’t help that, as we have discovered, the Stones do not exactly have a clean record when it comes to sexism.
2. ‘Brown Sugar’
Perhaps the most infamous song on this list, ‘Brown Sugar’ managed to reach number two in the UK charts upon its initial release. As social attitudes have changed, however, the song has since been recognised for the racist qualities that are so inherent within the Jagger-penned lyrics.
Supposedly, the track is considered to be an ode to the joys of interracial sex, but Jagger’s way of expressing that is to talk about slavery. There are not many songs in the Stones discography that are controversial enough for the band themselves to remove it from their setlist, but ‘Brown Sugar’ is one of them.
“I never would write that song now,” Jagger said in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1995. “I would probably censor myself. I’d think, ‘Oh God, I can’t. I’ve got to stop. I can’t just write raw like that.’”
1. ‘Star Star’
Effortlessly finding the middle of a Venn diagram composed of terrible songwriting and offensive lyrical content, The Rolling Stones released ‘Star Star’ in 1973, undoubtedly the most disgusting and horrific track from across their 31-album discography. The issue of groupies is a source of particular shame for the rock scene of the 1960s and 1970s, as artists like David Bowie, Jimmy Page and countless others abused their position to rape underage fans.
For some unknown reason, The Rolling Stones saw these issues and decided that the best course of action was to write a song about these young ‘groupies’. With a chorus imaginatively composed of saying “You’re a starfucker” over and over again, the song is particularly wince-inducing in the wake of movements like MeToo, but it is difficult to imagine a time when ‘Star Star’ could ever be seen as acceptable.
