THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

452-Marianne Faithfull-As Tears Go By.

1964-Number 9 single.

Best Bit-At 0.16. This was the first classic song jointly written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Up until they wrote this song The Rolling Stones (see also best songs 933-662-160 and 77) were a band who mainly covered American Blues and R&B songs, but their manager Andrew Loog Oldham could see far more potential in the two young men.It is said that Oldham locked Jagger and Richards in a kitchen, telling them that they couldn’t come out, not even to go to the toilet until they had come up with what he called, ‘A song with brick walls all around it, high windows and no sex.’ On the completion of the composition Jagger and Richards thought it was a terrible song, Richards has said,’We came out and played it to Andrew and he said ‘It’s a hit.’ We actually sold this stuff, and it actually made money. Mick and I were thinking, this is money for old rope.’Initially Jagger and Richards thought the song did not fit in with the ‘Rock N’ Roll’ image that The Rolling Stones were attempting to portray, and therefore the song was offered to the then 17 year old Marianne Faithfull who was also under the management of Andrew Loog Oldham. The song became the breakthrough hit for Faithfull in 1964, with The Rolling Stones recording their own version in 1965 for their Album ‘December’s Children (And Everybody’s.’) The song was also released by the Stones in America where it reached Number 6 on Billboard, but in the UK it only appeared as the ‘B’ side of the 1966 single ’19th Nervous Breakdown.’

Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull was born on December 29th, 1946, in Hampstead, London, she is a singer, songwriter, and actress. She has released 22 studio Albums between 1965-2021, and 27 singles, of which five have reached the UK top 40, and four have charted on Billboard. Faithfull has been married three times, and was also involved in a romantic affair with Mick Jagger between 1966-1970. She has suffered from drug addiction during her adult life, which affected her voice after a severe case of laryngitis, permanently altering her singing leaving it raspy, and in a lower pitch, which some music critics have praised for sounding ‘whiskey soaked,’ and helping to capture the raw emotions expressed in her songs.

‘As Tears Go By’ was written by Mick Jagger who provided the lyrics, and Keith Richards who wrote the melody, Andrew Loog Oldham is also credited as a co-writer. When the the song was first written it was called ‘As Time Goes By,’ but as to avoid any confusion with the song from ‘Casablanca,’ (see also best songs 651) it was Oldham who suggested ‘As Tears Go By. Music critics have commended Jagger on his song lyrics saying that they are very worldly wise for a 21 year old to have written. The songs subject is one of regret with the narrator looking back on his life. He sees children playing, a thing he used to do, he knows that they have choices to make in front of them, but when he made his choices, he made the wrong ones.

‘It is the evening of the day, I sit and watch the children play. Smiling faces I can see, but not for me, I sit and watch as tears go by.’