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Rolling Stones songs: How Can I Stop
It’s too easy to lay here at your feet/ I couldn’t take the heat…
Written by: Jagger/Richards Recorded: Ocean Way Recording Studios, Hollywood, USA, March 13-July 1997 Guest musicians: Waddy Wachtel (guitar and piano), Don Was (piano), Jeff Sarli (bass), Jim Keltner (percussion), Blondie Chaplin (tambourine and piano), Blondie Chaplin and Bernard Fowler (background vocals), Wayne Shorter (saxophone) *Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012
A Gentle Farewell: The Making of The Rolling Stones’ How Can I Stop
Closing out Bridges to Babylon with remarkable grace, How Can I Stop was the final track recorded for the album — and almost didn’t happen. With a car waiting outside the studio, ready to rush Charlie Watts to the airport, the Stones still managed to capture one of their most moving performances. The ensemble work is flawless, weaving a lush, tender backdrop that echoes the smooth soul harmonies of the Chi-Lites’ A Lonely Man. As if that weren’t enough, the legendary jazzman Wayne Shorter brings it all home with a breathtaking soprano sax solo, lifting the track into an almost spiritual dimension. It’s a rare moment where the Stones let vulnerability take center stage, wrapping their signature grit in layers of warmth and soul. The sense of urgency surrounding its recording somehow deepens its emotional pull, making it one of the band’s most quietly stunning closers.
Keith Richards and Imaginary Loves
When it comes to love songs, Keith Richards often draws from a palette of memories, blending real experiences into something larger than life. How Can I Stop, he admits (one of the three songs he sings in the Bridges to Babylon album along with You Don’t Have to Mean It and Thief in the Night) isn’t dedicated to any one woman — not Anita Pallenberg, not Patti Hansen — but rather to an imaginary composite of past loves. Keith describes it as “a real song from the heart,” subtly nodding to the idea that age brings a deeper, more bittersweet understanding of love. Lines like “You offer me all your love and sympathy” and “Sweet affection, baby, it’s killing me” pulse with raw feeling, making the song not just a love letter, but almost a farewell to youthful passion itself.
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