The Rolling Stones’ five most political songs
The Rolling Stones embody the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll better than any other band on the planet. When the Beatles took over America, the bands that followed in their wake wore suits and played a similar, chorus-heavy style of music. What The Rolling Stones did when they made it big was take the distortion-heavy R&B sound of Muddy Waters and plunge it into the mainstream, which was taken up by the public, who were hungry for bands and more exciting music.
With the rock sound at their fingertips, they also took on the spirit of rock stars. Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll were the three pillars that held up the band, and their music represented that. The majority of their songs were about partying and sleeping around. It was supposed to be fun, but it often missed the mark.
The band were responsible for creating some songs that were met with outrage by the public. Tracks like ‘Brown Sugar’ and ‘Some Girls’ took their party attitude and showed it in a racist and controversial light. They’re not a band you associate with political music, and if you do think of their politics, you think of it in a negative way because of these past controversies. However, despite the band’s shortcomings and reputation for poorly written lyrics, they have made some songs which stand on the right side of history.
Particularly influenced by Vietnam but also with themes of police brutality, equality, and general evil, The Stones have occasionally used their platform to speak out for what they truly believe in. The songs listed below are some of the band’s most political, and while they may not have changed the world, they’re good tracks that represent the healthier side of the Rolling Stones.
The five most political songs by The Rolling Stones:
‘Sweet Black Angel’
Angela Davis was a renowned philosophy professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1969. She was a feminist and a member of the Communist Party. The latter saw her fired from her role as tensions in Vietnam continued to grow, and one year later, she was arrested for voicing her defence for the Soledad Brothers. The Soledad Brothers was a term used to describe three inmates who had been charged with the murder of a prison guard shortly after three black prisoners were shot by the same guards in a prison yard.
She was found to be involved in purchasing guns for a shooting and hostage exercise, which took place when The Soledad Brothers were on trial. She continued to insist on her innocence, stating that she purchased guns for her own protection and had no knowledge of the assault. She was still charged and, after attempting to flee, was put in prison for two years before being cleared of all charges.
Given the news, Rolling Stones began working on their track ‘Sweet Black Angel’. “The words ‘Sweet Black Angel’ crept into it,” said Keith Richards, “And I realised Mick was writing about Angela Davis, the famous activist who was under arrest at the time.” The Rolling Stones had come under fire for the way they spoke about black people in the past, and while this song may not be a groundbreaking effort in the practice of civil rights, it still shows that the band did care.
‘Gimme Shelter’
While Let It Bleed is considered one of the Rolling Stones’ most popular albums, there is a certain bleakness to it, which Mick Jagger once spoke about in an interview. “Well, it’s a very rough, very violent era,” he said, “The Vietnam War. Violence on the screens, pillage and burning… It was a real nasty war, and people didn’t like it.”
‘Gimme Shelter’ epitomises this bleakness the most out of any other tracks on the album. It marked the end of the ‘60s, a decade that changed the world and seemed to spark joy for many; however, it ended in bloodshed and violence. It was a turning point in human history, and ‘Gimme Shelter’ tries its best to capture the ending of that decade in a way that does it justice.
‘Street Fighting Man’
‘Street Fighting Man’ was another anti-Vietnam protest song that Mick Jagger wrote, reflecting the spirit of the time. It was very controversial when it was released, and a lot of radio stations, both in America and overseas, refused to play it. The music press were big fans, as protest music was incredibly popular for some listeners at the time.
“It was a very strange time in France. But not only in France but also in America because of the Vietnam War and these endless disruptions,” said Jagger, “Even though I was living in America only part-time, I was influenced. All those images were on television. Plus, the spill out onto campuses.”
‘We Love You’
The line between political and personal can be quite thin, as seen in the Rolling Stones track ‘We Love You’. The song is about the band hitting out at the police for the unjust way that they often treat people. This sounds good in theory, but it was a relatively personal defence, given that they had a run-in with the law at the time of writing.
Released on February 12th, 1967, the song was about the police who raided Keith Richard’s house and arrested him, Mick Jagger and Brian Jones. The track lashes out at the police but is also a letter to their fans who supported them throughout the arrest.
‘Sympathy for the Devil’
‘Sympathy for the Devil’ is one of the Rolling Stones’ most interesting political tracks. They don’t take aim at a specific moment or stance; rather, they highlight moments in history that could be seen as evil and address them from the point of view of the devil. Given the time it came out, it will no doubt have been inspired by the Vietnam War, but it discusses a lot more than that.
It’s one of the band’s most experimental tracks, as it was heavy in concept and had a complicated structure. The introduction of bongos and a call-and-response-style guitar solo were new for the Rolling Stones, but it remains a classic.
