The Rolling Stones song Keith Richards listens to most: “I love playing it”
As a member of The Rolling Stones, Keith Richards has a unique relationship with their songs. For him, each track is more than just a piece of music—it’s a vivid memory of a specific moment in his life, carrying personal significance beyond what fans experience.
While living in the limelight has brought its share of challenges—such as the public’s access to many personal aspects of his life—Richards’ music serves as a kind of autobiography. One might assume that Richards gravitates toward listening to Rolling Stones songs that evoke happier times, but interestingly, that’s not entirely the case.
Richards has suffered many setbacks, and in a way, it’s a miracle that he’s overcome all of the challenges that have been thrown his way. One particular testing period was when The Rolling Stones found themselves persona non-grata in the United Kingdom after becoming tax exiles ahead of recording Exile on Main Street.
During the making of the album, Richards was struggling with heroin abuse at this point, losing sight of his true self as he succumbed to addiction. As the 1970s wore on, Richards’ use continued to worsen, which would later make him become a spare part of the band. Richards was not in a healthy place mentally or physically, yet somehow, his guitar was there to save him during these moments of darkness and help bring him back into the light. A shining example is ‘Happy,’ which was Richards’ attempt to force himself to cheer up and begin wearing a smile.
The lively track was recorded during the band’s notorious stay at Villa Nellcôte in Southern France, and it’s one of the most straightforward songs Richards has ever created. Rather than taking weeks to perfect, ‘Happy’ was finished mere hours after the guitarist began work on the composition, which helped lift him out of a rut. Richards once explained the madness behind his methods during an interview, “I don’t write songs as a diary. None of them are autobiographical, but in some sense, they’re a reaction to certain emotions.”
He then discussed ‘Happy’, continuing: “Some of the best songs, some of the happiest ditties in the world come out because you’re feeling exactly the opposite. Sometimes you write to counteract that feeling. I was feeling anything but happy when I wrote ‘Happy.’ I wrote ‘Happy’ to make sure there was a word like that and a feeling like that.”
When Richards has a guitar in his hand, all his worries temporarily dissipate, and he can be anybody he wants to be. Although it’s only a momentary fix, just like drugs, it’s a much healthier solution to his problems, and ‘Happy’ continues to lift his spirits when he needs a pick me up.
While it’s not one of The Rolling Stones’ most famous tracks, it’s the one that Richards admitted to listening to the most out of their entire back catalogue, stating, “I play ‘Happy’ quite a lot, more often than any of the others. I love playing it,” Richards added.
Richards was deeply suffering during the chapter when he wrote ‘Happy’, but through the magic of music, the track tricked him into feeling better and acted as a therapeutic way of dealing with his demons. For that reason, ‘Happy’ will always make him raise a smile whenever he presses play. There’s a sentimentality attached to the song, which constantly finds Richards returning to the track, even though it may not be The Rolling Stones song he considers their best or his personal favourite.
