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Rolling Stones songs: Start Me Up
My eyes dilate, my lips go green/ My hands are greasy/ She’s a mean, mean machine…
Written by: Jagger/Richards Recorded: EMI-Pathé Marconi Studios, Paris, France, Jan. 6-March 2 1978; Electric Lady Studios, New York, USA, June 10-Oct. 19 1979 Guest musicians: Mike Carabello (percussion), Chris Kimsey and Barry Sage (handclaps) *Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012
From Reggae Roots to Rock Glory: The Wild Ride of Start Me Up
In 1977, deep in a French studio recording session, Start Me Up was born not as a roaring rock anthem, but as a laid-back reggae experiment. Chris Kimsey remembers it well: the vibe was cool, but something didn’t quite click. The Stones, ever perfectionists, shelved the track and moved on. Four years later, with the Tattoo You album taking shape in 1981, the band went digging through their vaults for hidden gems. That’s when they stumbled upon the second take of Start Me Up, stripped of its reggae rhythm and brimming with raw potential.
Reimagined with a gritty guitar riff, pounding drums, and Jagger’s strut-in-a-song swagger, it finally exploded into the stadium-shaking anthem we know today. What began as a chilled-out experiment ended up as one of rock’s most electrifying openers — proof that sometimes a classic just needs the right moment to find its groove.
“When they started playing it this time, it wasn’t a reggae song, it was what we know today as the great Start Me Up“, Kimsey said. He also notes that while the song originated with Keith Richards, Mick Jagger played a key role in shaping it into the version we know today. Including run-throughs, Start Me Up“took about six hours to record,” he added. “You see, if they all played the right chords at the right time, went to the chorus at the right time and got to the middle eight together, that was a master. It was like, ‘Oh, wow!’ Don’t forget, they would never sit down and work out a song – they would jam it and the song would evolve out of that. That’s their magic.”
Keith Richards on the Accidental Birth of Start Me Up
Keith Richards described the transformation of the song, explaining how it evolved from a reggae track into a rock anthem: “I was convinced, and I think Mick was, that it was definitely a reggae song. And we did it in thirty eight takes – ‘Start me up. Yeah, man, cool. You know, you know, Jah Rastafari.’ And it didn’t make it. And somewhere in the middle of a break, just to break the tension, Charlie and I hit the rock and roll version. And right after that we went straight back to reggae. And we forgot totally about this one little burst in the middle, until about five years later when somebody sifted all the way through these reggae takes. After doing about 70 takes of ‘Start Me Up’ he found that one in the middle. It was just buried in there. Suddenly I had it….
…Nobody remembered cutting it. But we leapt on it again. We did a few overdubs on it, and it was like a gift, you know? One of the great luxuries of The Stones is we have an enormous, great big can of stuff. I mean what anybody hears is just the tip of an iceberg, you know. And down there is vaults of stuff. But you have to have the patience and the time to actually sift through it.”
Ronnie Wood’s Take on the Start Me Up Mystery
However Ronnie Wood provides a different perspective: “I don’t know why Start Me Up was missed off the selection for Emotional Rescue or Some Girls, because that’s when we recorded it. It’s strange. I think maybe we were saving it for a single. I have the impression that it was a riff that Mick brought along, like Don’t Stop for Forty Licks—very much a Mick kind of idea, although in the end Start Me Up became a Mick- and Keith-welded song with contributions from both of them. It was one of those genuine collaborations between the two of them, with a little magic from both sides happening instantly.”
The Double Meaning Power of Start Me Up
The lyrics of Start Me Up are rich in metaphor, a signature style of the Glimmer Twins. Lines like “If you start me up, I’ll never stop” and “Kick on the starter, give it all you’ve got” convey powerful sexual undertones. Mick Jagger, more of a sex symbol than ever, expresses his desires (“You make a dead man come“) with raw, mechanical imagery that could easily resonate with biker culture—perhaps even the Hells Angels. Fans clearly embraced the message, interpreting the song as a bold statement of the Stones’ resurgence. Released on August 14, 1981, with No Use in Crying on the B-side, it marked a triumphant return for the band. As is often the case with Mick Jagger, the lyrics may not always make perfect sense, but they flow effortlessly when sung: “Spread out the oil, the gasoline/ I walk smooth, ride in a mean, mean machine“.
Start Me Up and the Stones’ MTV Breakthrough
Tattoo You was the album that officially introduced the Rolling Stones to the MTV generation, helping them win over a fresh wave of American fans. Although the band had been making videos since the ’60s, often collaborating with filmmaker Michael Lindsay-Hogg, he returned to direct the Tattoo You videos. The Start Me Up video was simple—just the band performing against a black background—but it arrived at the perfect time. Released in August 1981, just as MTV launched, the network was eager to showcase a well-produced video of a contemporary hit from a legendary band.
Though it lacked a complex storyline, the video was captivating for the young viewers glued to their screens, many of whom were seeing Mick Jagger perform for the first time. It was enough to keep them mesmerized until the next video, and many of these kids would grow up to become lifelong Rolling Stones fans, just like their parents.
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