"She's a Rainbow" is a song by

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

and was featured on their 1967 album '' Their Satanic Majesties Request''. via the Digital Library of the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

. It has been called "the prettiest and most uncharacteristic song" that

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

wrote for the Stones, although somewhat ambiguous in intention.

Composition and recording

The song includes rich lyricism, vibrant piano by

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. He performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, including on songs recorde ...

, and

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

' use of the

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

. The second verse includes:

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

, later of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

, arranged the strings of this song during his

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

days. Backing vocals were provided by the entire band except for

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

. Notably, all of the vocals sound like soft background singing with the music overshadowing them to the point of the lyrics being difficult to hear. The lyrics in the chorus share the phrase "she comes in colours" with the song of that title by

Love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

, released in December 1966. The song begins with the piano playing an ascending run with a turnaround, which returns throughout the song as a recurring motif. This motif is developed by the

celesta The celesta () or celeste (), also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music ...

and strings in the middle 8. Humorous and ambiguous devices are used, such as when the strings play out-of-tune and off-key towards the end of the song, and when the other Stones sing their "La La's" like little children. The song is in the key of B flat major. The ascending run starts on C and goes up the B scale : C D E F G A B.

Release and appearances

"She's a Rainbow" was released as a single in November 1967 and went to No. 25 in the United States. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that the Rolling Stones " tepup their blues beat with orchestrations that surround the listener in a swirling collage of offsetting tonal colors." A lyric video for the song was released in 2017 to coincide with the semicentennial reissue of the album it appears on. It has regularly featured on Stones' hits compilations, including '' Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)'' (1969), '' More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies)'' (1972), ''30 Greatest Hits'' (1977), '' Singles Collection: The London Years'' (1989), '' Forty Licks'' (2002), and '' GRRR!'' (2012).Eder, Bruce. The Rolling Stones "She's A Rainbow" AllMusic. 2007 (accessed 31 October 2008). "She's a Rainbow" was used extensively in season two of the show ''

Ted Lasso ''Ted Lasso'' ( ) is an American sports film, sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence (TV producer), Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. It is based on a character Sudeikis portrayed in a series ...

''. In addition, the song was covered by Tank and the Bangas in 2022 for season three of the show ''Ghostwriter''.

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: The Rolling Stones *

lead vocal, harmony vocal,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

acoustic guitar, lead guitar *

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

bass *

drums * Unidentified musicians (played by the Rolling Stones) backing vocals, percussion Additional personnel *

piano,

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

string arrangement * Unidentified session musicians

string section The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

Charts

Certifications

Other

People have speculated that Gilbert Baker's creation of the rainbow flag was inspired by the

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

song " Over the Rainbow" (Garland being among the first gay icons), but when asked, Baker said that it was "more about the

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

and their song 'She's a Rainbow.

Notes

References

Sources

* {{Authority control Psychedelic pop songs British psychedelic rock songs The Rolling Stones songs London Records singles Decca Records singles 1967 singles Songs written by Jagger–Richards Music videos directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg 1967 songs Baroque pop songs