Rolling Stones Paint It Black – The Story Behind The TrackRecorded in 1966, the Rolling Stones Paint it Black single made it to the US and UK charts. The single was part of the album called “Aftermath”. Paint It Black was believed to be the masterpiece of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards who conceptualized the song based on the personal view of a depressed individual. Depression is the tone of the single. Bill Wyman played the organ at the start of the song while Charlie Watts accompanied him in the Middle Eastern drum part. Jagger, on the other hand, provided the lyrics which contain the sentiments of a man who mourns his girlfriend. After its release, the 7 inch single reached the number 1 spot in the both the UK Singles and US Billboard charts. It’s a slow, conventional soul song, like most Rolling Stones songs that featured Bill Wyman playing the organ to start off the song. He was later joined by Charlie Watts in a double-time drum pattern to counter the morbid lyrics. Jack Nitzche played the keyboards. Marie Lofet recorded a French version of Paint It Black in 1966. Other popular artists did a cover of this single like U2 for the 7” B-side of “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses.” Other artists who have done the same include Vanesa Carlton, Tea Party, Johnny Lang, Earth Crisis, Rage, Elliott Smith, Anvil, and Eternal Afflict. You might be amazed to know that the song has been covered by a over 70 different groups – just in English – this is not counting the many non-English versions of the song. Paint It Black gained popularity and association with the Vietnam War when it was used in the ending credits o the “Full Metal Jacket” and the opening credits of “Tour of Duty”. The NBC television show “American Dreams” used the song as the episode-ending montage. Other movies that used this song are “The Devil’s Advocate”, and “For Love of the Game”. It also appeared in the 2006 film “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”. The song has also been used contemporarily in video games including 2 that are associated with the Vietnam conflict, while the other 2 are Karaoke/singing types. There are 2 videos of the song on youtube.com. The first has been viewed 30,000 times at this writing; the second over 60,000 times. It is also one of the most common guitar tabs sold or requested online. Some people interpreted the song lyrics as a person’s grief for the loss of his girlfriend who he might kill. Other interpretation includes the possibility of Satanism and the band’s fight against religion as the song discusses black which is taken as the color of Satanism and “the red door” which is interpreted as the church door or the door to a person’s belief. In 2004 it was ranked #174 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. |