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In the bar you’re getting drunk, oh yeah/ I ain’t in love, I ain’t in luck…
Written by: Jagger/Richard Recorded: Olympic Sound Studios, London, England, Oct. 17-31 1970; Rolling Stones Mobile, Nellcote, France, July-Oct-Nov. 1971; Sunset Sound Studios, Los Angeles, USA, Dec. 1971-March 1972; RCA Studios, Los Angeles, USA, March 1972 Guest musicians: Nicky Hopkins (mellotron), Bobby Keys (saxophone), Jim Price (trumpet and trombone), Tamiya Lynn, Shirley Goodman, Dr. John, Clydie King, Venetta Field and Joe Green (backing vocals) *Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012
Some facts about ‘Let It Loose’ by The Rolling Stones (from Songfacts)
This song is about a man who is with a woman who he knows will break his heart in due time and that she’s more than he can handle. But he can’t refuse her because either he’s lonely or just using a relationship to get away from other problems. She delivers right on time, gives him what he needs, but in the end it is just the bedroom blues that he will have. Her friends most likely don’t even know his name because she has not bothered introducing them since he will not be around for too long. All in all he is not in love with her, and she is no good for him but he says keep the tears back and let it all come down (ie have sex). The character seems to be using sex as an escape.
Backing vocalists were Tamiya Lynn, Dr. John, Clydie King, Vanetta Field, Shirley Goodman and Joe Green. They helped give the song a gospel feel.
This was featured in Martin Scorsese’s 2006 film The Departed.
Nicky Hopkins played both the piano and mellotron on this track.
In an interview with Uncut magazine April 2010, Jagger was asked about this song’s lyrical content. He replied: “I think Keith wrote that, actually. That’s a very weird, difficult song. I had a whole other set of lyrics to it, but they got lost by the wayside. I don’t think that song has any semblance of meaning. It’s one of those rambling songs. I didn’t really understand what it was about, after the event.”
Sadness, solitude, and sensuality are three words that immediately come to mind when listening to “Let It Loose.” The first verse sounds like a warning from one friend to another: Who’s that woman on your arm, all dressed up to do you harm? From the second verse, it is the friend who speaks, and what he has to say is perfectly clear-sighted: he is not the dupe of the woman by his side, but she gives him everything he needs (in the bedroom, we are to understand). He adds that he ain’t in love,… and ain’t in luck.
Who wrote the lyrics? Mick Jagger answers this question in an interview with Uncut magazine in April 2010: “I think Keith wrote that, actually. That’s a very weird, difficult song. I had a whole other set of lyrics to it, but they got lost by the wayside. I don’t think that song has any semblance of meaning. It’s one of those rambling songs. I didn’t really understand what it was about, after the event.” Does this mean it would be wrong to see the song as an implicit reference to Keith’s feelings following Mick’s marriage to Bianca Pérez-Mora? let it loose
