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Jones left the band shortly before his death in 1969, having been replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor.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)

Beast Of Burden
The Rolling Stones Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'll never be your beast of burden
My back is broad but it's a-hurting
All I want for you to make love to me
I'll never be your beast of burden
I've walked for miles, my feet are hurting
All I want for you to make love to me

Am I hard enough?

Am I rough enough?
Am I rich enough?
I'm not too blind to see

I'll never be your beast of burden
So let's go home and draw the curtains
Music on the radio
Come on baby make sweet love to me

Am I hard enough?
Am I rough enough?
Am I rich enough?
I'm not too blind to see

Oh, little sister
Pretty, pretty, pretty girls
Ooh, you're a pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty girl
Pretty, pretty, such a pretty, pretty, pretty girl
Come on, baby, please, please, please

I'll tell ya
You can put me out
On the street
Put me out
With no shoes on my feet
But put me out, put me out
Put me out of misery, yeah

All your sickness, I can suck it up
Throw it all at me
I can shrug it off
There's one thing, baby
I don't understand
You keep on telling me
I ain't your kind of man

Ain't I rough enough? Ooh, honey
Ain't I tough enough?
Ain't I rich enough? In love enough?
Ooh, please

I'll never be your beast of burden
I'll never be your beast of burden
Never, never, never, never, never, never, never be

I'll never be your beast of burden
I've walked for miles, my feet are hurting
All I want is you to make love to me
Yeah

I don't need no beast of burden
I need no fussing

I need no nursing
Never, never, never, never, never, never, never be

Overall Meaning

In the song "Beast of Burden," The Rolling Stones explore the concept of love and relationships, and how one person cannot be expected to be everything for their partner. The lyrics speak to the singer's desire to be loved and desired physically but also express their refusal to be a "beast of burden," a term previously used to describe the workhorses responsible for carrying heavy loads. The singer is declaring that they will not be the one to carry all the emotional and physical weight of the relationship alone. They ask their partner if they are "hard enough, rough enough, rich enough" to satisfy their desires, yet they never receive a response.

The chorus is repeated throughout the song, emphasizing the singer's assertion that they will not be a "beast of burden." The use of repetition also reinforces the point that no matter how much pressure is put on the individual, they will not break or become something they are not. The reference to "little sister" and "pretty girls" is a nod towards the objectification of women in rock music, but the singer still makes it clear that they will not let women or anyone else put them in a box or demand too much from them.

Line by Line Meaning

I'll never be your beast of burden
I refuse to be your emotional punching bag

My back is broad but it's a-hurting
I'm tired of carrying the weight of our relationship and it's causing me pain

All I want for you to make love to me
Physical affection is the only thing that still keeps me hanging on

I've walked for miles, my feet are hurting
I've gone through a lot of hardship for you and it's taken a toll on me

Am I hard enough?
Do I meet your expectations of being tough?

Am I rough enough?
Am I living up to your image of being rugged?

Am I rich enough?
Do I have enough wealth to satisfy you?

I'm not too blind to see
I'm aware of what you want and I'm trying to meet those expectations

So let's go home and draw the curtains
Let's have some privacy and intimacy

Music on the radio
Setting the mood for a romantic encounter

Come on baby make sweet love to me
Let's have physical intimacy to try to salvage our relationship

Oh, little sister
Referring to a female lover or partner

Pretty, pretty, pretty girls
Expressing desire for attractive women

Ooh, you're a pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty girl
Complimenting the physical beauty of a woman

Pretty, pretty, such a pretty, pretty, pretty girl
Reinforcing that the woman is attractive

You can put me out
You can abandon me

On the street
Leaving me homeless

With no shoes on my feet
Without any possessions or support

But put me out, put me out
If that's what you want, go ahead and do it

Put me out of misery, yeah
End my suffering caused by this relationship

All your sickness, I can suck it up
I'm willing to deal with all of your problems and shortcomings

Throw it all at me
I can handle whatever you are going through

I can shrug it off
I won't let your issues weigh me down

There's one thing, baby
There's something I don't understand

I don't understand
I don't comprehend

You keep on telling me
You repeatedly say it to me

I ain't your kind of man
I don't meet your expectations of what a man should be

Ain't I rough enough? Ooh, honey
I thought I was tough enough for you

Ain't I tough enough?
A repeat of the previous question with emphasis

Ain't I rich enough? In love enough?
Am I not wealthy or loving enough for you?

Ooh, please
An appeal for acceptance and validation

I don't need no beast of burden
I don't want to be someone's emotional punching bag

I need no fussing
I don't require constant attention or care

I need no nursing
I don't need to be nursed back to emotional health

Never, never, never, never, never, never, never be
I will never accept that role in this relationship

All I want is you to make love to me
Physical intimacy is the only remaining desire for me in this relationship

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

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS

Genre not found

Artist not found

Album not found

Search results not found

Song not found

Greg Halder

on 2000 Light Years From Home

Totally underrated track and album..

just now