A Hit! (And a Miss... )

You know, it’s fun and instructive to analyze a song you like or even just sorta like. But it’s also an interesting challenge to critique a song that, IMO, doesn’t really work well from a songwriter’s perspective.

Sorry, Rolling Stones. I’m gonna throw a bit o’ shade on one of your songs. But you’re big boys - you can take it.

The song is "Fool To Cry". And this piece - written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards - was actually one of their hits. Some of you Rolling Stones fans may disagree with my critique - that’s OK! Music appreciation is subjective and personal, so if you really dig this song, rock on!

Let us proceed.

The lyrics. Oy. I’ll give Mick and Keith credit for their heartfelt words, but the story is pretty empty, frankly. There’s this hard-working dude who apparently cries a lot due to his “troubles”, and two supportive females (daughter and lover) who chide him for this, but in a nice way. That’s pretty much all we know. We the listeners are left to fill in the rest. That’s a huge narrative gap.

And then we are subjected to the chorus. My theory is that the Stones fell in love with the sound of their own falsettos on the “oo oo’s” spiked throughout the chorus. So they repeated those. A lot. Like, a real lot. 

Melody? Not much. Most of the verse lyrics are spoken-ish. The song has a slow but forgettable rhythmic pattern that fits the general downer vibe of the song. Chord progression is standard, although the swing into the relative minor key late in the song is an interesting twist.

I think the arrangement is actually nice - heavy on the organ, but fitting perfectly with the rest of the song elements. And finally, Mick’s performance is spot-on here. He takes a pretty dull song and spices it up liberally with “yeah’s”, “gotta tell ya’s”, “come on’s” and other rock ballad tropes. Those are can’t-miss embellishments when the rest of the song is a gray sack dress.

Honestly, if someone other than the Rolling Stones (at this point in their career) had brought “Fool To Cry” forward to be promoted onto radio playlists, I doubt it would have made much of an impression. A single signature song that broke through for the Stones in 1965 - (“I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” - laid the groundwork for a less-than-impressive ballad like “Fool To Cry” to muscle its way into rock and roll history.

Peace out.