Single Track #7: Shine a Light – The Rolling Stones (1972)

So this week has been phenomenally busy. Probably one of the busiest weeks in my undergraduate career. Unfortunately, I’ve been sick for the last two weeks with a pretty nasty cough. Thus, I haven’t been able to keep up with the gym and I’ve been spending most of my time at the library studying. An engineering student’s life, I suppose. What all this means is that I haven’t had much time nor the desire to go through my “Mind, Music and Soul” playlist and listen to some songs off of there. However, this morning’s different. I just got back from writing an essay and I have some down time. Without further ado…

“Exile On Main Street” has been in my life for a couple of years now, since upon first hearing it. I absolutely loved it at first; although my interest in its entirety has diminished over the months, I still hold a select number of tracks in high regard. This morning, we’ll be looking at the excellent and lively “Shine a Light”. It’s an inspirational song, detailing the trials and tribulations of life, and how to deal with them. It starts of slow, in a passive kind of fashion. Then the song picks up pace, and the gospel-tinged chorus and spritely voice of Jagger fill the air. Ahhh, it’s such a great song. Definitely a song I’ve grown to appreciate more and more as I’ve gotten older.

Sticky Fingers – The Rolling Stones (1971)

Photo Source: Amazon.com

And the journey through the back catalogue continues. Like the majority of albums I have reviewed/will be reviewing (in due time), I have a long and storied history with Sticky Fingers. Now, I grew up in a household that didn’t play that much music, but when music was played, it usually consisted of radio-friendly classic rock. But every once in a while, I’d venture off onto my own path and dig through my dad’s cd collection. I remember one of those late-afternoon discoveries quite vividly.

My eyes lay transfixed on the three or so rows of CDs in front of me. As I started to fumble through the rows, one shelf at a time, I discovered a handful of fantastic albums: this one; LA Woman by the Doors; Janis Joplin’s Greatest Hits; and a late 80s’ Eric Clapton double live album. Quite frankly, I was much more interested in Morrison and Co. than any of the other albums mentioned. However, I grew incredibly curious over Fingers’ album cover: for awhile, I thought it was an up-close of Jagger; apparently, it was a former Warhol model. Ah, the more you know.

As the story goes, I put the disc into an old-school cd radio player I had had since childhood. On came “Brown Sugar” and then the rest followed. And… I didn’t like what I heard; I didn’t even finish the album. As time progressed, I became much more interested in Let It Bleed (due primarily to the fascinating album cover).

Flash forward to the end of my first year at college and I started to begin “reviewing” albums privately: I had a worn-out journal that I recorded all of my thoughts in (naturally, it was home to my short capsule reviews). After listening to Fingers again (this time, all the way through), I remember giving it an A+ (as if that meant anything). As the days passed following my primordial review, I felt a nastiness and displeasure towards the album. Perhaps it was the extended impromptu jam session on “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” or the laughably over-the-top “Dead Flowers”, or the irritable gravity of “Sister Morphine”, but alas, I grew tired of it overall. Thus, my journey and subsequent evaluation of this 1971 release ended there.

But, quite frankly, stories are never over in their entirety; hence, throughout the last half a year or so, I’ve listened to Fingers periodically. In the last half-week, I’ve grown really appreciative of a section of the songs: the dismal and weary “Sway”; the heart-wrenching and candid “Wild Horses”; the all-out reverence found in Fred McDowell’s “You Gotta Move”; and the shortened and believably more focused alternate version of “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” (I have the deluxe edition in my library). However, undoubtedly one of the most complex and naturally cathartic songs I’ve heard in the last couple years goes to none other than “Moonlight Mile”. Without a shadow of a god damn doubt, one of my top five Stones songs. It means so much to me.

“Mile” speaks volumes to me. Throughout my time in college, I’ve managed a very serious case of troubling depression that plagued me incessantly for a year in a half. This song deals with abject loneliness and isolation; something that appealed to me tremendously. As such, it holds a special place in my heart and mind. Hell, the entire album does, and I’m grateful for that.

Rating: 5 Stars (An album I’ve had quite conflicting feelings about; something, which I’d never thought I’d want to fully write about. Things change, however. As did my perspective of this album surely did.)