Why Maroon 5’s ‘Moves like Jagger’ Is an Awful Rolling Stones Tribute

Sometimes, newer artists reference classic rock in the oddest ways. One of Maroon 5’s most famous songs, “Moves like Jagger,” is a tribute to The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger. It doesn’t make much sense as a tribute. That didn’t stop it from becoming a massive hit.

The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger never sounded like Maroon 5’s ‘Moves like Jagger’

The Rolling Stones gave us music in many genres. They are primarily a blues rock band, but they’ve also dabbled in baroque pop, psychedelia, country music, raga rock, punk rock, and disco. You know what they didn’t make? Trendy 2011 dance-pop. And yet that’s what “Moves like Jagger” is.

Maybe the tribute would have worked if “Moves like Jagger” sounded more like “Miss You,” The Rolling Stones’ most famous dance song. While “Miss You” mixed the old and the new — specifically blues and disco — “Moves like Jagger” sounds exactly like a song that came out in 2011. The track’s synthesizer riffs, whistling hook, and gratuitous appearance from another celebrity (Christina Aguilera) all reek of that time. There’s nothing wrong with being current, but a Rolling Stones tribute should sound like a Rolling Stones song.

Levine seemed to imply that he wrote “Moves like Jagger” to coast off recent trends. “I love pop music, and every once in a while you kind of need to check in with what’s happening,” Levine said to NPR. “I don’t like to listen to the radio obsessively or anything like that — but there’s nothing wrong with looking to other people to see what they’re doing and kind of getting involved with what’s happening currently so that you can kind of offer your twist on things.”

And that shouldn’t have been too hard for Maroon 5. They were a (once) rock band with a bit of an attitude. The Rolling Stones are a rock band with a lot of attitude. All Maroon 5 had to do was go old-school and get mean for one song.

What Adam Levine thought of The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger

During a 2011 interview with NPR, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine discussed his feelings about Mick Jagger. “Only Jagger has the moves like Jagger,” he said. “That being said if there was ever someone to aspire to … I don’t think anyone could claim to have the moves like James Brown, or the moves like Michael Jackson, or the moves like Prince. There’s something about the way [Jagger] moves that is uniquely his own and hard to imitate, but also accessible and silly and fun, and not taking itself too seriously.”

Maroon 5’s ‘Moves like Jagger’ was almost their biggest hit

“Moves Like Jagger” became one of Maroon 5’s biggest hits. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks, lasting on the chart for 46 weeks. It remains the band’s most popular song in the United States, aside from “Girls Like You.”

“Moves Like Jagger” appeared on some editions of the album Hands All Over. That record peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, lasting on the chart for 124 weeks. It is one of Maroon 5’s most successful albums, second only to their debut, Songs About Jane.

“Moves like Jagger” isn’t a bad song, but it would be much better if it lived up to its own premise.