Happy 69th birthday, Mick Jagger. In honor of the man himself, I give you this quote. I totally relate to it; it's so easy (and sometimes so important) to lose yourself in a person as you fall in love with them, in a place you've never been before, in the meaningful work that you do. And that's totally fine. As long as you can pull yourself back every once in a while, or when it gets to be too much, and say: here I am, I am still me, and I am fine. Life is all about balance, and I think that's what Mick is getting at.
Or maybe he's trying to say that you can do as many drugs as you want as long as you eventually scale it back. But I like my philosophical interpretation better (my favorite Stones song after the jump).
The song "Let It Loose" is probably one of my all time favorite songs. I know, I know, first a post about how much I love Hemingway, now a post about how much I love the Rolling Stones? Get original, Charlotte. But there's a reason both the writer and the band are as famous as they are: they're as good as it gets.
My favorite memory of listening to "Let It Loose" comes from when I was seventeen, on a small island off the coast of Maine. I was with friends, lying in the damp grass at night, staring at the star-studded sky, as it played out of a sound system run off a car-battery. It's the perfect song to sink into; it builds up slowly and powerfully. I dare you to try not to start screaming along with Mick towards the end.
Some cool facts about the song: Dr. John and Joe Green sing backup vocals on the original recording, some of the lyrics are taken from the song "Man of Constant Sorrow," and Jagger wrote this number after hearing a gospel choir. The Stones have never performed it live.
And now, le song: