The Surprising Origin Of As Tears Go By By The Rolling Stones
Similar to the Beatles when they were just beginning to break out internationally, the Rolling Stones relied very heavily on covers of songs from American blues, rock 'n' roll, and R&B artists. A look at the tracklist of their self-titled debut album is all the proof you need, as it features harder-edged versions of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," Chuck Berry's "Carol," and many others. Manager Andrew Loog Oldham wanted to nip this tendency at the bud, hence why he apparently locked Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in a kitchen until they came up with their own composition — which turned out to be "As Tears Go By."
Richards recalled the genesis of the tune in a 1992 interview with Guitar Player, as quoted by Songfacts. "Andrew locked Mick and myself into a kitchen in this horrible little apartment we had," the guitarist explained. "He said, 'You ain't comin' out,' and there was no way out. We were in the kitchen with some food and a couple of guitars, but we couldn't get to the john, so we had to come out with a song."
Originally, the title of the song was "As Time Goes By," but as Richards wrote in his 2010 autobiography, "Life," Oldham made the decision to change "time" to "tears," given how the tune in its earlier form shared a title with the famous song performed in "Casablanca." As such, the manager shares a writing credit with Jagger and Richards for that seemingly small, yet important contribution. But what was the deal with the unusually introspective lyrics from a band otherwise known for its gritty, oftentimes raunchy energy?
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