‘Dancing with Mr. D’: The Rolling Stones Go Dark (1973)

By Marcelo Sonaglioni on July 10, 2025

Like what you see? Help keep it going! This site runs on the support of readers like you. Your donation helps cover costs and keeps fresh Rolling Stones content coming your way every day. Thank you!

Rolling Stones Songs: Dancing with Mr. D

The bite of a snake, the sting of a spider/ A drink of Belladonna on a Toussaint night…

Written by: Jagger/Richard
Recorded: Dynamic Sounds Studios Kingston Jamaica, Nov. 25-Dec. 21 1972; Village Recorders, Los Angeles, USA, Jan. 13-15 1973; Island Recording Studios, London, England, June 1973
Guest musicians: Nicky Hopkins (piano), Rebop Kwaku Baah & Pascal (percussion)

*Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012

*Click for MORE ROLLING STONES SONGS 1962-PRESENT

**More about Dancing with Mr. D by The Rolling Stones**

*By Marcelo Sonaglioni

rolling stones songs dancing with mr. d 1973

A Dance with Death: The Stones Go Dark

Dancing with Mr. D opens Goats Head Soup with a sinister groove that feels like a séance set to rock ‘n’ roll. The eerie lyrics—“Lord, keep your hand off me, I’m dancin’ with Mr. D”—set the tone for what could be a chilling waltz with death itself. Is Mr. D the devil? The grim reaper? Both? Jagger doesn’t say, but the sweet-and-sick scent of a cemetery lingers over every verse. The ways in which death might come—snake bites, poison, Belladonna on a Toussaint night—are laid out like a spooky shopping list. Musically, it’s funky and feverish, but lyrically? It’s pure dread. Fittingly, the band hadn’t performed it live for decades after 1973…until its unexpected resurrection on the 2017 No Filter tour. Would you take that final dance?

From Voodoo to Video: The Story Behind the Song

Often seen as a darker cousin to Sympathy for the Devil, this track adds voodoo overtones, not just musically but socially. Anita Pallenberg, immersed in esoterica, had links to Jamaica’s Rasta mafia scene. Producer Jimmy Miller, after years with the band, bowed out after Goats Head Soup—his last Stones album. The David Bailey cover captured the mood with death-mask imagery. The track itself features Rebop Kwaku Baah (ex-Traffic) adding congas, bongos, and timbales, with additional percussion by the mysterious “Pascal.” A promo video aired on both Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert and the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test, paired with Silver Train, helped selling the album’s dark mystique.

COPYRIGHT © ROLLING STONES DATA
ALL INFORMATION ON THIS WEBSITE IS COPYRIGHT OF ROLLING STONES DATA. ALL CONTENT BY MARCELO SONAGLIONI.
ALL SETLISTS AND TICKET STUBS TAKEN FROM THE COMPLETE WORKS OF THE ROLLING STONES.
WHEN USING INFORMATION FROM ROLLING STONES DATA (ONLINE OR PRINTED) PLEASE REFER TO ITS SOURCE DETAILING THE WEBSITE NAME. THANK YOU.