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Late Night Music : For Rush

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Tue Jun 27, 2006 at 10:31:44 PM EST
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This is actually one of my favorite Stone's songs--from Sticky Fingers -- and the only one I can play on the guitar and sing at the same time. The TL kid and I actually do a decent job of dual-guitaring it together.

But tonight, it reminds me of Rush. Dead Flowers, a classic of Mick and Keith together -- with a country motif.

Well when you're sitting there, in your silk upolstered chair
Talking to some rich folk that you know
I hope you don't see me in my ragged company
You know I could never be alone
Take me down, little Susie, take me down...

And we won't forget to put roses on your grave.

Larger video version here.

Listen to the second verse, and ask yourself, what's the difference between x number of oxycontin a day and a needle and a spoon? Answer: In America, those who can only afford the latter go to jail.

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    Late Night Music : For Rush | 7 comments (7 topical)
    Re: Late Night Music : For Rush (none / 0) (#1)
    by cynicalgirl on Wed Jun 28, 2006 at 06:37:42 AM EST
    Dead Flowers was written by Townes Van Zandt. Let's give credit where due.

    Re: Late Night Music : For Rush (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Jun 28, 2006 at 06:42:36 AM EST
    Thanks, I didn't know that. Credit goes to Townes Van Zandt.

    Re: Late Night Music : For Rush (none / 0) (#3)
    by kdog on Wed Jun 28, 2006 at 06:59:37 AM EST
    Great track. Though I'm partial to "Sway" off of Sticky Fingers.
    Ain't flinging tears out on the dusty ground For all my friends out on the burial ground Can't stand the feeling getting so brought down
    Re: Late Night Music : For Rush (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Jun 28, 2006 at 10:00:46 AM EST
    The difference between Oxycontin and a needle and a spoon is that a needle and a spoon are much more fun. The ceremony of tying yourself off, finding the vein, seeing the blood flag in the syringe, the flush on your face and the taste of the drug on your tounge before you ever even push the plunger down. And, finally, the instant rush you get when you do push the plunger down. These to me -- at least as I remember across the gulf of 35 years in what seems a lifetime ago -- were much more the point than the boring narcotic nod you get from Oxycontin or Delaudin. At least the instruments are company. As for Dead Flowers, I can understand how someone would get the impression that Townes Van Zandt wrote it -- it really is a Townes kind of song. But on Townes's Road Songs album (on which Townes covers Dead Flowers), Townes himself gives credit where credit is due: It's a Jagger-Richards song. Not surprising since Keith Richards is a Townes kind of guy. Witness Keith songs such as -- Dead Flowers, Wild Horses, You Got the Silver, Happy, Coming Down Again, and All About You. All are those sad, lonesome, country blues. The proper way to think about Dead Flowers is to think of it as Keith's homage to his good friend Gram Parsons, who died after trying to keep up with Keith's -- at that time -- excessive lifestyle. Gram Parsons, Keith Richards, Townes Van Zandt -- birds of a feather.

    Re: Late Night Music : For Rush (none / 0) (#5)
    by jondee on Wed Jun 28, 2006 at 12:24:48 PM EST
    Bittersweet. Like so much of life. And with the roots dangling. That's what make's 'em great.

    Re: Late Night Music : For Rush (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Jun 28, 2006 at 02:25:53 PM EST
    I'm at work, so I can't just pull out my copy of Let It Bleed to check, but I do know that on the 1969 version of Get Yer Ya Yas Out, the credit for Love in Vain says "Trad" (meaning, I think, Traditional) and "Arr", which means it was arranged by Jagger and Richards. As for Dead Flowers, nobody has ever claimed that anyone but Jagger/Richards wrote it. Townes Van Zandt certainly believed they did.

    Re: Late Night Music : For Rush (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Jun 28, 2006 at 09:22:44 PM EST
    According to the sites I've just googled, Mick and Keith wrote the music and lyrics, Townes Van Zandt recorded it afterwards. Here's one reference. This link from a news article says of Van Zandt's "best of" album:
    ....a transcendent appropriation of the Stones' "Dead Flowers" (last heard over the credits of the Coen Brothers' The Big Lebowski) paint the singer as a skillful interpreter.
    Late Night Music : For Rush | 7 comments (7 topical)