For over six decades, the music of The Rolling Stones has reverberated across the globe, defining generations and shaping the landscape of rock and roll. At the heart of this iconic sound lies the songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, a duo often referred to as the “Glimmer Twins.” While Richards’ guitar riffs are undeniably foundational to their sound, this exploration delves into the often-understated genius of Mick Jagger’s songwriting contributions, particularly his lyrical prowess and melodic sensibilities that have given birth to countless classic songs. Understanding the genesis and evolution of “Mick Jagger Songs” is crucial to appreciating the depth and enduring appeal of the Rolling Stones’ vast catalog.
The Accidental Songwriters: Origins of Jagger-Richards
The journey to becoming one of history’s most prolific songwriting teams wasn’t initially a deliberate path for Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. In the early days of The Rolling Stones, their repertoire consisted primarily of blues and R&B covers. It was their ambitious manager and producer, Andrew Oldham, who, in a stroke of perhaps naive genius, pushed them to create original material. As Keith Richards recounted, “Andrew…in his naivety thought (that we could write our own songs). The fact that it came up was sheer luck because otherwise every guitar player…especially at that time songwriting was as different to being a guitar player as a bank clerk working in a store, you know.”
Oldham’s unconventional approach involved locking Jagger and Richards in a kitchen and demanding a song. This pressure-cooker environment surprisingly yielded “As Tears Go By,” a ballad far removed from the raw blues they were known for. As Richards described, “So what (Andrew) did was lock us up in the kitchen for a night and say, Don’t come out without a song. We sat around and came up with As Tears Go By…The weird thing is that Andrew found Marianne Faithfull at the same time, bunged it to her and it was a fucking hit for her – we were songwriters already!” This early success, though initially channeled through Marianne Faithfull, planted the seed of confidence in their songwriting abilities.
Despite this breakthrough, writing specifically for The Rolling Stones took more time. Richards recalled, “(T)hat’s why I take my hat off to Andrew. He had no idea, but it was worth a try, and it worked. In that little kitchen Mick and I got hung up about writing songs, and it still took us another six months before we had another hit with Gene Pitney, That Girl Belongs to Yesterday.” These early efforts, while commercially successful, were considered by the duo themselves as somewhat “terrible pop songs” and “crap ballads,” a far cry from the rock and roll anthems they would later become famous for. Mick Jagger himself admitted, “(At first, w)e couldn’t write rock songs. We just wrote these crap ballads… Eventually we got to grips with writing rock tunes, but it took a little time.”
The influence of Buddy Holly proved pivotal in their development. Jagger highlighted Holly’s significance, stating, “To English people Buddy Holly was an enormous inspiration. Therein lies the difference because he was a songwriter, which Elvis wasn’t. And he wrote very simple songs – sort of lesson one in songwriting. Great songs, which had simple changes and nice melodies and changes of tempo and all that. You could learn from Buddy Holly how to write songs, the way he put them together. He was a beautiful writer.” Holly’s emphasis on simple yet effective song structures provided a crucial template as Jagger and Richards transitioned from imitators to innovators.
“The Last Time” in 1965 marked a turning point. Richards explained its importance: “The Last Time (1965) was… important, I guess, to Mick and myself because the previous songs we’d written we’d given to Andrew and we’d done dubs and sold ’em off to somebody else… I guess we were just getting about good enough to be able to resort – to write for ourselves, you know, and to believe we could do it.” Jagger echoed this sentiment, “I suppose we’d been writing for almost 9 months to a year by then, just learning how to put songs together. And with The Last Time, it became fun. After that, we were confident that we were on our way, that we’d just got started.” This period solidified their belief in their own songwriting potential and paved the way for a career defined by original compositions.
Chemistry of the Glimmer Twins: Jagger and Richards’ Collaboration
The enduring success of “mick jagger songs” is intrinsically linked to the dynamic and often complex chemistry between Jagger and Richards, famously known as the Glimmer Twins. Richards reflected on the origins of their partnership, contrasting it with Brian Jones’ role: “(Why Mick and I?) Brian was not a natural songwriter – his mind was too confused. He could talk his head off, but he couldn’t write well. He was an interpreter more than a writer. I stumbled into songwriting; so did Mick.” He reiterated the almost accidental nature of their songwriting, emphasizing the element of discovery: “You know the story: Andrew Oldham locked us in the kitchen and forced us to do it. You either find you’ve got it or not.”
Jagger attributed their collaborative success to their long-standing friendship and natural synergy: “For some reason Keith and I wrote together. Maybe because we knew each other for so long and we’re friends. I had no experience to back it with as far as songwriting was concerned… But it seemed very natural and Keith and I seemed quite good at it.” He acknowledged Jones’ musical talent but highlighted the incompatibility in songwriting: “Brian was quite problematical and it was obvious to Keith and myself after trying it a few times that it was going to work. Brian got annoyed but anyone gets annoyed when you exclude them because they’re not compatible.”
In the early stages, their roles were somewhat defined. Jagger explained, “I had a slight talent for wording, and Keith always had a lot of talent for melody from the beginning. Everything (in the beginning), including the riffs, came from Keith.” However, he stressed the importance of hard work and development: “But we worked hard at it. We developed it. You need application. Our first songs were terrible.” This dedication and willingness to learn and evolve their craft is a cornerstone of their long-lasting partnership.
The dynamic between Jagger and Richards wasn’t always harmonious. Producer Jimmy Miller observed shifts in their collaboration, noting, “The basic material for songs used to come out of a beautiful collusion between Mick and Keith. But it became Mick’s song or Keith’s song, which started even on Exile (On Main Street), which is why I think that was Keith’s album.” He described periods of tension, often fueled by external factors, “Mick was always jumping off to Paris ’cause Bianca was pregnant and having labor pains. I remember many mornings after great nights of recording, I’d come over to Keith’s for lunch. And within a few minutes of seeing him I could tell something was wrong. He’d say, Mick’s pissed off to Paris again. I sensed resentment in his voice because he felt we were starting to get something, and when Mick returned the magic might be gone.”
Despite these challenges, their ability to create together remained. Jagger commented on the practicalities of their collaboration, “It’s easiest to work together, but it’s a lot more difficult to get together these days, that’s the hassle. Before, it was so easy because we were on the road all the time… Nowadays, we’re often 3000 miles apart, and it just doesn’t sound as good over the phone.” Richards elaborated on their evolving process, “We do bits that we hear and then we throw them all together on a cassette or something, and listen to it. Mick writes more melodies now than he used to. The first things, usually I wrote the melody and Mick wrote the words.” He emphasized the intertwined nature of their contributions, “Every song we’ve got have pieces of each other in it.”
Jagger acknowledged his increasing melodic input, “I started writing on piano, which is easy: just put your fingers down. I think the first song I wrote melodically was Yesterday’s Papers. Then Jigsaw Puzzle… So even though I wasn’t a player, I would help shape the melody. But it’s true to say our roles were much more divided in the beginning, and now they’re melded together.” He further emphasized the difficulty in separating individual contributions, “You can’t really (clarify who writes which song). It’s not really true that I wrote all of one, and he wrote all of one when you get down to it… We just sit down and do them, sometimes in the studio, sometimes at home.”
Ian Stewart offered an external perspective on their dynamic, “Keith is the leader of the band until such times that Mick will walk into a studio with a song that’s written and finished. If it’s Mick’s song and he’s got it stuck in his head how it’s gonna be it’ll be done that way usually.” Jagger himself described their iterative process, “Usually, I hit (songs) around with people, with Keith. Sometimes I write them all down and say, Hey, this is it. Or sometimes I’ll say, Well, this really can use a bridge.”
Their lyric writing process also evolved into a collaborative effort. Jagger explained, “Usually Keith gives me a start with the lyrics for his tunes. It’s rare he gives me a melody with no indication – though if I come up with something better we’ll change it. But usually he gives me an attitude or a phrase, like beast of burden, to pick up on… But sometimes Keith helps me just by saying which is the best verse. I might write five verses and we only need three. Keith will say, Oh, that’s a great line, let’s combine it with this.”
Richards humorously described his role in writing for Jagger’s voice, “(Mick recording a solo album did not affect the way we write together). See, I write songs for Mick to sing – that’s my job, basically. I’LL do a couple here and there, whether because I want to or he thinks I should. But even if I write a song that Mick doesn’t particularly like when he first hears it, I know that he CAN sing it. It’s a matter of interesting him in a certain song. And then once he gets interested and does it – BOOM, there you go.” He further acknowledged Jagger’s lyrical depth, “(Mick)’s got a bit of Shakespeare in him, no doubt about it. We’ve had fun arguments, writing songs. I would say, I think this should be an instrumental, and meanwhile, he’d written an opera…”
In later years, Jagger noted a shift in lyrical contributions, “(A) lot of the things we write now, I write most of the lyrics…” However, he also defended Richards’ lyrical abilities, “Keith might be underappreciated as a lyric writer. I don’t think it worries him.”
Richards summarized their evolving collaboration and the enduring strength of writing as a duo, “It’s been a progression from Mick and I sitting face to face with a guitar and a tape recorder, to after Exile, when everybody chose a different place to live and another way of working… I always thought songs written by two people are better than those written by one. You get another angle on it: I didn’t know you thought like that. The interesting thing is what you say to someone else, even to Mick, who knows me real well. And he takes it away. You get his take.” Jagger affirmed their strong studio relationship, “Well in the studio I think we have a really good understanding, you know, of what’s needed on a certain track and everything. And we can add ideas to – you know he comes with an idea I add to it, I come with an idea he adds to it. And as a guitar player, if I have a guitar riff he usually makes it better. So yeah we have a really good studio relationship as well.”
Richards also highlighted the complementary nature of their lyrical perspectives, “With Mick I can sit down and write on a more political level, a more social level, because he can deliver it that way. To me, when I get down to it, there’s really not very much difference. A song about you and I is really about the same thing at a more intimate level… I usually focus it down to a more personal level, because I can deliver it better that way. Mick can sing it at a far more general level.”
Jagger’s Craft and Songwriting Process
While Richards often emphasizes the musical genesis of their songs, “mick jagger songs” are equally defined by Jagger’s lyrical craft and his approach to songwriting. Richards acknowledged the ideal scenario: “The ideal thing, of course, is when (words and music) suddenly appear together. When there’s only one phrase that fits and it says it all, and all you have to do then is fill in the gaps. But it’s not often that it happens… Gimmie Shelter is a classic one. That, I just slapped down on a cassette while waiting for Mick to finish Performance. Honky Tonk Women is another.”
Richards detailed his typical starting point, “First I find a riff and a chord sequence. And if that’s any good, then I start to play it with some other guys and pump it up. If that’s great, then I check the attitude and the atmosphere of the track. What the hell is this putting out? There’s no point in writing songs on a sheet of paper, going verse, chorus, verse, chorus, and regarding this as a song. No, it ain’t. A song is music, and I’d rather start with the music and then get into the attitude of the track and put something on top of it. What are you going to put on top of it, because you could have spent months trying? I can’t divorce lyrics from the music. Songwriting is a marrying of the both. To me, the easiest way is to get the track.” He stressed the importance of breaking rules in songwriting: “When youre writing songs, there are no fucking rules. In fact, youre looking to break them. Youre looking to sort of find the next missing chord. Youre looking to find the next best way to express things. Writing songs is not about the lyrics one side and music on another. Its about the two coming together. And you can be a great poet and you might write some lovely music, but the art and the beauty of writing songs is to pull those two together, where they seem to love each other, and thats writing songs.”
Richards described a band-centric approach to developing song ideas, “That’s how most of my songs come together. I can’t walk in the studio with a song typed out on a piece of paper and say, THIS is it, THIS is how it goes, play it. If that’s what I wanted, I might as well hire session men. I just go in there with a germ of an idea, the smaller the germ the better, and GIVE it to them, FEED it to them, and see what happens. Then it comes out as a Rolling Stones record instead of me telling everybody what I want them to play.”
Jagger, while acknowledging this band-oriented approach, expressed a preference for more structure, “Sometimes we run things down… sometimes we get an idea for a song from, say, a rhythm that Charlie and Keith have played together or something… Quite often, we go into it without the song being written – which annoys me intensely. But, that’s the way we record sometimes. It like it to be rehearsed before we go in, but it never really is. The music quite often comes ahead of the words. That annoys me. It’s very hard to write lyrics to the track. It’s much easier to have it done before but… I always try to write the lyrics to the songs.” He also mentioned his tendency to work on riffs, “I tend to work more on riffs while Mick has finished songs.”
Richards highlighted their different preferences in song structure, “I’m less inclined to go for the typical verse-chorus, verse-chorus approach. I don’t mind a 5-minute intro, or knocking out a verse or some vocals. I go for the aural excitement, whereas Mick very understandably sees most of his work go down the drain if we cut two verses.” Jagger clarified that songwriting is rarely starting from absolute zero, “Most of the time) there’s an idea first from one person. You don’t really sit down and say, Okay, neither of us have an idea. We usually say, Well, what do you think of this, or you go out and play something and someone else joins in: Oh, I like that or How does it go or Can you show me the chords to that? You don’t REALLY sit down and say, Oh, this is starting from totally scratch – you know, having NOTHING. There’s always somebody who has something.”
Richards described his ability to recognize a song’s potential quickly, “My strength, probably, is I can recognize a song in a few bars. I spot the embryo there. I’ve been writing since so early on that the antenna is really well-developed.” He viewed himself as a conduit for songwriting, “I prefer to think of myself as an antenna. There’s only one song, and Adam and Eve wrote it; the rest is a variation on a theme… (P)eople say they write songs, but in a way you’re more the medium. I feel like all the songs in the world are just floating around, it’s just a matter of like an antenna, of whatever you pick up.”
Richards emphasized the importance of letting the creative process flow, “As long as you turn the set on and put your finger in the air, if there’s any songs out there, they’ll come through you. It’s very easy to get hung up on just the simple mechanics and craft of songwriting rather than the more important thing that real master musicians like the wherling dervishes can tell us about: just letting it go through you and come out the other side.” He considered record-making as the ultimate goal, “Writing… I don’t know why you call it writing. I don’t put a thing on paper. It’s either up here (points to his head) or, if I get the chance, I put it on tape. And – I make records. That’s what I do. Writing a song and performing is just a part of the whole process of making a record. It’s that basic sound that comes out of those speakers. And it has to sound good in mono too for the radio, you know. And that’s what I do. I make sounds, you know, and I’m good at it now.”
Jagger described his more structured approach, incorporating technology, “I’ll put aside certain periods of the day. I’ve started using drum machines when I get an idea, ’cause I’m a bit of a groove singer. I’ll start to play on the keyboard, and get the drums going. It really gets me loose; I can just go with the sequence. Sometimes it’s easier that way. And if you’re a writer, you learn a lot about what you want, not what the drummer wants to impose on you.” He reiterated his primary focus, “My main thing is to sing, but my most enjoyable thing is writing, the buzz when you first write that tune.”
Richards described his method of finding inspiration through playing, “Songs are running around – they’re all there, ready to grab. You play an instrument and pick it up. What I generally do is like, Fingers are getting a bit soft right now. I’ll go through the Bully Holly songbook – because I love Buddy’s songs. Then I start playing ’em… And after about an hour, I get fed up with other people’s songs, and there’s something that I’m playing of theirs that suggests something else to me, and I’ll start to follow that. It’ll either end up as a song or it’ll end up as a disaster, and I’ll get bored with it. It doesn’t bother me. I never sit down and say, Time to write a song. Now I’m going to write. To me, that would be fatal.” He emphasized the importance of recognition and instinct, “To me the important thing is recognizing something when it comes by.”
Jagger mentioned his instrument preferences for different song types, “I love playing guitar. I just don’t really ever practice. (Laughs). I enjoy playing it just for fun, but I do write on it, as well. I write on piano too. I write the ballads mostly on piano; the rock songs are guitar.” Chuck Leavell highlighted Jagger’s meticulous lyric writing process, “Mick astounds me with his ability to do his homework and come up with great lyrics. Usually when we’re doing pre-production, there’s only a phrase or half a chorus, a couple of lines and a verse, and he literally mumbles the rest of it. One reason he does that is because he’s waiting for the song to take shape. He doesn’t want to write a verse if in the long run that verse doesn’t exist, and he’s wasted his time. So he likes to go through the motions until the song takes structure. Then he’ll go home, do his homework, and come back with it. It’s fascinating to me. He’s brilliant.”
Richards expressed some skepticism towards Jagger’s use of synthesizers, “Mick sits over the synthesizer with headphones on, which I consider a prison. This is like, Are you wearing those things because you don’t want to be interfered with? Or are you just jerking off? See, the synthesizer worries me. Nobody should have ever let them out… (Mick) really is one of the best instinctive singers and players I’ve ever worked with, but when he calculates, I have a problem.” He also mentioned the value of ballads in songwriting, “I like ballads. Also, you learn about songwriting from slow songs. You get a better rock & roll song by writing it slow to start with, and seeing where it can go.”
Reflecting on their long-distance collaboration, Richards summarized their adapted process, “As life went on and we became – not living next door to each other, in the same room sometimes, we slowly had to learn how to do it from 3000 miles away. And, basically, since then we’ve worked the same way. Get a lot of ideas, and I send him, give him 5, 6 ideas and… First off, does it turn him on? (Laughs) You don’t say, Write the lyrics to these! It can’t be done that way. And does it turn you on, there’s a couple of ideas here, do you want to expand on it? So in a way it goes like this. It’s just done by more remote control these days, basically. But eventually you have to come together and decide.” Jagger confirmed the need for scheduled writing sessions in recent times, “As a writer, you keep writing all the time. I don’t live anywhere near Keith, so I don’t have time to sit down and write with him unless we make writing dates. When we were on the road all the time, we had a lot of time to do that. But we’re not like that any more, so we don’t do it.”
Richards described how songwriting sharpens observation skills, “(W)riting is a strange thing. Once you start writing songs, it turns you into an observer of other people. You listen more to what is being said, phrases. You pick them up, so without even meaning to suddenly everything somebody says is a potential song… (I don’t carry notebooks.) I have bits of paper, man, that are all over the house. The wife keeps continually saying, Do you want to keep this? Usually, what Ive found with myself, is that if I remember it, then it’s worth keeping.” He advocated for a lighter approach to songwriting, “The idea that you create it, again, is alien and can also fuck you up, because then it’s all on your back, whether you’ve written something or not there. Treat it in a lighter way and say, This is what I do. If you can write one song, you can write 900. They’re there. Your method of going about that – you can either try and regiment it, make it a task, or you make it a part of your everyday life and just sit around and play and not think about writing. Play anything you want.” Richards also expressed his aversion to formal music writing, “Written music has always intrigued me, and I once taught myself to do it, and realized that this is no path for me to travel. I immediately forgot it, and I deliberately – for better or for worse – decided I ain’t gonna be able to work within these parameters.”
Key Elements of Mick Jagger’s Songwriting Style
Mick Jagger’s songwriting style, while deeply intertwined with Richards’ musical contributions, showcases distinct characteristics. His lyrical themes often explore complex narratives, from social commentary in songs like “Street Fighting Man” to darker, more personal reflections in tracks like “Gimme Shelter.” He excels at crafting vivid characters and scenarios, bringing a theatrical and storytelling element to many “mick jagger songs.” His lyrics are often infused with wit, irony, and a keen observation of human behavior.
Jagger’s rhythmic sensibility is also crucial to his songwriting. As he mentioned using drum machines in his process, his understanding of groove and rhythm permeates his melodic and lyrical phrasing. This rhythmic focus makes “mick jagger songs” inherently danceable and engaging, contributing significantly to the Rolling Stones’ signature sound.
Furthermore, Jagger’s evolution as a melody writer is evident throughout their discography. While early songs might have leaned more heavily on Richards’ melodic ideas, Jagger’s increasing contributions in melody and song structure have shaped the more diverse and sophisticated sound of their later work. His willingness to experiment with different instruments, like piano and synthesizer, has broadened his musical palette and songwriting approach.
Conclusion
Mick Jagger’s role in the songwriting partnership with Keith Richards is far more than just a lyricist to Richards’ riffs. He is a driving creative force, bringing lyrical depth, narrative complexity, and rhythmic sophistication to “mick jagger songs.” His evolving songwriting craft, combined with his iconic stage presence and vocal delivery, has cemented his place as one of rock’s most important and enduring songwriters. Understanding the nuances of his contributions illuminates the true genius behind the music of The Rolling Stones, a band whose songs continue to resonate with audiences worldwide.
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