It was the opening track on his first solo album.Д¬ommenters who employ what we deem extreme vulgarity in a comment - вЂњs***,вЂќ вЂњf***,вЂќ вЂњa*******,вЂќ or one of their many variants - will be banned without further notice.James 'Rooster' Olson on turning pedal-board creations into art with Trailer Trash PedalboardsДЄfter playing with Denver-based bands including G-Force and Autobahn in Here is the Stones version of вЂњStreet Fighting Man.вЂќ

I donвЂ™t think you have to be Cleanth Brooks to understand that the Stones were not advocating violence or revolution, either in вЂњSympathy for the DevilвЂќ or вЂњStreet Fighting Man.вЂќ Lucifer places it in his list of accomplishments: In the course of the song he claims credit for the Russian revolution. The album opens with вЂњSympathy for the Devil.вЂќ In вЂњSympathyвЂќ Jagger adopts another persona - the persona of the devil. Looking at the album, however, the technique of adopting a persona for narrative purposes is obvious, and it is the key to вЂњStreet Fighting Man.вЂќ IвЂ™m a New Critical kind of guy and want to stay within the the song itself to explicate it. вЂњStreet Fighting ManвЂќ opens side 2 of Beggars Banquet. This is not вЂњImagine,вЂќ either in the lyrics or the music. The ambivalence belies the attraction to the revolution. In other words, each of the verses is undercut by the chorus. This revolution thing - itвЂ™s a rich manвЂ™s game, or a rich manвЂ™s indulgence. ThereвЂ™s no place for a street fighting man in London. And his fellow citizens arenвЂ™t in the least interested. The narrator - itвЂ™s not Jagger - canвЂ™t afford to partake. ThereвЂ™s just no place for a street fighting man In each case, however, the chorus undercuts the daydreaming with cold reality: Four verses give us his train of thought. In his dreams he wants to take it to the streets and shake things up. He seems to be daydreaming or fantasizing about revolution. The lyrics present the persona of a poor musician struggling to make a living in a rock and roll band. Putting the lyrics aside, it is a great rock song - unlike вЂњImagine.вЂќДoes the song advocate revolution or revolutionary violence? I donвЂ™t think so.

The playing, the production, the intensity of the track are self-evident. Marc Myers debriefed Keith Richards on how the song came to be on the occasion of RichardsвЂ™s seventieth birthday in the terrific Wall Street Journal column вЂњKeith Richards: вЂI Had a Sound in My Head That Was Bugging Me.'вЂќ For more in the way of background on the song, see RichardsвЂ™s Life at pages 250-251.

I think this is obtuse and would like briefly to make my case for the excellence of the song. вЂњThe song вЂњis the Stones equivalent of вЂImagineвЂ™ вЂ“ insincere, infantile, unworthy,вЂќ one commenter asserted. A good time was had by all, or almost all.ДЄ commenter or two objected to the inclusion of вЂњStreet Fighting ManвЂќ in my lineup. Most commenters understood my appreciation. I celebrated Mick JaggerвЂ™s birthday this past Monday in вЂњSome kind of a fight.вЂќ I plucked the Rolling Stones song вЂњStreet Fighting ManвЂќ from Beggars Banquet for my lineup of songs illustrating, ah, JaggerвЂ™s virtues.

Who sings big rich town on power joe