Paint It, Black

"Paint It, Black" is a song recorded by The Rolling Stones in 1966. It reached number one in both the U.S. and the UK charts. It was released as a single and on the album Aftermath (U.S. version).

Song

The song was credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards although all of the bandmembers contributed substantially to it, especially Bill Wyman, and leader/founder Brian Jones.

Jagger's and Richards' original conception of the song was that of a slow soul song from the viewpoint of a person who is depressed. He wants everything to turn black to match his mood.

The song began with Wyman playing organ at a recording session, in parody of the group's former co-manager Eric Easton, who had been an organist. Charlie Watts accompanied the organ by playing a vaguely Middle Eastern drum part; Watts' drum pattern became the basis for the final song. Brian Jones contributed the song's signature sitar riff (having taught himself to play), and Jagger contributed a lyric seemingly about a man mourning his dead girlfriend.

In 2004 it was ranked #174 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Cultural references

In recent years, the song has become associated with the Vietnam War due to its use in the ending credits of Full Metal Jacket and the opening credits of Tour of Duty. It was also used in 2004 in an episode-ending montage in the NBC television show American Dreams, when a major character went missing in Vietnam. Its other film appearances include For Love of the Game and the closing credits of 1997's The Devil's Advocate. The pilot of Nip/Tuck TV show also uses the Rolling Stone's version of the song. The song, as covered by Gob, was also featured in the film Stir of Echoes. The Gob cover also plays over the end credits of the 2004 mini-series of 'Salem's Lot (2004 TV mini-series) A French version of the song, performed by Marie Laforet, appears in the 2006 film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and an alternative version appears on commercials for The Sopranos on A&E.

"Paint It, Black" was also used in three video game titles. Conflict: Vietnam used the song during the opening sequence, while Twisted Metal: Black used the beginning of the song in the opening screen, then the whole song again in its end credits. A version of the karaoke game SingStar also features "Paint It Black".

There is a common mondegreen in most internet renditions of the lyrics, including the lyrics link below. Most internet websites quote the second time the song mentions the "red door" as:

I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door and it has been painted black

The song actually says:

I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door, I must have it painted black

Cover versions

"Paint It, Black" has also been covered by many different bands and music artists, including (but not limited to); 3 Steps Ahead, After Hours, The Agony Scene, The Animals, Anti-Nowhere League, At all cost ,Astrovamps, The Avengers, The Black Dahlia Murder, Blondie, Bullet Train to Moscow, Vanessa Carlton, Deadsy, Deep Purple, Destrophy, Duran Duran, Earth Crisis, Echo and the Bunnymen, Einherjer, Face to Face, Hikaru Utada, The Feelies, Firewater, Gina Glocksen,Gob, Karel Gott (in German as Schwarz und Rot), Half Japanese, Hampton String Quartet, The Hypertonics, Incubus, Inkubus Sukkubus, Judas Priest, Marie Laforêt, Jonny Lang, Led Zeppelin, Ottmar Liebert, Living Another Yesterday, The London Symphony Orchestra with Marc Almond, Marduk, Mephisto Walz, Spanish bands M-Clan and Medina Azahara, Metallica, The Mighty Lemon Drops, Los Mockers, No Friends Of Harry, Kalan Porter, Rage, R.E.M., The Residents, Rush, Screaming Dead, Skrewdriver, Statemachine, The Tea Party, Television, Three Sixes, Glenn Tipton, U2, Ümlaut, The Unseen, The Vines, Rick Wakeman, War (and Eric Burdon) and W.A.S.P.. The song was also covered by country singer Tracy Lawrence, as part of the Stone Country album, featuring prominent country acts covering Stones classics. The song was often performed by Virginia punk legends The Rubouts, where they would play the entire song without any lights on in the venue. There is also a unique electronica song of the same name by Hrvatski which borrows elements from the Rolling Stones version. Isaac Brock's indie side project Ugly Casanova has also referenced the song in "Barnacles". Paint It Black is also redone as a techno cover by the Techno group VNV Nation

Paint It Black is also the name of an album from Virgin Records released in the United States on October 3, 2006, which features covers of well-known Rolling Stones songs by a variety of artists.

At 0:48 in the song "At This Hour" on the Spin Doctors' "Turn It Upside Down" album, they sing "You see a red door and you want to paint it black", a probable reference to this album by the Stones.

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