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Single:
Honky Tonk Women entered the Australian singles chart* on 26 July 1969 and peaked at #1. The song was #2 on the Top 100 of 1969.
Songwriters:
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
Producer:
Jimmy Miller
Record label of Australian release:
Decca
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
BONUS VIDEO BELOW – You Can’t Always Get What You Want, live
Songfacts:
In Honky Tonk Women, Mick Jagger sings about having a go with two different honky tonk women. The first is a “gin-soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis” – likely a prostitue. The second is a “divorcée in New York City.” Jagger would sometimes introduce it as being “a song for all the whores in the audience.”
Like many Rolling Stones songs, it has highly suggestive lyrics, but they are just subtle enough to keep it from getting banned by radio stations. British rock bands often wrote lyrics that were ambiguously offensive, falling just in line with BBC guidelines for airplay. A good example in this song is, “She blew my nose and then she blew my mind,” which implies both cocaine and sex, but didn’t give the BBC any specific reason to ban it.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/the-rolling-stones/honky-tonk-women
Lyrics:
I met a gin-soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis
She tried to take me upstairs for a ride
She had to heave me right across her shoulder
‘Cause I just can’t seem to drink you off my mind
Click for full lyrics
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 60s
Find more songs to enjoy: Bang a Gong song finder
BONUS
You Can’t Always Get What You Want, live at Twickenham Stadium in 2003
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