"Rough Justice" is a song by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

that was released as a double A-side single with "Streets of Love" from their 2005 album ''

A Bigger Bang ''A Bigger Bang'' is the 22nd British and 24th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released through Virgin Records on 6 September 2005. It is their most recent studio album of original compositions to date, though ...

''. It is the opening track from the album. The single was released on 22 August 2005, prior to the album.

History

Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Rough Justice" was a heavily collaborative effort like many of the lead singer and guitarist's latter-day compositions. On the writing, Richards said in 2005, "That came to me in my sleep. It's almost like " Satisfaction". Yeah, I almost sort of woke up and said, 'Where's my guitar?' Sometimes you do dream a

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

, you know? I had to get up, and it's really hard to get me up. Once I go down, I go down, you know? But, I mean, it's only a song that could get me up and start running around the room, 'Where's my guitar, where did I put my guitar, before I forget it?' I don't often remember dreams, only when they're musical." A straight ahead rocker, but sets the scene of a long time, up and down, love affair between the singer and the subject:

Recording

Recording began at La Fourchette, Posé sur Cisse, France in June 2005. With Jagger on lead vocals, Richards plays electric rhythm (including the riff).

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a nu ...

plays the song's distinct electric

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

, including the song's opening intro and solo.

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an i ...

plays drums. Additional musicians are included

Darryl Jones Darryl Jones (born December 11, 1961) is an American bass guitarist. He has been recording and touring with the Rolling Stones since 1993. He has also played in bands with Miles Davis and Sting, among others. Career Darryl Jones was born on ...

on bass while

Chuck Leavell Charles Alfred Leavell (born April 28, 1952) is an American musician. A member of the Allman Brothers Band throughout their commercial zenith in the 1970s, he subsequently became a founding member of the band Sea Level. He has served as the pri ...

on play the song's piano.

Release and aftermath

"Rough Justice" was released as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

with " Streets of Love" on 22 August 2005. It charted at number 15 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In the US, the song peaked at number 25 on the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart and number 5 on the

Adult Alternative Songs Adult Alternative Airplay (also known as Triple A or Triple A Airplay, and formerly Adult Alternative Songs and Triple A Songs) is a record chart currently published by ''Billboard'' that ranks the most popular songs on adult album alternative radi ...

chart. Music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

applauded the song as "a strikingly ironic/acerbic expression of both Jagger's musical gift and his romantic limitations". The song has been performed heavily by the Stones on their

A Bigger Bang Tour A Bigger Bang was a worldwide concert tour by the Rolling Stones which took place between August 2005 and August 2007, in support of their album '' A Bigger Bang''. At the time, it was the highest grossing tour of all time, earning $558,255,52 ...

and is featured on their latest concert DVD release, ''

The Biggest Bang ''The Biggest Bang'' is a four-disc concert DVD collection released by the Rolling Stones. The collection documents several shows from the band's 2005–2006 legs of their A Bigger Bang Tour. The DVD debuted at number one on ''Billboard''s musi ...

''. It was also one of the three songs played by the Stones during the halftime show for

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...

although the word "cocks" was censored on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

broadcast. It was included in their greatest hits album ''

GRRR! ''GRRR!'' is a greatest hits album by the Rolling Stones. Released on 12 November 2012, it commemorates the band's 50th anniversary. The album features two new songs titled " Doom and Gloom" and "One More Shot", which were recorded in August ...

''.

Chart performance

References

External links

* {{The Rolling Stones singles 2005 singles The Rolling Stones songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Don Was Song recordings produced by Jagger–Richards 2005 songs