The Stones were leading the way for many of the band’s
contemporaries by leaving the paisley window dressings behind and returning to a more basic
and refined way of disseminating their music. The ‘Jumping Jack Flash’/ ‘Child
of the Moon’ was the Stones introductory step and single acts as a predecessor to the stellar return to form found
on the upcoming full length Beggars
Banquet which would be released in December of 1968. ‘Child of the Moon’
was constructed from the early 1968 sessions for the record and emanates a druggy
energy running on the exhaust from the Their Satanic
Majesties Request full length released in 1967 and a new found rock/blues inertia
that would initiate the next era of the Rolling Stones music.
The song was reportedly developed during rehearsals and
sessions for Their Satanic Majesties Request
the previous year, but brought to full fruition during the early 1968 sessions of Beggars Banquet. Recording session
information for the Stones is sketchy and scarce so details cannot be confirmed
or denied.The track was produced by Jimmy Miller, who would begin working with
the band in 1968 and assist in developing a string of their most regarded works
concluding with Goats Head Soup in
1973. The song was picked from the sessions to back the aforementioned ‘Jumping
Jack Flash’ single due to the strength of its composition as well as its slight
artistic differences from the more roots oriented approaches of the developing
album. Early takes reveal how the song
developed from an acoustic based arrangement containing folksy finger picked pauses
and Nicky Hopkins watery dramatic grand piano dressings.
The released version of the song would sharpen the smooth
edges of these aforementioned early takes by charging the central Richards riff
with echo and attitude and by adding a substantial and fuzzy bass line by Bill
Wyman that acts as an additional lead instrument. Richards would begin to use his famed ‘open
D’ tuning on the Beggars Banquet album
and this song is also the recipient of the recognizable Richards guitar approach. The
final version finds a perfect and successful balance between the surreal and
the rock solid. The elongated psychotropic verses taffy pull against the undulating
groove. The conclusion of each line is harmonized with a crooked conglomerate of voices.
The tune is driven by the aforementioned Keith Richards lick which is often
answered eagerly by Charlie Watts busy drum rolls. Watts work on the track is especially
impressive as his tom tom rolls dance while carrying an internal melody
exhibited by his drumming prowess.
The song opens with a faded in foggy guitar drone that coagulates
into the lush opening guitar brush through the subject’s thick blonde hair.
Some intelligible screaming (Jagger or Miller) can be discerned over the intro licks
lending the song an immediate touch of madness. Wyman drops in after Watts
introductory roll, his bass line pairing with Jagger’ smooth vocal delivery in
sympathetic harmony. The groove moves along weightlessly only grounded by Watts
heavy drumming. When the chorus enters Brian Jones blows an alien saxophone
that adds 'otherworldly' quality and a unique instrumental fingerprint to an
already anomalous track in the Stones catalog.
The mid song breakdown features the instruments blending into
a starry wash of sound, sustained organ, the lead bass and ringing guitar become a
swirling eddy of sonic expression. Hopkins piano is somewhat hidden in the mix,
but peeks its black and white head from the wash to remind the listener he is
there. The song returns to the verse before closing on the perfect touch of a Richards sitar riff made for guitar closing.
The lyrics of the song comprise a dreamy lunar musical paean to most
obviously Jagger love interest Maryanne Faithful, while also symbolizing the
relationship between his other worldly woman and her mystical ways. The song references the astrological sign of Cancer through its interstellar imagery. The lyrics
elicit a soft rain that hovers on a weightless space rock, the misty air of a
heavy day clearing because of the ‘child’s’ silver smile. The words still retain youthful
innocence acting in contrast to future Stones lyrical escapades about ‘Brown
Sugar’ and ‘Stray Cat Blues’. All Jagger wants and needs from his transcendental
subject is a simple ‘wide awake crescent shaped smile’.
The lyrics and the music coexist in similarity and contrast perfectly, the sound framing the simple imagery with color and detail.
The band made promotional videos for both ‘Jumping Jack
Flash’ and ‘Child of the Moon’ and both are strange, surreal and slightly
threatening. The ‘Child of the Moon’ promo film features the band, high as the celestial body
referenced in the song sneaking around the woods with their eyes firmly on the
female subject. The video views like a classic ‘B’ horror film, with the
subject’s pursuit by these bandanna wearing long hairs documented for odd
posterity. I have included it here for your enjoyment.

Very interesting analysis and a really great song.
ReplyDeleteHi Jim,
DeleteThank you for reading and commenting!