Loving Cup

Album: Exile on Main St. (1971)
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Songfacts®:

  • A "Loving Cup" is a kind of trophy. It's one of those big ones that's shaped like a heart with handles on the sides, and it usually given out for big wins at sporting events. This ballad uses the cup to represent a loving relationship.
  • Exile on Main St. has grown to be appreciated with time, and this is an example of a song that become more popular later on. In a 2003 interview, Mick Jagger explained: "On the Forty Licks tour, when we were preparing the set list for a show in Yokohama, Chuck Leavell suggested we play 'Loving Cup,' the ballad from Exile on Main St. I didn't want to play the tune and I said, Chuck, this is going to die a death in Yokohama. I can't even remember the bloody song, and no one likes it. I've done it loads of times in America, it doesn't go down that well, it's a very difficult song to sing, and I'm fed up with it! Chuck went, Stick in the mud! so I gave in and put it in the set-list. Lo and behold, we went out, started the song and they all began applauding... Which just proves how, over time, some of these songs acquire a certain existence, or value, that they never had when they first came out. People will say, What a wonderful song that was, when it was virtually ignored at the time it was released." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Bertrand - Paris, France, for above 2
  • The Stones performed this song with Jack White in Martin Scorsese's 2008 film Shine a Light. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Brooke - Laguna Beach, CA

Comments: 6

  • Michael from Indianapolis, InPhish started playing this in concert in 1993 and has remained among the most played cover songs in the Phish live sets. Maybe that's why it received a greater love and acceptance.
  • Nate from New York, NyThis is an awesome tune.
  • Nate from New York, NyThe version on Shine a Light documentary with Jack White is amazing.
  • Jack from Cohasset, MaAnother greatly underrated song from the Stones best album.
  • John from New Orleans, LaAwesome Stones
  • Toe from C Town, OhThis song, along with the rest of Exile, sounds great echoing off the Cascade Mountains while driving to the Oregon coast. What a beautiful buzz!!!
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