Rough Justice (The Rolling Stones song)
Encyclopedia
"Rough Justice" is the opening track to rock and roll band The Rolling Stones
' 2005 album A Bigger Bang
.
, "Rough Justice" was a heavily collaborative effort like many of the lead singer and guitarist's latter-day compositions. On the writing, Richards said in 2005, "That came to me in my sleep. It's almost like "Satisfaction
". Yeah, I almost sort of woke up and said, 'Where's my guitar?' Sometimes you do dream a riff
, you know? I had to get up, and it's really hard to get me up. Once I go down, I go down, you know? But, I mean, it's only a song that could get me up and start running around the room, 'Where's my guitar, where did I put my guitar, before I forget it?' I don't often remember dreams, only when they're musical."
A straight ahead rocker, but sets the scene of a long time, up and down, love affair between the singer and the subject:
, including the song's opening intro and solo. Darryl Jones
performs bass while Charlie Watts
performs drums. Chuck Leavell
performs the song's piano.
. In the US
, the song peaked at #25 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks
chart.
The song has been performed heavily by the Stones on their A Bigger Bang Tour
and is featured on their latest concert DVD release, The Biggest Bang
. It was also one of the three songs played by the Stones during the halftime show for Super Bowl XL
although the word "cocks" was censored on the ABC
broadcast.
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
' 2005 album A Bigger Bang
A Bigger Bang
A Bigger Bang is the 22nd British and 24th American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released on Virgin Records in September 2005. It is a follow-up to their previous full-length studio album Bridges to Babylon from 1997, that gap of eight years the longest between studio albums of the band's...
.
History
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith RichardsJagger/Richards
The songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, known as Jagger/Richards , is a musical collaboration whose output has produced the majority of the catalogue of The Rolling Stones....
, "Rough Justice" was a heavily collaborative effort like many of the lead singer and guitarist's latter-day compositions. On the writing, Richards said in 2005, "That came to me in my sleep. It's almost like "Satisfaction
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
" Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in 1965. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. Richards's throwaway three-note guitar riff — intended to be replaced by horns — opens and drives the song...
". Yeah, I almost sort of woke up and said, 'Where's my guitar?' Sometimes you do dream a riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
, you know? I had to get up, and it's really hard to get me up. Once I go down, I go down, you know? But, I mean, it's only a song that could get me up and start running around the room, 'Where's my guitar, where did I put my guitar, before I forget it?' I don't often remember dreams, only when they're musical."
A straight ahead rocker, but sets the scene of a long time, up and down, love affair between the singer and the subject:
Recording
Recording began at La Fourchette, Posé sur Cisse, France in June 2005. With Jagger on lead vocals and backing electric rhythm guitar, Richards performs electric rhythm (including the riff). Ronnie Wood performs the song's distinct electric slide guitarSlide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
, including the song's opening intro and solo. Darryl Jones
Darryl Jones
Darryl Jones , also known as "The Munch", is an American bass guitarist. Jones began his notable career as a session musician, where he gained the experience and confidence to play with some of the most highly regarded recording artists, in jazz, blues, and rock music...
performs bass while Charlie Watts
Charlie Watts
Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts is an English drummer, best known as a member of The Rolling Stones. He is also the leader of a jazz band, a record producer, commercial artist, and horse breeder.-Early life:...
performs drums. Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell is an American pianist and keyboardist, who was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their popularity, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a frequently-employed session musician, and later, the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling...
performs the song's piano.
Release and aftermath
"Rough Justice" was released as a double A-side with "Streets of Love" on 22 August 2005. It charted at #15 on the UK Singles ChartUK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. In the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the song peaked at #25 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
chart.
The song has been performed heavily by the Stones on their A Bigger Bang Tour
A Bigger Bang Tour
A Bigger Bang Tour was a worldwide concert tour by The Rolling Stones which took place between August 2005 and August 2007, in support of their album A Bigger Bang...
and is featured on their latest concert DVD release, The Biggest Bang
The Biggest Bang
The Biggest Bang is a four-disc concert DVD/BD collection released by the Rolling Stones. The collection documents several shows from the band's 2005-2006 legs of the A Bigger Bang Tour. The DVD debuted at #1 on Billboard's music video chart selling 20,422 copies during the first week and has...
. It was also one of the three songs played by the Stones during the halftime show for Super Bowl XL
Super Bowl XL
Super Bowl XL was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League champion for the 2005 season...
although the word "cocks" was censored on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
broadcast.