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Are you ready for the gilded cage/ Are you ready for the tears of rage/ Come on baby, don’t let them drown you out…
Written by: Jagger/Richards Recorded: Air Studios, Montserrat, March 29-Apr. 1989; Olympic Sound Studios, May 15-June 29 1989 Guest musicians: Chuck Leavell (organ and piano), The Kick Horns (brass), Bernard Fowler (backing vocals) *Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012
Some facts about ‘Sad Sad Sad’ by The Rolling Stones (from Songfacts)
This is the first track from Steel Wheels, an album that brought The Stones back together. Jagger and Richards had both done solo albums and it looked like The Stones may have been done.
The horns were played by the Brass ensemble The Kick Horns.
Ron Wood played bass. Bill Wyman, the Stones’ bassist, had to deal with the press after announcing his engagement to 18-year-old Mandy Smith, and was not available. Wyman and Smith divorced soon after their marriage.
Charlie Watts helped write this, but as was custom for the Stones, it was credited only to Jagger/Richards.
“Sad Sad Sad” is the fanfare that accompanies the Rolling Stones’ return to the arena. What is more, the song’s riff testifies to an undiminished desire on the part of the Glimmer Twins to enter the fray. A riff is almost certainly from Mick Jagger, who plays electric guitar alongside Keith Richards. Are you ready for the gilded cage/Are you ready for the tears of rage/Come on baby, don’t let them drown you out: Mick seems to be advising his partner, in a vengeful voice, on how to survive the chaos of her life. Or should the song perhaps be seen as an oblique reference to the indestructibility of the Stones, who had survived the deterioration of relations between Mick and Keith?
