"Highwire" is an anti-war song by English rock band

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

, featured on their 1991 live album, '' Flashpoint''. Written by

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

, the song is one of the rare examples of the Stones taking on political issues—in this case, the fall-out from

Persian Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. "Highwire" was released as ''Flashpoint''s first single on 1 March 1991. It reached number four in Finland, Norway, and Portugal, number six in the Netherlands, number 10 in Canada, and number 57 in the United States. In the latter country, the single peaked at number one on the '' Billboard'' Album Rock Tracks chart for three weeks. An accompanying video directed by Julien Temple was released and depicts the Stones in an industrial set performing the song.

Background

On the song, Jagger said at the time of its release, "It's not about the war. It's about how it started." His brother Chris Jagger noted "it is a sideways swipe at the policies surrounding the Gulf War". Richards continued, saying, "This is not about the war. It's about how you build up some shaky dictator. You can't build them up, 'cause then you've got to slam them down." The song's lyrics deconstructs the build-up to the war and criticises the politics behind it:

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine '' Music & Media'' wrote, "Still controversial after all these years -- that is a compliment in itself. This antiwar song sounds as if it was recorded in the days of ''

Exile On Main Street ''Exile on Main St.'' is the 10th British and 12th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 12 May 1972 by Rolling Stones Records. Recording began in 1969 in England during sessions for '' Sticky Fingers'' ...

''. Richards's mean guitar riff underpins Jagger's biting vocals. No DJ can possibly deny the strong impact of it."

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Highwire" shows the band members performing against an industrial backdrop. The video did not feature Bill Wyman, leading to speculation that he had left the band. "Highwire" proved to be his last single release with the band, although his departure was not confirmed until 1993.

Personnel

* Mick Jagger – vocals * Keith Richards – guitar * Ron Wood – guitar, pedal steel guitar * Bill Wyman – bass guitar * Charlie Watts – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control The Rolling Stones songs 1991 singles 1991 songs Music videos directed by Julien Temple Protest songs Song recordings produced by Jagger–Richards Songs written by Jagger–Richards