Albie's Note: I never actually appreciated the poetry of this Mick Jagger/ Keith Richards composition until one of my oddball heroes Skid Roper recorded this beatnik/country interpretation with his band The Whirling Spurs on the album TRAILS PLOWED UNDER back in 1989. The lyrics have been much debated over the years, but I like to think of the piece as a sort of beat poem about loss and grief... and that endless cyclical phenomenon where humans are always trying to project their pain into the world outside of them.
But then again... maybe I should warn you that Skid's version actually features a prominent Kazoo, so how I took such a serious message away from it no doubt says a lot about me. :)
The excellent female lead vocal here is by band-mate Jayne Robson. Enjoy.
“Paint It Black”
I see a red door and I want it painted blackNo colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
I see a line of cars and they’re all painted black
With flowers and my love, both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a newborn baby it just happens ev’ryday
I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door and it has been painted black
Maybe then I’ll fade away and not have to face the facts
It’s not easy facing up when your whole world is black
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not forsee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the setting sun
My love will laugh with me before the morning comes
I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
Hmm, hmm, hmm…
I wanna see it painted black, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun, blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black
Yeah
PEACE
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