The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards Doesn’t Know if He’ll Ever Write a Song as Good as This One
Keith Richards, legendary guitarist for The Rolling Stones, recently revealed which of the band’s songs he didn’t find special initially but has grown on him over the years. It may have taken him a while, but the classic rock musician finally understands why the ballad resonated with so many fans and expressed his desire to write another song just as beautiful.
Keith Richards called ‘Beast of Burden’ a ‘special song’
While reflecting on earlier songs he’d written for The Rolling Stones, Richards recalled not thinking much of “Beast of Burden.” Fortunately, his feelings have since changed as he realized what a beautiful song they’d created. In a recent interview shared on TikTok, Richards called “Beast of Burden” a “special song.”
“I didn’t write it as a special song or [think] it was a special song when I recorded it, but it’s grown on me over the years, and I realized why people respond to it so much.” The song has become somewhat of a standard that Richards holds himself to when writing new music. He expressed his desire to repeat the song’s success, saying:
“I wish I could write another one just as good, you know? That’s my aim. But it’s a beautiful song. It just has all of the feel, and, you know, what I aim for is to write great soul ballads. And that’s getting close.”
Mick Jagger ad-libbed ‘Beast of Burden’ lyrics
According to Far Out Magazine, Richards wrote the demo track for “Beast of Burden” in 1977 with some of the lyrics. Mick Jagger ad-libbed most of the lyrics in the studio, resulting in the hit song that got released in 1978. Fans heavily examined the lyrics, looking for the meaning behind the words.
Many assumed the song was about Marianne Faithfull, who dated Jagger between 1966 and 1970. Others believed it was about Anita Pallenberg, who first dated the band’s lead guitarist, Brian Jones, before moving on to Richards.
The switch-up caused further tension between bandmates, who were already distancing themselves from Jones, who suffered from mental health issues due to excessive drinking and drug use. Apparently, the song wasn’t written about a woman at all.
Keith Richards wrote ‘Beast of Burden’ for a ‘broader audience’
According to Richards’ 2017 interview with Harper’s Bazar, these women may have had some influence but weren’t the main inspiration for the lyrics. “Those who say it’s about one woman in particular, they’ve got it all wrong,” he explained.
“We were trying to write for a slightly broader audience than just Anita Pallenberg or Marianne Faithfull. Although that’s not to say they didn’t have some influence in there somewhere. I mean, what’s close by is close by!” So, what are the lyrics about? It seems that even Richards himself doesn’t know! “It was another strict collaboration between Mick and me,” Richards continued.
“I think I had the first verse—’I’ll never be your beast of burden’—along with the hook, and we were still working very much in our traditional way: Here’s the idea, here’s the song, now run away and fill it in! Some of the theories surrounding it are very intriguing, but they’re about as divorced from reality as can be. I find it quite amusing that there are people in the world who spend a lot of their time trying to decode something that is, at the end of the day, completely undecodable. I mean, even I’ve forgotten the code!”
However, a few years earlier, Richards recalled more about the meaning behind the song’s lyrics. According to Rock 95, Richards said in 2003 that he wrote the song for Jagger.
“When I returned to the fold after closing down the laboratory [referring to his drug problems throughout the 1970s], I came back into the studio with Mick… to say, ‘Thanks, man, for shouldering the burden’ – that’s why I wrote ‘Beast of Burden’ for him, I realize in retrospect.”
Rock 95
It seems we’ll never know the true meaning behind the song’s lyrics. At the end of the day, “Beast of Burden” is another classic song that fans can interpret however they’d like.
