Rev 20 Redlights wrote on Jun 17
th, 2008 at 7:45am:
> One of the best songs from Mick's solo career.
Mick agrees, stating recently that he regrets leaving it off his "best of".
But as for being about Keith, no. There are many many Mick lyrics that
touch on Keith, but this is not one of them. This is about his audience,
about how they were mostly giving up partying, giving up rock and roll,
for the pursuit of money. And how, therefore, he and the Rolling Stones
would do the same.
Keith of course, for better and for worse, has never given up anything.
Interesting analysis, even though I disagree.
Keith pretty much admits to giving up on his relationship with Mick in the mid 80s, hence his admission that signing a record contract with Virgin (which he had done around the time this song was recorded) was "an admission that I couldnt keep my band together". "You Dont Move Me", which he wrote about Mick a few months later, strikes me as the thoughts of a man who's all but reached the end of his tether.
"Primitive Cool" has a few songs which are quite evidently written with Keith in mind - Shoot off Your Mouth and Kow Tow to name two - this one is also one, in my opinion, but written as a more affectionate and wistful farewell to their fractured relationship compared to the other two.
It wouldnt be the first time theyve written about each other through the 3rd person of a relationship with a female ("Worried about You" being another probable example). A lot of the lyrics strike me as quite blatantly referring to his old sparring partner, especially the "honky tonk" reference and the line about "your crazy ways through the whisky haze".
To me, its a song written about the probable demise of the band as things stood in 1986-87 due to the seemingly unbreachable impasse between Mick and Keith.
You used to be my party doll
But now you say the party's over
You used to love to honky tonk
But now the honky tonking's over
Now life is a bitter thing, my sweet
Now life is a mystery to me
Love's pain, I ain't buying
Love's strange. I keep trying, trying, trying
You used to be my party doll
But now you want to live in clover
You used to be my number one
But now those salad days are over
Times change but fascination stays
Love wins but the passion just fades
I'll drink to the dancing days
I'll drink to your crazy ways
Through the whiskey haze
Face the music, face the truth
Chase that fleet sweet bird of youth
Grow up sweetly, grow up strong
Hear the heartbeat, in my song
Love's pain, I ain't buying
Love's strange. I keep trying, trying, trying
You used to be my party doll
But now you say the party's over
You used to love to honky tonk
But now those dancing days are over
You used to be my number one
But now you vanished in the ozone
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Partydoll.....Finally the Whole Thing!! (Read 2,042 times)
