"Rocks Off" is the opening song on the Rolling Stones' 1972 double album Exile on Main St.. Recorded between July 1971 and March 1972, "Rocks Off" is one of the songs on the album that was recorded at Villa Nellcôte, a house Keith Richards rented in the south of France during the summer and autumn of 1971. Overdubs and final mixing for the song were later done at Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles, California between December 1971 and March 1972.
Lyrics and composition[]
The lyrics to the song are wide-ranging, harsh and brutally frank at times:
I'm zipping through the days at lightning speed Plug in, flush out and fire the fuckin' feed Heading for the overload Splattered on the dirty road Kick me like you've kicked before I can't even feel the pain no more
The song features a sudden divergence near the two minute fifteen second mark into what has been called a psychedelic jam of sorts, with Mick Jagger's vocals electronically distorted and the guitar chords stretched: "Feel so hypnotized, can't describe the scene. Feel so mesmerized, all that inside me".
Personnel[]
Bobby Keys - saxophone
Jim Price - trumpet
Nicky Hopkins - piano
Keith Richards & Mick Taylor - guitar
Bill Wyman - bass
Charlie Watts - drums