Melody

Composers: Mick Jagger & Keith Richards  (Inspiration by Billy Preston)
Recording date: January, October & December 1975 & January-February 1976
Recording locations:  Rolling Stones Mobile Unit, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Mountain Recording Studios, Montreux, Switzerland;

Musicland Studios, Munich, West Germany; & Atlantic Studios, New York City

Producers: The Glimmer Twins       Chief engineers: Keith Harwood, Glyn Johns & Lew Hahn
Performed onstage: 1977, 1999

Line-up:

Drums: Charlie Watts
Foot stomp: Mick Jagger
Bass: Bill Wyman
Electric guitar: Keith Richards
Lead vocal: Mick Jagger
Harmony vocal: Billy Preston
Piano: Billy Preston
Organ: Billy Preston
Horns: (unknown musicians)
Percussion: Ollie Brown
Handclaps: ---
 

Melody, melody
It was her second name
Melody, melody
It was her second name

Melody, melody, yeah
It was her second name
Melody, melody
It was her second name

I came home one morning about a quarter to 3
I'm banging on my door 'cause I just lost my key
Open up baby, you've got someone else inside
I'm going to come and get you dead or alive

Melody, melody

It was her second name
Melody, melody, yeah
It was her second name

Melody, melody, yeah
It was her second name
Melody, melody, yeah
It was her second name

I took her out dancing but she drank away my cash
She said I'm going to fix my face, don't you worry I'll be back
I'm looking for her high and low like a mustard for a ham
She was crashed out in the bathroom in the arms of my best friend

Melody, melody

It was her second name
Melody, melody
It was her second name

Melody, melody, yeah
It was her second name
Melody, melody, yeah
It was her second name

Melody, melody
It was her second name
Melody
It was her second name

Then one day she left me, she took everything that moved
My car, she took my trailer home, she took my Sunday boots
My nose is on her trail, I'm going to catch her by surprise
And then I'm going to have the pleasure to roast that child alive

What I say?
It was her second name
Melody, melody
It was her second name

Melody, oh
It was her second name
Melody, melody, well
It was her second name

Melody, oh
It was her second name
Melody, melody, well
It was her second name

Yeah, yeah, yeah baby
It was her second name
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
It was her second name

Uh...

So...
So...
Yeah, yeah
Melody was her second name

Melody was her second name

Ah sweet, sweet, sweet baby - baby
Ooh ooh yeah, sweet melody - sweet melody

Melody, melody, melody, melody

Melody, melody, melody, melody

Melody, melody, melody, melody

Melody, melody, melody - oh

Baby
Sweet baby
Ooh...

Baby
Ow baby


Two more times

Melody, melody, yeah
It was her second name
Melody, melody
It was her second name

Melody

 
 

TrackTalk

Actually, I do really like it. What it is, it sort of came out of something that Billy [Preston] and I were messing around with, just piano and voice. It's got an incredible amount of overdub now, but down in the nitty-gritty it's really just a rhythm section and voice, very simple, sort of four-to-the-bar kind of bass line and drums, sort of old-fashioned rhythm. And it's a duet, me and Billy... I wouldn't say that (he's playing a kind of coctail piano). He'd get really offended. It's more sort of stride piano, isn't it?... (I)t lends itself to that (Bobby Short-type) treatment. But it's more bluesy. All that falsetto singing is live. Billy doing the piano part and singing. Fucking marvelous.

- Mick Jagger, 1976

Don't know (how much Billy Preston had to do with it). You'd better ask him. Oh, he had a lot to do with it, it's got on the label inspiration by Billy Preston, but Keith forgot to put it on here... See, Keith did all these credits, and he forgot to put the writers on, see?

- Mick Jagger, 1976


Melody was a bit tongue in cheek for me really. It's hard to play live and take it any further. All we could do is make a reasonable copy of the reord onstage which I'm not particularly interested in doing.

- Keith Richards, 1976


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