The Rolling Stones are under-appreciated as lyricists. The recently released remastered version of Exile on Main Street brought this fact to my attention again. The album is wonderful musically - most people consider it their apex, but lyrically, it's a masterpiece. It's a deeply imagined tour through dirty roads, Union Halls, ballrooms, smelly bordellos, with songs such as "Tumbling Dice", with lyrics like, "Honey, got no money, I'm all sixes and sevens and nines", or "I'm the lone crapshooter playing the field every night". Come on. We know that "Sweet Black Angel" has Angela Davis awaiting an upcoming trial as its subject, but who is the narrator? He seems to be some sort of Huck Finn-type character facing down racism on his own and turning his back on the wrong things he'd learned. Amazing.
One of the record's main themes is the cost of the bohemian lifestyle, how good times have a price. There is real wisdom and empathy in songs like "Shine a Light", "Sweet Virginia", and the incomparable "Let it Loose". Contrast the tone and content of these songs with earlier ones, such as "Live with Me" or "Brown Sugar". By the way, the album also contains some of their most exuberant rock and roll. "Rip this Joint", "All Down the Line", "Happy", and "Rocks Off" are musical thrill-rides. Wicked good.
But back to the lyrics. One of the most remarkable things is the way they contain utterly convincing images of rural poverty ("Torn and Frayed", "Ventilator Blues", "Loving Cup"). It's like rock and roll Faulkner. Don't forget that the band's existence was very far away from anything like what they were describing. They had essentially been living in velvet cages since their early twenties, and their only contact with the authenticity that it appears they yearned for was through music and words. Of course, that can be enough. They proved it on this album.