“Misty Road” by The Rolling Stones
The lyrics of The Rolling Stones’ “Misty Road” are honestly not the easiest to understand, whether specifically or comprehensively. This may explain why this song was never officially released. Or perhaps lack of publication of this song is due to the fact that Mick freely mentions him and the addressee, who is obviously a romantic interest, partaking of “hero-n and booze” in the final verse.
But what it sounds like is that the “misty road” is a metaphor pointing to the vocalist actually getting into a relationship with this lady and more specifically one of a sexual nature. And the reason such terminology is used apparently has something to do with having sex with her being a mysterious – for lack of a better word – affair. It may even be that said addressee is a virgin, which is why early on she proclaims “ain’t nobody take the misty road”. But anyway, she’s obviously feeling the vocalist. So he’s able to celebrate being on the verge of “galloping… down the misty road”.
Going back to the drug references, it appears that Mick and the addressee end up getting arrested, i.e. being faced with “a locked up case”, as a result of partaking of such. So it may be that he’s speaking to a real-life experience, or something like that.
To note in 1967 Jagger was arrested, on a drug charge, alongside Marianne Faithfull, the fellow singer he was dating at the time. However, attempting to apply that particular situation to the narrative of “Misty Road” would be stretching things a bit.
Facts about “Misty Road”
“Misty Road” was never officially released. But what is known is that The Rolling Stones recorded it in early 1978. This was the same year they put out their album “Some Girls”.
This song was written by the two members of the Stones who have been around since day one (and are still part of the band to this day). These members are: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
Ian Stewart (1938-1985) was not only The Rolling Stones’ road manager but also the band’s pianist for a couple of decades (as well as one of the co-founders of the crew). Ian also participated on the recording of this track.
For the record, the official members of The Stones in 1978, besides Jagger and Richards, were as follows:
- guitarist Ronnie Wood (who is also still a member as of the writing of this post)
- bassist Bill Wyman
- the late Charlie Watts (1941-2021) on drums.
“Misty Road”, which is also known in some circles as “The Way She Held Me Tight”, was recorded at EMI Pathé Marconi Studios, which was apparently an EMI Studios branch located in Paris.
