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Jones left the band shortly before his death in 1969, having been replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor.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)
Dancing With Mr D
The Rolling Stones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The air smells sweet, the air smells sick
He never smiles, his mouth merely twists
The breath in my lungs feels clinging and thick
But I know his name, he's called Mr. D
And one of these days he's gonna set you free
A human skulls is hangin' right 'round his neck
Lord, I was dancin', dancin', dancin' so free
Dancin', dancin', dancin' so free
Dancin'
(Lord, keep your hand off me)
Dancin' with Mr. D, with Mr. D, with Mr. D
Will it be poison, I put in my glass
Will it be slow or will it be fast?
The bite of a snake, the sting of a spider
A drink of Belladonna on a Toussaint night
Hiding in a corner in New York City
Lookin' down a forty-four in West Virginia
I was dancin', dancin', dancin' so free
Dancin', dancin', dancin' so free
Dancin'
(Lord, keep your hand off me)
Dancin' with Mr. D, with Mr. D, with Mr. D, with Mr. D
Dancin', dancin', dancin', dancin'
Dancin', dancin', dancin', dancin'
Lord, I was dancin', dancin', dancin' so free
Dancin', dancin', dancin' so free
Dancin'
(Lord, keep your hand off me)
Dancin' with Mr. D, with Mr. D, with Mr. D
One night I was dancin' with a lady in black
Wearin' black silk gloves and a black silk hat
She looked at me longin' with black velvet eyes
She gazed at me strange, all cunning and wise
Then I saw the flesh just fall off her bones
The eyes in her skull was burnin'' like coals
Lord, have mercy, fire and brimstone
I was dancin' with Mrs. D
Lord, I was dancin', dancin', dancin' so free
I was dancin', dancin' , dancin' so free
Dancin', dancin', dancin' so free
Dancin', dancin'
I was dancin', dancin'
(Lord, keep your hand off me)
Dancin', dancin
Dancin', dancin
Dancin', dancin
The Rolling Stones' song "Dancing With Mr D" is a dark and eerie track that explores the theme of mortality and the inevitability of death. The song seems to take place in a graveyard where the singer is meeting with a mysterious figure known as Mr D. The air is both sweet and sickly, and Mr D is described as having a twisted mouth and wearing a human skull around his neck. The singer seems to know that Mr D will eventually set them free, perhaps indicating that death is the ultimate freedom.
The second verse of the song further explores the themes of death and darkness. The singer wonders if the drink they are being offered by Mr D is poisoned, and imagines the bite of a snake or the sting of a spider. They also mention a drink of Belladonna, a poisonous plant that has been historically used as a cosmetic but can be lethal in the wrong doses. The line "Hiding in a corner in New York City/Lookin' down a forty-four in West Virginia" may be alluding to suicide, perhaps suggesting that the singer is considering taking their own life instead of waiting for death to come for them.
Overall, "Dancing With Mr D" is a haunting and introspective song that delves into the darker aspects of life and death, as well as the uncertainty and fear that often accompany these themes. The music is slow and brooding, with a repeated riff that adds to the sense of foreboding and doom.
Line by Line Meaning
Yeah, down in the graveyard where we have our tryst
The singer is meeting with someone in secret in a cemetery
The air smells sweet, the air smells sick
The atmosphere is both alluring and unsettling
He never smiles, his mouth merely twists
The other person is a sullen and unapproachable figure
The breath in my lungs feels clinging and thick
The artist is feeling uneasy and suffocated
But I know his name, he's called Mr. D
The elusive person's identity is revealed as Mr. D
And one of these days he's gonna set you free
Mr. D is seen as a figure of death, who will eventually release the singer from life
A human skulls is hangin' right 'round his neck
Mr. D wears a symbol of death around his neck
The palms of my hands is clammy and wet
The artist is sweating and anxious
Will it be poison, I put in my glass
The artist is considering the possibility of being poisoned
Will it be slow or will it be fast?
The potential method of death is uncertain
The bite of a snake, the sting of a spider
The singer imagines various ways they could die
A drink of Belladonna on a Toussaint night
Belladonna is a poisonous plant, and Toussaint is a voodoo holiday associated with death
Hiding in a corner in New York City
The singer feels trapped and powerless in a big city
Lookin' down a forty-four in West Virginia
The singer is in a rural area and considering using a firearm as a means of escape
One night I was dancin' with a lady in black
The singer recalls a particular night when they danced with a mysterious woman
Wearin' black silk gloves and a black silk hat
The woman is dressed all in black
She looked at me longin' with black velvet eyes
The woman has dark and alluring features
She gazed at me strange, all cunning and wise
The woman seems to know something the singer does not
Then I saw the flesh just fall off her bones
The woman's true nature is revealed as a decaying corpse
The eyes in her skull was burnin' like coals
The corpse's eyes are still active and menacing
Lord, have mercy, fire and brimstone
The artist is making an exclamation of fear and possibly religiosity
I was dancin' with Mrs. D
The mysterious woman was actually a figure of death like Mr. D
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: KEITH RICHARDS, MICK JAGGER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@fuchsiaswing8545
In no order:
Aftermath [UK and US]
Between the Buttons [UK and US]
Beggars Banquet
Let it Bleed
Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out
Sticky Fingers
Exile on Main St.
Some Girls
Those are all better albums than Goats Head, and one could argue Out of Our Heads, and Their Satanic Majesties Request is better. If not, it's barely within the top 10 of The Stones’ stunning oeuvre.
@bevo1776
The greatest mistake the Stones ever made was not doing WHATEVER IT TOOK, to keep Mick Taylor in the band.
For starters, they could have PAID him. He was given no credits on SEVERAL albums---in other words, no residuals. (perhaps the reason you don't see him smiling very much)
I don't know about you, but I like getting paid for my work.
In addition, his mates should have helped him with drug addiction and got him the help he needed to stay with the band. They did not...
With all due respect to Keith Richards---on Mick Taylor's WORSE DAY, Keef couldn't hold a candle to him.
Make no mistake, Keith Richards is
a very good guitarist.
Mick Taylor is a GREAT guitarist. A guitar genius.
Right up there with Hendrix, Clapton, and Santana.
No doubt about it. The five albums he produced with the Stones from '69-'74 are all classics.
The band was never the same after 1974.
@TheRollingStones
@annmariedequarto9473
Boy! Is that Hot Sexy Jump suit in ``GOLD ``
@tommagerl8090
Forever
@GordonKadatz
<3.
@CatherineAMontgomery
This was PERFECT for the rainy day in L.A. I was dancing dancing dancing so free....xo
@sunflowerhappy8021
Love to Listen to Goats Head Soup Album!!!
Gold is Groovy!! Great!! Mick Taylor's Fem Hat-Wow!!
In 70s we played Stones loudly-Bowie & Others. Fun then...!
Guys in makeup are OK. Reminds me of the time (70s) I went out with 2 Hippie Male Friends to a City Music Club, and the Guys were wearing same makeup, Young...but Happy..with Music...Music...Music.!! Ha Ha!
@NilsamNY
Goats Head Soup is vastly underrated. It has some of the most powerful and experimental songs the Stones have done. It's definitely their most keyboard-driven album with amazing piano keyboard and organ playing from Billy Preston, Ian Stewart and Nicky Hopkins. I think Mick Taylor is at his best - his solos soar throughout.
@cabalofdemons
The Stones were untouchable from 1968-1974. The six albums the group released in this span are straight rocking classics.
@amidtheruins02
Add 1967 onto that mix and you gotta real point (Between the buttons, Satanic majesties)
@alvarosantiago4285
@Amid"Aftermath".