"When the Whip Comes Down" is a song by the English

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

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 ...

from their 1978 album ''

Some Girls ''Some Girls'' is the 14th UK and 16th US album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 9 June 1978 by Rolling Stones Records. It was recorded in sessions held between October 1977 and February 1978 at Pathé Marconi Studios in ...

''. "When the Whip Comes Down" was 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 ...

, although Jagger handled the song's lyrics.

Background

Quite unusual, even for the late 1970s, the lyrics deal openly with the perspective of a gay man: In a 1978 interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine to mark the release of ''Some Girls'', Jagger responded to questions regarding the song's lyrics: "...There is one song that's a straight

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

song—"When the Whip Comes Down"—but I have no idea why I wrote it. It's strange - the Rolling Stones have always attracted a lot of men... I don't know why I wrote it. Maybe I came out of the closet '. It's about an imaginary person who comes from

L.A. Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and becomes a garbage collector... I sure hope the radio stations will play t" The lyrics could be taken to imply that the singer becomes a male prostitute: "When the Whip Comes Down" was recorded at the Pathé Marconi studio in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, France, between the months of October and December 1977. It was another of the famed ''

'' songs to feature just the core members of the Rolling Stones at the time. Jagger performed vocals plus guitar alongside Richards and

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 ...

. Wood would also contribute pedal steel guitar to the number, an instrument that also appears on the ''Some Girls'' songs " Shattered" and " Far Away Eyes". Bill Wyman performs bass while Charlie Watts plays the song's distinctive, driving drum beat. There are versions of both the base instrumental track and the fully developed backing track with additional lyrics, that run over ten minutes, widely available on bootlegs. The song is seen by some Rolling Stones fans as the closest the Stones came to outright punk music on the album that many call the Stones' "punk album". It is also one of a few songs on the album to carry a heavy New York City influence. A majority of the Rolling Stones were living in New York at the time. A recording from a live show at the Detroit Masonic Temple, on 6 July 1978, was released on the 1981 compilation album '' Sucking in the Seventies'', which covered much of their later 1970s material. It also acted as album mate " Respectable"'s B-side. A live recording from their 2002–2003 Licks Tour was captured and released on the 2004 live album ''

Live Licks ''Live Licks'' is a double live album by the Rolling Stones and was released in 2004. Coming six years after '' No Security'', this ninth official Rolling Stones full-length live release captures performances from the band's year-long 2002– ...

''. ''When the Whip Comes Down'' is also the name of a 16-track Nine Inch Nails bootleg album taken from their performance at the Woodstock '94 music festival.

Personnel

– lead vocals, electric guitar, backing vocals *

– electric guitar, backing vocals *

– electric guitar , backing vocals,

pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...

* Bill Wyman – bass guitar * Charlie Watts – drums

References

External links

Complete official lyrics
{{Authority control The Rolling Stones songs 1978 songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Jagger–Richards LGBT-related songs