(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Sun 25 January 2026 18:36, UK
The power of rock ‘n’ roll lays in the energy that is exuded in a song and the feeling that it provokes in the listener, which The Rolling Stones have mastered as a craft.
When a band has the charismatic presence of Mick Jagger, the human riff machine Keith Richards and the late great Charlie Watts setting the tempo, it was hard to fail. The chemistry that The Rolling Stones had in the studio was impossible to replicate, and could even make songs with undiscernible lyrics still be an earworm.
Admittedly, a set of lyrics being confusing to the listener is one thing, but it’s still expected that the person singing the song has a deeper understanding of the words leaving their mouth. However, that wasn’t the case with ‘Let It Loose’, which even Jagger found to be a source of befuddlement.
During the early days of the band, the songwriting was a collective process shared between Jagger and Richards. Naturally, as the years passed, they would write together in the same room less and less as their lives became more separated.
When Jagger and Richards first started the band, they were joined at the hip, devoting every moment of their day to the Rolling Stones. Then, in the blink of an eye, they were fathers with considerable commitments, which meant they could no longer spend as much time as possible writing songs with one another.
Mick Jagger and songwriting partner Keith Richards. (Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Nonetheless, writing in an ad-hoc way was still successful for the band. Even though their methods had changed, Jagger and Richards still kept the hits coming. However, because of the separation, it meant the song’s meaning was occasionally lost between band members. Therefore, on occasion, like ‘Let It Loose’ Jagger sang lyrics by Richards, which went over his head.
When speaking about their methods, Richards once remarked, “I mean there was a time when Mick and I used to write face-to-face all the time. But we were on the road then.”
Using ‘Mixed Emotions’ as an example of how this changed, he added, “Now we can bring ideas to each other, and sometimes it’s strange – we hadn’t seen each other for maybe five or six months, and we get together and funny enough, we’d each have written a piece of music that actually fits together even though we haven’t been in communication with each other”.
‘Let It Loose’ arrived in 1972 on Exile on Main St. The lyrics, written by Richards, are seemingly about love and lost about a relationship that has broken down. It knowingly contradicts itself throughout the song, which only adds to the sadness that bleeds out of every note.
Jagger’s vocals are spectacular; he sings the song like he believes every word, but he later claimed to be none the wiser about the subject matter.
Speaking with Uncut in 2010, he said, “I think Keith wrote that, actually. That’s a very weird, difficult song. I had a whole other set of lyrics to it, but they got lost by the wayside. I don’t think that song has any semblance of meaning. It’s one of those rambling songs. I didn’t really understand what it was about, after the event”.
Despite not being familiar with the meaning behind the lyrics, Jagger still poured his heart and soul into his vocal performance, which is the mark of a consummate professional. Even if the lyrics don’t make sense from a narrative perspective, rock ‘n’ roll doesn’t have to. Vitally, the other elements of the song combine to make ‘Let It Loose’ one of the most heart-wrenching in The Stones’ back catalogue.
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