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The Rolling Stones — Wild Horses
Album: Sticky Fingers
Avg rating:
8.3

Your rating:
Total ratings: 4233









Released: 1971
Length: 5:36
Plays (last 30 days): 2
Childhood living is easy to do
The things you wanted I bought them for you
Graceless lady you know who I am
You know I can't let you slide through my hands

Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses couldn't drag me away

I watched you suffer a dull, aching pain
Now you've decided to show me the same
No sweeping exits or offstage lines
Can make me feel bitter or treat you unkind

Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses couldn't drag me away

I know I dreamed you a sin and a lie
I have my freedom but I don't have much time
Faith has been broken, tears must be cried
Let's do some living after we die

Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them someday

Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them someday
Comments (412)add comment
One of Mick's best vocal performances
Probably one of my favorite Stones songs. Ahh the melancholy
Waste of studio space at Muscle Shoals. Lyrics good . Singing bloody awful. Always disliked his contrived singing voice.
Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.  Several of the tracks from “Sticky Fingers” were also recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound.  Amazing music has been made in this small southern town, which happens to be across the river from where I grew up.  I know there are a lot of music lovers that listen to RP; you may want to check out the documentary “Muscle Shoals” and hear Mick and Keith talk about their experience there.
 On_The_Beach wrote:



I don't think you included Gram's take in your lengthy exposition. He made fun of the Stones taking credit for the song.  Do you wish me to overlook the obvious truth on the basis of a Wikipedia entry?
 itsme_bygolly wrote:
This is Graham Parsons' song. He wrote  it and played it with the Flying Burrito Brothers a year before the Stones' release. Don't believe me? YouTube has the original version. Tell me Graham's version isn't superior to the Stones. Must have sold the writing credit to the Stones to support his habit.
 
Mick and Keith wrote it and sent Gram a demo in 1969. Gram then released his own version with the FBB before the Stones released their version on Sticky Fingers.
From Wiki:
The first issued version of "Wild Horses" was released by The Flying Burrito Brothers on their 1970 album, Burrito Deluxe, almost a year before it appeared on the Rolling Stones release of Sticky Fingers. Keith Richards had given Burrito Bros. member Gram Parsons a demo tape of "Wild Horses" on 7 December 1969, the day after the Altamont Free Concert.
In the liner notes to the 1993 Rolling Stones compilation album Jump Back, Jagger states, "I remember we sat around originally doing this with Gram Parsons, and I think his version came out slightly before ours. Everyone always says this was written about Marianne but I don't think it was; that was all well over by then. But I was definitely very inside this piece emotionally." Richards says, "If there is a classic way of Mick and me working together this is it. I had the riff and chorus line, Mick got stuck into the verses. Just like "Satisfaction", "Wild Horses" was about the usual thing of not wanting to be on the road, being a million miles from where you want to be."
This is Graham Parsons' song. He wrote  it and played it with the Flying Burrito Brothers a year before the Stones' release. Don't believe me? YouTube has the original version. Tell me Graham's version isn't superior to the Stones. Must have sold the writing credit to the Stones to support his habit.
I've always liked the Stones and this is a great album with many good songs. But this isn't one of the good songs. 
I prefer Susan Boyle's cover.

She made it America's Got Talent Finale with it...

I dare you to check it out!
The magic of muscle shoals!

 paul28 wrote:
Great track from IMO their best album
 

Love the Stones, but this song is wayyyyyyy overrated.
Sure sounds like a scratched record! Awesome!
🖤
10
imho TFBB version was sweeter. Gram played on the RS version too, right? They learned from TFBB (Gram) to their mutual benefit.  It's a great song, no matter what but Gram's sweet voice edges it for me.
 ecojot wrote:
Gram Parsons & Flying Burrito Brothers did a very good version of this great song
 
It has Gram Parsons written all over it, as does a good chunk of this record. He hung out with Keith a lot in the stretch from 69-71, sharing a lot of his knowledge of country music. 
is all in da name 
 paul28 wrote:
Great track from IMO their best album
 

 ecojot wrote:
Gram Parsons & Flying Burrito Brothers did a very good version of this great song
 
So, amazingly, did Susan Boyle - just beautiful!  https://open.spotify.com/track...


Gram Parsons & Flying Burrito Brothers did a very good version of this great song
Great track from IMO their best album
 DigitalJer wrote:
Reminds me of my daughter...whom I miss dearly, but haven't seen nor spoken in close to 15 years.
 
Sorry to hear that, friend.  I hope life helps bring you together...
This is on my "STFU and listen" list in my office.  Don't even try to talk to me while this on or risk my wrath...

Godlike track from a Godlike album, to my ears.
Please RP, I really need to eat my dinner, but you keep distracting me with  totally AWESOME music !! 
I always enjoy this one I’ll go 9 or 10
Think I prefer the Susan Boyle version!
 


rpdevotee wrote:
Sorry...Just can't tolerate overplayed mainstream radio crap like this.  If I ever hear this song again, it will be too soon.  Can't even imagine how many times I've heard this over the past 40 years.  What's next, Free Bird?  Not even a good RS song at that...wouldn't even qualify as a ballad in my book.  The curse of digital media!  Can't kill it!  {#Crashcomp}

 


Then don't listen to 'mainstream radio'.
Wild Horses has not been played here in the last 30 days.
Because YOU heard it in the seventies, someone hearing it here for the first time today needs to see your tale of woe?
Go whine someplace else. 






They were, they are and will always be the soundtrack of my life! The year of 1971! Amen!
8 -> DOWN TO  only  7  
 SanFranGayMan wrote:

Wow, nice history there Mark. Just reminds us how times have changed, and then, not so much. And yeah, a great time had by all-the hallmark of appreciation of time and place!
 

Sounds like Vineland!
I wasn't much of a fan of this song until after my step-brother's suicide.  His GF at the time, Angel, said that this song was one of his "love anthems" to her, and helped inspire his out-of-no-where love poetry, which we only learned about after his too early death.  

Now that I have this strong emotional tie to the song I like it a lot.  It's an 8 for me, and Long Live RP!!
Rolling Stones was my favorites- when i was young
You don't have to like the Stones to love this song
Reminds me of my daughter...whom I miss dearly, but haven't seen nor spoken in close to 15 years.
This song is still so good after all these years. Goosebumps!

"You guys wanna drag that dude with the big lips away?"
"Nah, I really don't think we could do it."
Oh, yes. The version from the Stripped album is also gorgeous.
Still such a damned good song after all these years. Just stopped what I was doing and looked out the window and listened. Made me shake my head in a couple of spots, as if I hadn't already 'heard' it a hundred times before.
 LowPhreak wrote:

Or maybe some green & purple striped Speedo panties? "Boring old white underpants" just wasn't exciting enough I gather. {#Snooty}

LOL.

 
It is an Andy Warhol original after all.
 westslope wrote:
VH1:  What were you originally hoping for?  A close-up of Mick Jagger's junk? 

 
Or maybe some green & purple striped Speedo panties? "Boring old white underpants" just wasn't exciting enough I gather. {#Snooty}

LOL.
{#Crown}
 NickDanger wrote:

I love this version - AND that by Old and In The Way!

 
whoa!  Old and in the Way!!!  are any cuts from this fantastic album ever played here at RP ?    totally love the Stones  : P
 Proclivities wrote:

I still have the vinyl LP with the zipper; I generally hid it from my parents.

 
I should have done the same with the Beatles Yesterday and Today when I bought it at the age of 11 or 12 shortly after it came out.  I got the 3rd degree from my parents, my mother in particular whose value structure remained firmly anchored in WW II-era Norway.  
Don't let those Wild Horses drag you away. Rise above it. Or let it be a foil. There's always the next song in the playlist. {#Motor} 


rpdevotee wrote:
Sorry...Just can't tolerate overplayed mainstream radio crap like this.  If I ever hear this song again, it will be too soon.  Can't even imagine how many times I've heard this over the past 40 years.  What's next, Free Bird?  Not even a good RS song at that...wouldn't even qualify as a ballad in my book.  The curse of digital media!  Can't kill it!  {#Crashcomp}

 


Sorry...Just can't tolerate overplayed mainstream radio crap like this.  If I ever hear this song again, it will be too soon.  Can't even imagine how many times I've heard this over the past 40 years.  What's next, Free Bird?  Not even a good RS song at that...wouldn't even qualify as a ballad in my book.  The curse of digital media!  Can't kill it!  {#Crashcomp}
 Proclivities wrote:

I still have the vinyl LP with the zipper; I generally hid it from my parents.

 
Hopefully, they're still not looking for any subversive, counter-culture items in your bedroom 45+ years later.
 MrsTom wrote:
My parents had this LP - with the real zipper. 😀

 
I still have the vinyl LP with the zipper; I generally hid it from my parents.
 h8rhater wrote:

Always consider the source. This post comes from someone with the handle "VH1" that lists Come On Eileen by Dexies Midnight Runners as a 10. 
 
 Thanks for letting us know h8.
 VH1 wrote:
Bought the zipper LP in the States in Richmond West Virginia, because I was young and I wanted to see what's under there!

Boring old white underpants, what a disappointment.

And then the music, that was even worse! {#Stop}

It's been stored since then in my LP box and never played again! LOL! {#Iamwithstupid}

 
Always consider the source. This post comes from someone with the handle "VH1" that lists Come On Eileen by Dexies Midnight Runners as a 10. 

 westslope wrote:
VH1:  What were you originally hoping for?  A close-up of Mick Jagger's junk? 

 

Obviously!  Duh.
VH1:  What were you originally hoping for?  A close-up of Mick Jagger's junk? 
Bought the zipper LP in the States in Richmond West Virginia, because I was young and I wanted to see what's under there!

Boring old white underpants, what a disappointment.

And then the music, that was even worse! {#Stop}

It's been stored since then in my LP box and never played again! LOL! {#Iamwithstupid}
 MrsTom wrote:
My parents had this LP - with the real zipper. 😀

 
A friend of mine had the CD version with the zipper.  Album way cooler but interesting that they managed to get a real zipper on a CD cover.
The Stones are either awful or godlike .  This track is no question the latter.
 MrsTom wrote:
My parents had this LP - with the real zipper. 😀

 
I have TWO albums with the real zipper! They're not in great shape and they're not for sale. Keepsakes from another era...
Solid 9. This song's only flaw is that it is not "Gimme Shelter" or "Tumblin Dice".
My parents had this LP - with the real zipper. 😀
 flyboy50 wrote:
My college roommates worshiped the Stones. I never could get on board the train.  Many, many years later, I finally get it. One of the great things about music. It has a way of becoming fresh and new, despite its age.  Mozart? is that you?

 
Rhythm beat synced tight perfect 
Derby Day comin up...
They's good hosses...
My college roommates worshiped the Stones. I never could get on board the train.  Many, many years later, I finally get it. One of the great things about music. It has a way of becoming fresh and new, despite its age.  Mozart? is that you?
 NickDanger wrote:

I love this version - AND that by Old and In The Way!

 
I agree....Jerry and Friends put a nice bluegrass spin on this song.
Our father-daughter wedding dance. It was a good day.

RIP Gram Parsons. 
 Skydog wrote:

he was just being sarcastic,
i would suggest you lighten up
that is if you were asking me for advice
if not then i'll shut-up and offer you an apology 
.
some years ago
near the end of a great party
my wife and her sister sang this along with the record
.
(don't ya just hate old folks when they reminisce) 

 
Thanks Skydog. I guess I will have to dumb it down. No more tongue-in-cheek, obvious sarcasm, innuendos, double entrendre, or alliteration.    

Geez, you just can't have any fun with words anymore. I guess I should take up tweeting.

Hey RCinSoCal: Rollings Stones: good. Most other bands: not so good. Will that work for you?

Oh yeah RCinSoCal, please Google "Idiot Wind". Geez.     
 RCinSoCal wrote:

Your username is perfectly apt.  Does your mommy know you're playing in the Internet?  It gets old running across your stupid, trolling comments on the Great RP forums...  Why don't you go clean your room now, and leave all of us alone.

 
he was just being sarcastic,
i would suggest you lighten up
that is if you were asking me for advice
if not then i'll shut-up and offer you an apology 
.
some years ago
near the end of a great party
my wife and her sister sang this along with the record
.
(don't ya just hate old folks when they reminisce) 
 idiot_wind wrote:
Wow...these guys need to learn how to write lyrics.They are never going to make it in 2015.     

 
Your username is perfectly apt.  Does your mommy know you're playing in the Internet?  It gets old running across your stupid, trolling comments on the Great RP forums...  Why don't you go clean your room now, and leave all of us alone.
 jazzbo wrote:
Decent ..I prefer the Old And In The Way cover..Garcia ,Dave Grisman et al https://youtu.be/sgH3vGeL_iY
 
I love this version - AND that by Old and In The Way!
LOVE the Stones, and this has always been one of my faves!
 good Lord there are so many stories about this song
and the whole album for that matter
who was the inspiration, writer, players, the recordings etc etc

sometimes i find it best not to look behind the curtain
 
 jnesser wrote:
Only good thing about the Stones writing this, is for The Sundays to remake it and do a WAY better job.

 
Both versions are great. {#Daisy}
One of the best songs of their satanic majesties and of the music history. Godlike 
 jnesser wrote:
Only good thing about the Stones writing this, is for The Sundays to remake it and do a WAY better job.

 
I love both.
Only good thing about the Stones writing this, is for The Sundays to remake it and do a WAY better job.
Wow...these guys need to learn how to write lyrics.They are never going to make it in 2015.     
Wow...these guys (whoever they are) sure sound alot like the Foo Fighters and Arcade Fire. 
Interesting conversation today between Keith and NPR's Terry Gross, host of "Fresh Air." Can be streamed via RSS from NPR.org
A perfect

 
Too much old stuff!

And I am 66  Ben with you for years, always thought too much old but at least it was deep old. Now really seems much more "oldie"  station. I want music I have never heard before! !  

And thanks for much of that over the years.

Mke Fogarty 
Decent ..I prefer the Old And In The Way cover..Garcia ,Dave Grisman et al https://youtu.be/sgH3vGeL_iY
7 for a Rolling Stone song.
10 for a Country song.
 One of the last great songs done by the Stones, it and 'Angie'.
Ah, The Stones during their greatest period, the Mick Taylor era. 
Twas then when they became a great rock and roll band, more American sounding that is.
When I found that one of my daughters had a T-shirt with "Wild Horses" written on it I just went to my library and played this. I think she likes her T-shirt way more now! It is IMPSIBLE to avoid deep soul feeling listening to this loud.
'course a 10!!
 scrubbrush wrote:
I am sick of this song
still a 10

 
Thinking the same
I am sick of this song
still a 10
My favorite country song of all time.
Everybody in my mushrooming multitude of homeless camps loves this wild song...

and we believe okra should be free to the masses... 

Recorded in Muscle Shoals, AL where the Tennessee River sings her songs.
I prefer the original by the Sundays.

(And with that patently obviously flamebait, I'm outta here).

No wait, I lied.  I'm sure I must have heard the original before the cover, but the cover has supplanted the original in my mind, and this version does not sound quite right to me in the way that covers often don't.  This may be the only song for which that has happened (for me at least.)  No wait, that's not right, the Beatles "Twist and Shout" is vastly better than the Isley Brother's version.  Still, it's rare.

I doubt I'm in the majority on this, but at least one commenter on the Sunday's version agree with me :-)
Normally I hate the Stones.  And this is no exception.
 

Ghiaap wrote:
Normaly I don't dig the Stones, but this song is an exception to the rule

 


 treatment_bound wrote:
 RandomousJam wrote:
I was interested to discover this song was first released by the Flying Buritto Brothers.

 
Yup!  It's on "Burrito Deluxe", their 2nd album, which came out in April of 1970, a full year before the Stones included it on "Sticky Fingers".

 
Burrito Deluxe



 
and a very tasty wrap was had by all......
 RandomousJam wrote:
I was interested to discover this song was first released by the Flying Buritto Brothers.

 
Yup!  It's on "Burrito Deluxe", their 2nd album, which came out in April of 1970, a full year before the Stones included it on "Sticky Fingers".

 
Burrito Deluxe


I have always loved this song....
 markthecarp wrote:
Forget all other versions.  This is waayy better.  Right up there with "Street Fighting Man"  

During the UCSB/Isla Vista riots in the 70's the music store loudly played rock for ppl dodging tear gas canisters zooming around in the Loop.  Most all was Stones.  Can't help but think of that crazy time when I hear anything from this album.  The local sheriff used a helicopter to chuck tear gas on students.  Many apartments were broken into by cops and TVs & stereos smashed by them.  We had to put wet towels across door sills to keep out the gas.  Any outside surface could be coated with CS dust and if you didn't clean your bike before going to class, rubbing your eyes deposited it there—very unpleasant to suddenly go blind while riding.  A great time had by all.

 
Wow, nice history there Mark. Just reminds us how times have changed, and then, not so much. And yeah, a great time had by all-the hallmark of appreciation of time and place!
 Carl wrote:

So he wants to live in Russia, bastion of freedom and civil liberties. Good luck.

 
Just to be accurate, it's really more like he got stuck there.  And.... walking around free (relatively speaking) in Russia is, I'm just guessing here, better than being locked up in solitary at a supermax in Colorado.
{#Kiss} Love this song - one of the best
 RandomousJam wrote:
I was interested to discover this song was first released by the Flying Buritto Brothers. 
Keith Richards gave permission for early release to Gram Parsons, back in the days Gram was alive and they were hanging together.
Normaly I don't dig the Stones, but this song is an exception to the rule
I was interested to discover this song was first released by the Flying Buritto Brothers.
Best lyrics they ever came up with.
One of their best.
Forget all other versions.  This is waayy better.  Right up there with "Street Fighting Man"  

During the UCSB/Isla Vista riots in the 70's the music store loudly played rock for ppl dodging tear gas canisters zooming around in the Loop.  Most all was Stones.  Can't help but think of that crazy time when I hear anything from this album.  The local sheriff used a helicopter to chuck tear gas on students.  Many apartments were broken into by cops and TVs & stereos smashed by them.  We had to put wet towels across door sills to keep out the gas.  Any outside surface could be coated with CS dust and if you didn't clean your bike before going to class, rubbing your eyes deposited it there—very unpleasant to suddenly go blind while riding.  A great time had by all.

Everybody in my mushrooming multitude of churches be dancing buck ass naked all across the world like bowlegged gypsy muleskinners...  we love this song...  love sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll...
KEEF DON'T GO!
Wow..these guys sound Kid Rock! 
 pomalley wrote:
yeah... digital music is cool and all.... but you can't download a real zipper on an album cover like this one had!  That was cool... That's old school album stuff that youngsters will never experience.....   I'm just sayin...

 
..or see their music of today hold up for 42 years like this song.  But then, who knows?  My parents sure didn't think the 
Stones would amount to anything...or Bob Dylan, the Beatles, that guitar player in Cream, rock music in general....
yeah... digital music is cool and all.... but you can't download a real zipper on an album cover like this one had!  That was cool... That's old school album stuff that youngsters will never experience.....   I'm just sayin...
 Lazarus wrote: 
So he wants to live in Russia, bastion of freedom and civil liberties. Good luck.
This is good, i like more the version on "Stripped"
 scrubbrush wrote:
I am so, so, so sick of this song that I'm only giving it a 9.

 
{#Roflol}
 


ah, so tender... <3
Everybody talks about Mick and Keef, but Charlie Watts has remained married and faithful to his wife for 48 years.  I think that speaks volumes of Watt's character.

THE STONES ARE INCREDIBLE and in their best moments certainly better than the BEATLES in their best!

Wooow - what a song!


I am so, so, so sick of this song that I'm only giving it a 9.

 
 zigzag wrote:
A long suffering ex-girlfriend died not too long ago.

This was not only one of her favorite songs, it may well have been written with her in mind.

Exquisite song from a rock and roll band who are at their best when they're being honest
 
My condolences on your ex's passing.

Who can truly say when an artist is truly being "honest"?  Great song, no matter what.
A long suffering ex-girlfriend died not too long ago.

This was not only one of her favourite songs, it may well have been written with her in mind.

Exquisite song from a rock and roll band who are at their best when they're being honest. 
Wonderful.


Everybody in my church loves this song...