Paint it Black - The Rolling Stones
Released 60 years ago this month.
My favourite Stones song.
It’s a song about loss and the gloom and despair one feels during that process.
It is a song about how those who have suffered a sudden loss, and can’t bear that life must go on without their lover – the mourning has veiled an appreciation for the vibrant colors around us, (“I want them to turn black”), and can’t even consider anyone else in his present state; “I have to turn my head,” he sings, “until my darkness goes.”
As the song rides out, seemingly sinking deeper and deeper into suffering. “It’s not easy facing up,” is the lament, “when your whole world is black.”
