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Jones left the band shortly before his death in 1969, having been replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor.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

How Can I Stop
The Rolling Stones Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You offer me
All your love and sympathy
Sweet affection baby
It's killing me

Cause baby baby
Can't you see
How could I stop

Once I start baby

How could I stop once I start
How could I stop
Yeah yeah
How could I stop once I start

You look at me
But I don't know what you see
A reflection baby
Of what I want to be

I see your face
And I want to roll with it

But how could I stop
Baby how could I stop
How could I stop
Stop it, stop it

If I could, I'd take you all the way
Baby, baby listen what I say
There's even some things
That I just would not pay

Cause how could I stop
If I start babe
How could I stop
If I start
Start with you

How could I stop
If I start, baby
How could I stop
If I start with you

It's too easy to lay here at your feet
I couldn't take the heat
There's somewhere else
Maybe you should go
Baby maybe baby just a further down the road
How could I stop
If I start with you baby
How could I stop
How could I stop
Once I start

You tell me baby
Once I've started with you
How could I stop
Once I start

Stop, stop, stop

Overall Meaning

The Rolling Stones's song "How Can I Stop" talks about a dilemma the singer is facing in his romantic relationship with someone who has been offering him love, sympathy, sweet affection, and actually giving him something he needs. Nevertheless, he is concerned about the intensity of his feelings and his fear of commitment, as once he starts, he may not be able to stop. The chorus "How could I stop once I start baby" repeats this concern over and over, revealing the singer's anxiety about getting deeply involved in the relationship.

The verse "You look at me, but I don't know what you see" suggests the singer's lack of confidence in himself, as he sees the other party reflecting back the kind of partner that he wants to be. The lyric "If I could, I'd take you all the way, Baby, baby listen what I say, There's even some things that I just would not pay" shows that the singer is not ready to make a full commitment, although he is willing to take things to another level. The song's last verse is the singer's final attempt to ask the other person to leave before things get too real.

Line by Line Meaning

You offer me
You propose to me

All your love and sympathy
All your love and understanding

Sweet affection baby
Loving and affectionate desires, my love

It's killing me
It's emotionally painful for me

Cause baby baby
Because, my dear

Can't you see
Don't you realize

How could I stop
How can I resist

Once I start baby
Once I start, my love

How could I stop once I start
How can I cease, once I begin

You look at me
You gaze at me

But I don't know what you see
But I don't know what it is you observe