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Shine a Light (The Rolling Stones song)

"Shine a Light"
Song by The Rolling Stones from the album Exile on Main St.
Released 12 May 1972
Recorded December 1971
Genre Rock, gospel
Length 4:16
Label Rolling Stones/Virgin
Writer(s) Jagger/Richards
Producer(s) Jimmy Miller
Exile on Main St. track listing

"Shine a Light" is a song featured on British rock and roll band the Rolling Stones' 1972 album Exile on Main St.

Although credited to usual Stones writers Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Shine a Light" was largely a Jagger composition. He began writing the song in early 1968 when the Stones still had guitarist Brian Jones as a member. The song was originally titled "Get a Line on You" and dealt with Jones' ever-worsening addiction to drugs and his detachment from the rest of the band:

Saw you stretched out, in-a-room ten oh nine; A smile on your face, and tear in your eye; Could not seem to get a line on you; I could not seem to get a line on you; Oh sweet, sweet honey lover. Your Berber jewelry is jangling down the street; Smile on your face for every high school girl that you meet; I could not seem to get a line on you; Could not seem to get-a high on you; My, my sweet, sweet honey lover, now, oh'

A version of the song, under the title "(Can't Seem To) Get a Line on You," was made by Leon Russell at Olympic Studios in October 1969 with assistance from Jagger (lead vocals), Charlie Watts (drums), Leon Russell (piano), and probably also Bill Wyman (bass) and Mick Taylor (guitar). The recording was made during the recording sessions for the album Leon Russell (released 1970), where both Watts and Wyman contributed drums and bass to some of the tracks. However, the song was shelved until 1993, when it finally surfaced as a bonus track on the 24K gold re-release by DCC Compact Classics (DCC Compact Classics GZS 1049).

After Jones' death in 1969, the song resurfaced. Following revisions by Jagger, it was recorded again in July 1970 as "Shine a Light." A third recording at London's Olympic Sound Studios in December 1971 resulted in the final version of the song released on Exile on Main St.

Saw you stretched out in Room Ten O Nine; With a smile on your face and a tear right in your eye; Oh, couldn't see to get a line on you, my sweet honey love. Berber jewelry jangling down the street; Making bloodshot eyes at every woman that you meet; Could not seem to get a high on you, my sweet honey love'


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