Biggest Mistake

Composers: Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
Recording date: November-December 2004, March-April & June 2005
Recording locations: La Fourchette, Posé sur Cisse, France & Ocean Way Recording Studios, Los Angeles, USA
Producers: Don Was & The Glimmer Twins     Chief engineer: Krish Sharma
Mixer: Jack Joseph Puig         Never performed onstage

Probable line-up:

Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Darryl Jones
Acoustic guitars: Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
Electric guitars: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards & Ron Wood
Organ: Chuck Leavell
Lead vocals: Mick Jagger
Backing vocals: Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
 

(Ooh ooh ooh ooh)
(Ooh ooh ooh)

When love comes so late, it'll really hit hard
It slams through the gate, it'll catch you off guard
And everyone said, What a perfect love match
Cause she is so smart, she's a hell of a catch

I was drinking in love, gulping it down
Drifting for months on a billowing cloud
But after a while I start to rebel
I'm back in the past and I'm raising up hell

But I think I've just made
The biggest mistake of my life
And I think I've just made
The biggest mistake of my life

We'd been living together for over a year
The harmony's perfect, it rang loud and clear
But then very slowly, my nerves started to fray
It's the little things, baby, that's what they say

I acted impatient, I acted unkind
I took her for granted, I played with her mind
She didn't deserve it but it was too late
I walked out the door and left her to her fate

But I think I've just made
The biggest mistake of my life
And I think I've just made
The biggest mistake of my life

(Ooh ooh ooh ooh) Mm mm
(Ooh ooh ooh ooh) Mm mm
(Ooh ooh ooh) Mm mm mm mm

Now I'm down in a slump and I'm eating alone
I'm rueing the day with some friends on the phone
I never go out, I'm becoming a grouch
I just watch the TV and I drink on the couch

But if love comes again, I'll be really surprised
I'll grab it real fast, keep it right in my sights

Cause I think I've just made
The biggest mistake of my life
Well I think I've just made
The biggest mistake of my life

Well I think I've just made
The biggest mistake of my life - mm mm mm

(Ooh ooh ooh ooh) Mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm
(Ooh ooh ooh ooh) Mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm
(Ooh ooh ooh ooh) Mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm
(Ooh ooh ooh ooh) Mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm
(Ooh ooh)


 

TrackTalk

Of course, you are as vulnerable as anyone else. It's crazy to think someone can't be hurt just because he's famous or he struts across a stage. If you go back through Stones albums, I'm sure you'll find vulnerability along with the swagger. It may not have
been as easy to see, though, because it's not my temperament to share that feeling. I've often hid my feelings with humor. This time the songs were written very quickly, and I was in a certain frame of mind. I thought about some of the words afterward to see whether they were too personal, but I decided to just let them stay. Keith was very encouraging... Translating that vulnerability into a song is very cathartic for you. You have to write it down and examine it and decide what you wanted to
share. There's something in the process that helped me get past the hurt it.

- Mick Jagger, 2005


I thought it was about time (Mick) owned up and stepped out of that closed shell. I know he went through bad periods, even if he didn't want to write about it. I used to wrestle with that too. As a writer, you don't want to bore people with your own story. But you eventually realize that you're not the only one who is lonely or having problems.

- Keith Richards, 2005

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