Two versions of the song were recorded by the band: the familiar hit which appeared on the 45 single and their collection of late 1960s singles, Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2); and a honky-tonk version entitled "Country Honk" with slightly different lyrics, which appeared on Let it Bleed. The concert rendition of the song featured on Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out differs from both the hit version and the country version, with a markedly different guitar introduction and an entirely different second verse.
The song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards while on vacation in Brazil from late December 1968 to early January 1969. Inspired by Brazilian gauchos at the ranch where Jagger and Richards were staying, the song was originally conceived as an acoustic country song. Richards has said: "[It] was originally written as a real Hank Williams/Jimmie Rogers/1930s country song."
Thematically, a "honky tonk woman" refers to a dancing girl in a western bar who may work as a prostitute; the setting for the narrative in the first verse of the blues version is Memphis, while "Country Honk" sets the first verse in Jackson.
Recorded in London in early February 1969 without Brian Jones, the band initially recorded the track called "Country Honk". The song was transformed into the familiar electric, riff-based hit single "Honky Tonk Women" sometime in the spring of 1969, prior to Mick Taylor's joining the group. Taylor was quoted in Sean Egan's The Making of Let It Bleed as stating that the basic backing track was already recorded before he added his lead fill overdubs.
The song is distinctive as it opens not with a guitar riff, but with a beat played on a cowbell. The Rolling Stones' producer Jimmy Miller performed the cowbell for the recording.
Ry Cooder has asserted that he originated the song's main guitar riff, and has accused the Stones of "ripping him off". Rolling Stones pianist Ian Stewart said of the track: "It's bloody ten times Keith you hear."
The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks from 23 August 1969. The single was released in the UK the day after the death of founding member Brian Jones. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" was the single's B-side. Concert versions of "Honky Tonk Women" are included on the albums Love You Live and Live Licks, as well as the aforementioned Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!.
Rolling Stone ranked "Honky Tonk Women" #116 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Honky Tonk Women
Rolling Stones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She tried to take me upstairs for a ride
She had to heave me right across shoulder
Cause I just can't seem to drink you off my mind
It's the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues
I had to put up some kind of a fight
The lady then she covered me with roses
She blew my nose and then she blew my mind
It's the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues
It's the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme
Alright!
It's the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues
Yeah, it's the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme
The Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women" is a classic song about the band's experiences with various women they met while on tour. The lyrics follow the singer as he meets a "gin-soaked, bar-room queen" in Memphis, who aggressively tries to seduce him. Despite her advances, the singer cannot stop thinking about her, and he is physically carried out of the bar by her.
In the second verse, the singer tells of another encounter with a woman, this time in New York City. He describes her as a divorcee, and notes that he had to "put up some kind of a fight" to be with her. The woman covers him with roses and seems to both comfort and excite him, ultimately blowing his mind.
Throughout the song, the singer repeatedly requests the "honky tonk blues" from the titular "honky tonk women," suggesting that these women are symbols of the wild, carefree lifestyle associated with honky tonk music and culture. The song is both a celebration of this lifestyle and an acknowledgement of its seductive power - the singer both desires and fears these women.
Line by Line Meaning
I met a gin-soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis
Encountered a woman in a bar who'd been heavily drinking
She tried to take me upstairs for a ride
She wanted to have s*x with me
She had to heave me right across shoulder
She had to physically carry me because I was too drunk
Cause I just can't seem to drink you off my mind
I can't stop thinking about this woman even after drinking
It's the honky tonk women
These types of women frequent honky tonk bars
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues
I want to experience that honky tonk lifestyle
I laid a divorcée in New York City
I had s*x with a woman who had been divorced in NYC
I had to put up some kind of a fight
I had to resist her advances initially
The lady then she covered me with roses
Afterward, she showed me affection with flowers
She blew my nose and then she blew my mind
She did something surprising that amazed me
It's the honky tonk women
These types of women are the focus of my attention again
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues
I want that honky tonk lifestyle more than ever
It's the honky tonk women
I can't stop thinking about these women
Gimme, gimme
I want it all
Alright!
I'm excited about this lifestyle
Lyrics © Abkco Music, Inc.
Written by: KEITH RICHARDS, MICK JAGGER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jeffwatts1126
"She blew my nose and then she blew my mind" Greatest Lyric ever written in rock & Roll history
@WedgePee
"On the radio? The FCC would shut down a station that played something like that!"
âSadie Dunhill, 11/22/63
@bklyncowboy2925
Not really đ
@jayjay66111
RIP Charlie Watts, seems appropriate to post this on here, on one of his greatest drum tracks.
@matthewrobinson9955
His drums make this song, no one played like him :(
@mrsdoyle2827
@chlore2004 Its meant to
@Nekrokaf
@chlore2004 Go and listen to the bugs then...
@ianhewitson2738
Yep, the song I thought of when I heard that he had gone.
@lapeillefr
@chlore2004 do better
@tommyt1971
The greatest intro to any song the band ever did. RIP Lord Charlie, you were fuckinâ good.