Fade into Blue: Hope Sandoval picks her favourite Rolling Stones song
For anyone who has delved into the hazy world of dream pop, the name Hope Sandoval will be more than familiar. The 1990s marked the heyday of shoegaze and its dreamier offshoot, and Mazzy Star were right at the centre of it all. Led by Sandoval’s angelic vocals, they forged future genre classic and soundtrack staple ‘Fade Into You’ alongside more underappreciated but equally gorgeous tracks like ‘Look On Down From The Bridge’ and ‘Five String Serenade’.
Though their music sat firmly within the dream-pop realm, it was infused with influences of all kinds. Combining folk-like strums and neo-psychedelia, their resulting output was a cosy, layered collage of guitars and transcendental vocals. With one listen, you might conclude that they took influence from the Cocteau Twins or Elliott Smith. Really, one of their biggest inspirations existed within an entirely different realm.
They may seem like wildly different artists upon first listen, but Sandoval acknowledged that The Rolling Stones were a major influence on her own output during a 1994 interview. Fronted by Mick Jagger, The Stones amassed a mammoth legacy and countless hits over the course of their career, so it’s no surprise that they have extended their influence across genres, but to find it within Sandoval’s sound may take a little more digging.
Rock and rollers at their core, The Stones rarely delved into softer stylings akin to Sandoval’s work. But the Mazzy Star frontwoman specified that it was their early work she borrowed from, particularly their 1966 song, ‘Goin’ Home’. Sandoval suggested that the piece was not only a “big inspiration” for her but for the entire band.
Boasting a duration of 11 minutes and 35 seconds, ‘Goin’ Home’ is a sprawling assortment of guitar twangs and harmonicas, brought to life by Jagger’s words of longing. “When you’re three thousand miles away, I just never sleep the same,” he sings, “If I packed my things right now, I could be home in seven hours.”
Sandoval has shown a penchant for sprawling song lengths in her own work, with pieces like ‘Let Me Get There’ and ‘So Tonight That I Might See’ both pushing over the seven-minute mark, but this isn’t the only comparison to be drawn with The Rolling Stones track.
Though ‘Goin’ Home’ may be more blues-inspired than her work with Mazzy Star, it contains a similar warmth in its instrumentation as well as some lyrical consistencies. So much of Sandoval’s songwriting is steeped in yearning – albeit a little more poetic than Jagger’s sex-driven desires – so it’s easy to see why ‘Goin’ Home’ endeared itself to her.
While Jagger makes declarations like, “I just can’t wait, I’ll see my baby, she’ll make me feel alright,” Sandoval’s longings take the form of fading into her partner and singing them a five-string serenade. She forged a new form of sonic longing and sensuality and a new form of softer guitar music for a new generation. Still, like many artists before and after, she paid homage to The Stones.
The connection between Sandoval and The Stones may not be an obvious one upon first listen, but the Mazzy Star frontwoman maintains Jagger and his bandmates as one of the main influences on their output.
If you’re still struggling to see the similarities between the two, give ‘Goin’ Home’ a listen below.
