“I had a lot of other things going on at the same time, I wasn't paying attention, and before I knew it I had lost her.” »read more
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“I had a lot of other things going on at the same time, I wasn't paying attention, and before I knew it I had lost her.” »read more
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This was the result of an all-night recording session at Stargroves, The Stones' mobile recording studio. A moonlight mile is a night time cocaine session. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
Keith Richards was not at the recording session because he a bit "out of it" by the end of the Sticky Fingers recording session. Richard likes the song, though.
With Richards gone, Mick Taylor did all the guitar work on the recording.
The working title was "The Japanese Thing."
Jim Price, who usually arranged horns and played trumpet, played the piano.
Paul Buckmaster, known for his work with Elton John, arranged the strings.
Mick Jagger, 1978: "That's a dream song. Those kinds of songs with kinds of dreamy sounds are fun to do, but not all the time - it's nice to come back to reality." (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
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Was interesting to note that the working title was "the japanese thing"..hence the very oriental sounding intro. Great song!
- Sam, Hipsville, CA
This Stones song completely slipped by my radar initially. Then it was used brilliantly in an episode of The Sopranos, and since then it's on my favorites list. Another great Stones song, Thru and Thru, was also used in The Sopranos series.
- Chuck, Concord, NH
i love this song it's so pretty it used to make me cry cause i love them so much and they will never know that.
- ashley, Quincy, IL
This song is obviously about cocaine and all of the craziest that come with it. There are too many tongue in cheek reference to drugs for it to be about anything else. I think that this is one of the stones best songs...it never gets old to me.
- George, little rock, AR
Towards the end M.J. sings "I'm pining sister and I'm dreaming", not "hiding". To "pine" means to yearn intensely, fits better don't you think?
- mark, chicago, IL
Quite simply, a perfect song. From go to woe, this is pure brilliance. The perfect end to the perfect album. Sticky Fingers is (mostly) an album that revels and celebrates decadence and addiction. Songs like I got the blues, Sister Morphine and this marvellous song, are the results of that lifestyle. That theme is carried over into Exile on Main ST.
- Craig, melbourne, Australia
A head full of snow is an obvious reference to doing cocaine.
- John, Wilmington, NC
Goat's Head Soup continues to be a totally underrated album. Mick Taylor poured his heart and soul into that album, and it was mostly he and Mick Jaggar working together in the studio for that one. Where was Kieth? Who cares. IMHO, that poor excuse for a vampire has been resting on his laurels for far too long.
- Lazarus, Washington, DC
With all do respect to yduR of Knoxville, any idiot with half a nut and half a brain could say any rock song with ambiguous lyrics (especially a Stones song) could be interpreted as being about drugs. A "head full of snow" could, and most likely does, refer to the static on a TV set. For my money, XX from Whakatane had it right. It's about the feeling one experiences during a long tour: constant travel to a variety of places, surrounded by masses of people, yet feeling lost and hopeless because you're away from the people that matter most. So you have to keep telling them (and yourself as well) that the distance isn't THAT long, only a "moonlight mile"
- John, Cleveland, OH
This song was used brilliantly in the final scene of the season six finale of the HBO series The Sopranos
- Dan, Simi Valley, CA
This song is just beautiful...it really elicits emotions perfectly. One of my favorites from the Stones, and definitely underrated.
- Krysten, Odessa, TX
What a really great underrated song. One of the stone's best.
- Johnny, Los Angeles, CA
I absolutely love this song, It might be my favourite Rolling Stones song of all time. I always had Sympathy for the Devil as my number one but after hearing this more and more...I'm less sure.And as for the meaning I think its a little of the "cocaine song" and little of the "away from your family song". I think the intent was to show how the person is miles away from their family in body AND mind.
- rory, victoria, Canada
Paul Buckmaster did the strings on this track and Keith Richards did not play on this track.
Ant.Cov.UK
- Anthony, Coventry, United States
Actually Mick Jagger is the main acoustic guitar on this in Open G tuning.
Mick Taylor plays the other parts.
No Keith.
- Chris, Chicago, IL
This is an obvious cocaine song; moonlight miles are lines of cocaine done on a mirror at night, usually during a lengthy session. Jagger also says early in the song "with a head full of snow".
It's about using drugs as an escape from emotional pain. The music is beautiful, but if you listen to the lyrics closely, you will hear a heartbreaking story; this is common in much of the Stone's work.
Also, to quote Dave Marsh, Charlie Watts drumming and Paul Buckminister's string arrangement on this are landmarks of Rock and Roll.
- yduR, Knoxville, TN
This gem is about not wanting to be on the road, moonlight miles away from who you really want to be with. It starts out slow and gentle and hits a cinematic climax with "Yeah, I'm coming home/'Cause I'm just about a moonlight mile on down the road/Down the road, down the road, yeah" and ends with tinkling, Oriental-style guitar(Keith Richards' playing on this song).
The best Rolling Stones song ever.
- XX, Whakatane, Hong Kong
Actually, Mick Jagger played an acoustic guitar for this song, so Mick Taylor didn't do all the guitar work.
- Jo-C, Lima, Peru