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From Songfacts: In this song, Mick Jagger sings about snubbing a girl who wants him back. Getting the upper hand in a relationship was becoming a common theme with The Stones.
In the UK, “Out Of Time” was a #1 hit for Chris Farlowe in 1967. Farlowe also covered The Stones’ “Think” and “Ride On, Baby.” Farlowe’s cover, (which was produced by Mick Jagger), is the only Jagger/Richards-written chart-topper in the UK performed by another act.
This was left off the US version of the Aftermath album. A different version was included on the compilation album Flowers.
Brian Jones played the marimbas. He played many unusual instruments for the Stones until his death in 1969.
The Stones released a symphonic version on their 1975 album Metamorphosis.
The Stones performed “Out of Time” in concert for the first time five-and-a-half decades after releasing it. They delivered its debut live performance in Madrid on June 1, 2022, in the first show of the Sixty Tour.
From the Rolling Stones – All the Songs, The Story Behind Every Track book: The subject of “Out of Time” is not so different from that of “Under My Thumb.” A young woman decides to go back to the boyfriend she has abandoned and been unfaithful to. But several years have passed, and it is too late. Her time is up, and her former lover has no hesitation in telling her so: You’re obsolete my baby/My poor old-fashioned baby. In short, he is taking his revenge by lambasting her with cruel words in order to make her suffer the way he suffered when she deserted him. “Out of Time” is a pop song with a great tune that reveals a Motown influence on its authors Jagger and Richards. It exists in various different versions.
The recording used on the British album Aftermath is the RCA Studios version, dating from March 6–9, 1966, with Brian Jones on marimba. The song was left off the US album, but the same version was included on the compilation Flowers with the only difference that it has been cut from 5:37 to 3:42. There is also the Chris Farlowe version, recorded on April 27–30 and May 6, 1966, in Pye Studios in London with the pianist and arranger Arthur Greenslade and the guitarist Jimmy Page. This version, produced by Mick Jagger and released on Oldham’s label Immediate Records, reached number 1 in the United Kingdom on August 3, 1966, and remained on the charts for thirteen weeks. It also entered the hit parade again in September 1975 (reaching number 44)
