About The Song “Honky Tonk Women”
In this song, Mick Jagger sings about his encounters with two distinct honky-tonk women. The first one is described as a “gin-soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis,” likely implying a prostitute. The second woman is a “divorcée in New York City.” Sometimes, Jagger would introduce it as a “song for all the ladies in the audience.”
Similar to many Rolling Stones songs, it features suggestive lyrics, although they maintain a subtlety that prevents it from being banned by radio stations. British rock bands often wrote lyrics that were vaguely offensive, aligning with BBC guidelines for airplay. An example from this song is the line, “She blew my nose and then she blew my mind,” which implies both cocaine and sex but avoids giving the BBC a specific reason to ban it.
The Stones initially recorded this as a country song, drawing inspiration from Hank Williams’ “Honky Tonk Blues.” However, they transformed it into a rock song for its single release and later released a country version titled “Country Honk” on the album Let It Bleed.
Keith Richards explained during a promotional interview that “‘Honky Tonk Women’ had its origins in Brazil. Mick and I, along with Marianne Faithfull and Anita Pallenberg, who was pregnant with my son at the time, found ourselves on a ranch in the Mato Grosso region. Surrounded by cowboys, horses, and spurs, Mick and I sat on the ranch house porch, toying with an old Hank Williams idea. We felt like genuine cowboys, living in the middle of nowhere, where flushing the toilet made black frogs leap out. It was an unforgettable experience that the ladies enjoyed. Initially, the song had a hokey, country honk vibe, but a few months later, as we were writing and recording, it underwent a metamorphosis, evolving into a swampy, bluesy piece. The transformation was quite inexplicable, but perhaps our experimentation with open tunings played a role in this shift.”
Brian Jones, the founding member and early leader of the group, was replaced by Mick Taylor on lead guitar due to his deteriorating health from drug abuse. Taylor claims credit for the famous guitar riff, even though Richards performs it.
The song’s distinctive cowbell intro was played by producer Jimmy Miller, who set the tempo by striking two small cowbells.
Young drummers often practice this song as it requires them to play complex patterns simultaneously, with hands and feet working independently.
Backing vocals were provided by Reparata & The Delrons, an early ’60s girl group.
Notably, there is no bass in the verses of the song.
The single was given as a gift to fans who assisted in cleaning up after The Stones’ free concert in Hyde Park on July 5, 1969, which marked Mick Taylor’s first performance with the band. A life-sized cutout of Brian Jones, who had passed away three days earlier, remained on stage, and the show was dedicated to him.
The Stones frequently included this song in their live performances, often with dramatic elements. During the Steel Wheels tour in 1989, giant inflatable women were featured in the performance.
Interestingly, this song was banned in China. When the group arranged to perform there in 2003 for the first time, they had to agree not to play this song, along with “Brown Sugar,” “Let’s Spend The Night Together,” and “Beast Of Burden.” However, the performance didn’t happen due to a respiratory disease outbreak in China.
Keith Richards has described this song as challenging to play, saying, “When it’s right, it’s really right. There’s something about the starkness of the beginning you really have to have down, and the tempo has to be just right.”
In a noteworthy collaboration, Chrissie Hynde, the lead singer of The Pretenders, joined The Rolling Stones on stage in Leipzig on June 20, 2003, to perform this song as a duet with Jagger.
Additionally, Rick Nelson released a cover of this song on his 1971 album “Rudy The Fifth.” His version, which leans towards a country style similar to “Country Honk,” was the song that led to him being booed off the stage at Madison Square Garden in 1971 during a “Rock & Roll Revival” show. This experience prompted Nelson to write “Garden Party,” which became a hit song the following year and revitalized his career. In “Garden Party,” he included the line:
“When I sang a song about a Honky Tonk,
It was time to leave.”
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that “Honky Tonk Women” was used as the title for a session of the anime series Cowboy Bebop, where it was used to introduce the “Femme Fatale” character, along with other classic rock songs.
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Lyrics
I met a gin soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis
She tried to take me upstairs for a ride
She had to heave me right across her shoulder
‘Cause I just can’t seem to drink you off my mindIt’s the honky tonk women
That gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk bluesI laid a divorcee in New York City
I had to put up some kind of a fight
The lady then she covered me in roses
She blew my nose and then she blew my mindIt’s the honky tonk women
That gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk bluesIt’s the honky tonk women
That gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues
It’s the honky tonk women
That gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues