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Rolling Stones songs: Casino Boogie
Left shoe shuffle, right shoe muffle/ Sinking in the sand…
Written by: Jagger/Richard Recorded: Rolling Stones Mobile, Nellcote, France, Jun.-Nov. 1971; Sunset Sound Studios, Los Angeles, USA, Dec. 1971-March 1972; RCA Studios, Los Angeles, USA, March 1972 Guest musicians: Nicky Hopkins (piano), Bobby Keys (saxophone) *Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012
Before you try it, there’s really no use trying to find a logical meaning behind the lyrics of Casino Boogie, let alone digging for a deeper interpretation. In an April 2010 interview with Uncut magazine, Mick Jagger shared how he approached writing them: “That song was done in cut-ups. It’s in the style of William Burroughs, and so on. ‘Million dollar sdad’ doesn’t mean anything. We did it in LA in the studio. We just wrote phrases on bits of paper and cut them up. The Burroughs style. And then you throw them into a hat, pick them out and assemble them into verses. We did it for one number, but it worked.… We probably did it ’cos we couldn’t think of anything to write.”
Despite its seemingly random lyrics, Casino Boogie is filled with subtle references to the Rolling Stones’ time on the Côte d’Azur in 1971. The song captures glimpses of their daily life as exiled rock stars, from the indulgence and chaos of their French Riviera retreat to the constant shadow of legal troubles that followed them. This included the band’s routine: they’d sleep through most of the day, hit up the casinos in Monte Carlo at night, and then head back to work on the album until the sun came up.
There’s also a nod to the glamorous world of cinema, inspired by the Cannes Film Festival, which took place not far from where they were holed up at Nellcôte. These scattered allusions give the track a loose, almost cinematic feel, mirroring the hazy, unpredictable nature of their time in France.
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