Winning
Ugly
Composers: Mick
Jagger & Keith Richards
Recording date: July-December
1985
Recording locations: RPM Studios & Right Track Studios, New York
City, USA
Producers: Steve
Lillywhite & The Glimmer Twins
Chief engineer:
Dave Jerden
Never performed onstage


Probable line-up:
Drums: Charlie
Watts
Bass: John
Regan
Electric guitars: Keith
Richards & Ron Wood
Lead vocal: Mick
Jagger
Background vocals: Mick
Jagger, Janice
Pendarvis & Dollette McDonald
Synthesizer: Chuck
Leavell
I want to be on top, forever on the up
And damn the competition
I never play it fair, I never turn a hair
Just like the politicians
I wrap my conscience up, I want to win that
cup
And get my money baby
But back in the dressing room
The other side is weeping
And we're winning, winning ugly
And we're winning, winning ugly
And we're heading for the heartbreak
Heading for the blues - yeah
And we're heading for the heartbreak
Heading for the blues
And we're winning, winning ugly
I will not act unkind
I will not be so blind
I will not walk so proud
Come down from off
my cloud
How can I live my life this way?
Beauty is staring me in the face
Ain't that the truth?
Ain't that the truth?
Hold on
Come on girl
Come on girl
Look out for number one, my country right or
wrong
Let the devil take the hindmost
I was brought up to cheat so long as the referee
Wasn't looking
I'm never wrong at all, I always fight the
call
I don't admit it
But back in the dressing room
The other side is screaming
And we're winning, winning ugly - yeah
And we're winning, winning ugly
And we're heading for the heartbreak
Heading for the blues - yeah
And we're heading for the heartbreak
Heading for the blues - yes
And we're winning, winning ugly
I will not act unkind
I will not be so blind
I will not walk so proud
Come down from off
my cloud
How can I live my life this way?
Beauty is staring me in the face
Ain't that the truth?
Ain't that the truth?
Come on, baby
Come on, girl
A little bit louder
Walk a little bit prouder
Pretty, pretty, pretty
Yes
And we're winning, winning ugly - that's all right
Winning, winning, winning ugly - come on girl
Watch me sinning, winning, winning ugly
And we're winning, winning, winning ugly - winning ugly
Come on, stay on it, stay on it girl, stay on it girl (winning, winning ugly)
Come on, it's all right, it's all right (winning, winning ugly)
TrackTalk
That was cut pretty fast.
-
Dave Jerden
The original track had two guitars, Woody
and me, and then I think we put another couple on there that we used in
and out. Then there's that lick: everybody keeps asking me to show them
how to play it. I feel like I could make a living off teaching guitar players
how to play that lick (laughs). But it's dead simple, just a slightly elongated
version of Tumbling Dice - to me, at least. It's the same shapes,
the same fingerings, just sort of drawn out a bit... That riff reminds
me of an early Motown thing, a Marvin Gaye thing like Stubborn Kind
of Fellow or You're a Wonderful One or Can I Get a Witness.
It's a basic Motown riff, really; we've just jazzed it up with some technology.
-
Keith Richards, 1985
(The upstroke guitar playing section) comes
from Ronnie and me hanging around for a while in Mexico, 'cause we started
to learn all those fandangos, where you pull back on the strings from the
top down.
-
Keith Richards, 1985
Keith used Ronnie's blonde '57 Strat through
a Boogie (amp) and came up with that great lick which flows through the
song.
-
Alan Rogan, guitar technician
I mean, I'll go for almost anything in a song
if I think it's good - 'cause I'll write it from the standpoint of someone
else. Then I can show the subject in its bad light. There are uncomfortable
subjects, but you don't have to imply that you're endorsing it. You have
to be able to write around it, from the point of view of someone else.
There were certain songs on Dirty Work that were done that way.
-
Mick Jagger, 1987
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