The Rolling Stones is an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active… Read Full Bio ↴The Rolling Stones is an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically driven sound that came to define hard rock. Their first stable line-up consisted of vocalist Mick Jagger, multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, guitarist Keith Richards, bassist Bill Wyman, and drummer Charlie Watts. During their formative years, Jones was the primary leader: he assembled the band, named it, got them gigs, and drove their sound and image. After Andrew Loog Oldham became the group's manager in 1963, he encouraged them to write their own songs. Jagger and Richards became the primary creative force behind the band, alienating Jones, who had developed a drug addiction that interfered with his ability to contribute meaningfully.

Rooted in blues and early rock and roll, the Rolling Stones started out playing covers and were at the forefront of the British Invasion in 1964, becoming identified with the youthful and rebellious counterculture of the 1960s. They then found greater success with their own material, as "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1965), "Get Off of My Cloud" (1965), and "Paint It Black" (1966) became international number-one hits. Aftermath (1966) – their first entirely original album – is considered by The Daily Telegraph to be the most important of their formative records. In 1967, they had the double-sided hit "Ruby Tuesday"/"Let's Spend the Night Together" and experimented with psychedelic rock on Their Satanic Majesties Request. They returned to their rhythm and blues roots with hit songs such as "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1968) and "Honky Tonk Women" (1969), and albums such as Beggars Banquet (1968), featuring "Sympathy for the Devil", and Let It Bleed (1969), featuring "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Gimme Shelter". Let It Bleed was the first of five consecutive number-one albums in the UK.

Jones left the band shortly before his death in 1969, having been replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor. That year they were first introduced on stage as "The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World". Sticky Fingers (1971), which yielded "Brown Sugar" and included the first usage of their tongue and lips logo, was their first of eight consecutive number-one studio albums in the US. Exile on Main St. (1972), featuring "Tumbling Dice", and Goats Head Soup (1973), yielding the hit ballad "Angie", were also best sellers. Taylor was replaced by Ron Wood in 1974. The band continued to release successful albums, including their two largest sellers: Some Girls (1978), featuring "Miss You", and Tattoo You (1981), featuring "Start Me Up". Steel Wheels (1989) was widely considered a comeback album and was followed by Voodoo Lounge (1994), a worldwide number-one album. Both releases were promoted by large stadium and arena tours, as the Stones continued to be a huge concert attraction; by 2007 they had recorded the all-time highest-grossing concert tour three times, and as recently as 2021 they were the highest-earning live act of the year. From Wyman's departure in 1993 to Watts' death in 2021, the band continued as a four-piece core, with Darryl Jones playing bass on tour and on most studio recordings, while Steve Jordan became their touring drummer following Watts' death. Their 2016 album, Blue & Lonesome, became their twelfth UK number-one album.

The Rolling Stones' estimated record sales of 200 million make them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The band has won three Grammy Awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. Billboard magazine and Rolling Stone have ranked the band as one of the greatest of all time.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Stones

Studio albums
The Rolling Stones / England's Newest Hit Makers (1964)
12 X 5 (1964)
The Rolling Stones No. 2 / The Rolling Stones, Now! (1965)
Out of Our Heads (1965)
December's Children (And Everybody's) (1965)
Aftermath (1966)
Between the Buttons (1967)
Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967)
Beggars Banquet (1968)
Let It Bleed (1969)
Sticky Fingers (1971)
Exile on Main St. (1972)
Goats Head Soup (1973)
It's Only Rock 'n Roll (1974)
Black and Blue (1976)
Some Girls (1978)
Emotional Rescue (1980)
Tattoo You (1981)
Undercover (1983)
Dirty Work (1986)
Steel Wheels (1989)
Voodoo Lounge (1994)
Bridges to Babylon (1997)
A Bigger Bang (2005)
Blue & Lonesome (2016)
Hackney Diamonds (2023)

19th Nervous Breakdown
The Rolling Stones Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You're the kind of person you meet at certain dismal, dull affairs
Center of a crowd, talking much too loud, running up and down the stairs
Well, it seems to me that you have seen too much in too few years
And though you've tried you just can't hide your eyes are edged with tears

You better stop, look around
Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes, here it comes
Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown

When you were a child you were treated kind
But you were never brought up right
You were always spoiled with a thousand toys but still you cried all night
Your mother who neglected you owes a million dollars tax
And your father's still perfecting ways of making sealing wax

You better stop, look around
Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes, here it comes
Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown

Oh, who's to blame, that girl's just insane
Well nothing I do don't seem to work
It only seems to make matters worse, oh please

You were still in school when you had that fool who really messed your mind
And after that you turned your back on treating people kind
On our first trip I tried so hard to rearrange your mind
But after a while I realized you were disarranging mine

You better stop, look around
Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes, here it comes
Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown

Oh, who's to blame, that girl's just insane
Well nothing I do don't seem to work
It only seems to make matters worse, oh please

When you were a child you were treated kind
But you were never brought up right
You were always spoiled with a thousand toys but still you cried all night
Your mother who neglected you owes a million dollars tax
And your father's still perfecting ways of making sealing wax

You better stop, look around
Here it comes
Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown

Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown

Overall Meaning

The Rolling Stones’ “19th Nervous Breakdown” is a commentary on the anxieties of modern life, particularly in the context of materialism and social expectations. The lyrics describe the titular character as someone who is overwhelmed by the pressures of society and has moments of breakdown, despite putting on a front of being boisterous and lively. The songwriter suggests that the reason for this person’s troubles is rooted in their upbringing - they were spoiled with material possessions but were not raised with proper values or affection from their parents. Additionally, they were hurt by past relationships and are unable to cope with emotional turmoil.

The chorus of the song, “here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown,” suggests that this person has had multiple breakdowns before, and we can expect to see more in the future. The repetition of the chorus emphasises the inevitability of this person’s struggles, despite their attempts to mask them. The song builds to a climax at the end, reinforcing the idea that these issues are overwhelming and inescapable.

Line by Line Meaning

You're the kind of person you meet at certain dismal, dull affairs
You are the kind of person who attends boring events and stands out by being too loud and restless.

Center of a crowd, talking much too loud, running up and down the stairs
You attract all the attention in the venue by being too talkative and overactive.

Well, it seems to me that you have seen too much in too few years
From your behavior, it appears that you have experienced too much for your young age.

And though you've tried you just can't hide your eyes are edged with tears
Despite your efforts to cover up, it's evident that you are trying to hide your emotional distress.

You better stop, look around
You should take a moment to assess your surroundings and situation.

Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes, here it comes
Something is about to happen, and you should prepare yourself.

Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
You are experiencing a severe mental breakdown for the nineteenth time.

When you were a child you were treated kind
As a child, you received love and care from the people around you.

But you were never brought up right
However, you were not raised with proper discipline and values.

You were always spoiled with a thousand toys but still you cried all night
You had all the material possessions you could want, but you were still unhappy and suffered from sleepless nights.

Your mother who neglected you owes a million dollars tax
Your neglectful mother has a million dollars in unpaid taxes.

And your father's still perfecting ways of making sealing wax
Your father is still trying to improve his business of producing sealing wax.

Oh, who's to blame, that girl's just insane
It's unclear who to hold accountable for your current state of madness.

Well nothing I do don't seem to work
Despite my attempts to help you, nothing seems to be effective.

It only seems to make matters worse, oh please
In fact, my efforts seem to exacerbate the situation, and I am begging you to calm down.

On our first trip I tried so hard to rearrange your mind
During our first trip together, I made a great effort to help you reorganize and improve your thought process.

But after a while I realized you were disarranging mine
However, I eventually realized that your mental instability was negatively impacting my own psychological health.

Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
You are still suffering from a severe mental breakdown for the nineteenth time.

Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
Your mental health is rapidly deteriorating, and you are experiencing another nervous breakdown.

Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
The pressure and stress have become too much, and you are once again collapsing mentally.

Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
Your mind is reaching its breaking point, and you can no longer handle the pressure and anxiety.

Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
You are experiencing your nineteenth frightening and overwhelming nervous breakdown, and it’s hitting you hard.

Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
You are facing yet another catastrophic nervous breakdown, and it’s happening now.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Abkco Music Inc.
Written by: Keith Richards, Mick Jagger

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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