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Rolling Stones songs: Casino Boogie
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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

From Songfacts:
This was recorded at Keith Richards’ villa in the South of France while The Stones were on their “exile” to avoid taxes in England. The band would often sleep most of the day, go to the casinos in nearby Monte Carlo, then work on the album until morning.

Bobby Keys played the sax solo on this track. An outlandish personality that fit in well with the band, he joined The Stones in France for the recording of Exile On Main St. and became a major contributor to the album.

The lyrics are very difficult to understand, maybe because they’re very random. In an interview with Uncut Magazine April 2010, Mick Jagger was asked about the lyric “million dollar sad.” He replied: “That song was done in cut-ups. It’s in the style of William Burroughs, and so-on. ‘Million Dollar Sad’ 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.”

From the Rolling Stones – All the Songs, The Story Behind Every Track book:
There is no point in looking for a rational explanation for the lyrics of “Casino Boogie,” let alone trying to come up with a deeper interpretation. Interviewed by Uncut magazine in April 2010, Mick Jagger revealed his modus operandi: “That song was done in cut-ups. It’s in the style of William Burroughs, and so on. ‘Million Dollar Sad’ 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.” “Casino Boogie” is nevertheless peppered with allusions to the Rolling Stones’ sojourn on the Côte d’Azur, covering such aspects as their day-to- day rock star existence, their problems with the law, and—courtesy of the Cannes Film Festival!—cinema.

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