"Doom and Gloom": A Spiritual Analysis of the Latest from The Rolling Stones
Click the above link and have a listen. If rock and roll is "the blues on steroids", then this latest offering from The Rolling Stones -- celebrating 50 years in the business -- ought to pump you up. On a personal note, I owe the Stones a word of thanks for being part of my return to something resembling physical health. I seem to shoot better 3-pointers, run faster, and lift harder accompanied, via Bluetooth headphones, to any one of a number of their songs. ("She Was Hot" from Shine A Light has the most plays.)
On that score alone, "Doom and Gloom" won't disappoint. But there's more here to consider than the energy of music. There's a spiritual aspect that cannot be ignored. Allow me to address that (as best I can).
Mick Jagger gets cranking right away:
I had a dream last night
That I was piloting a plane
And all the passengers were drunk and insane
I crash landed in a Louisiana swamp
Shot up a horde of zombies
But I come out on top
If you read the Keith Richards autobiography, you'll nod your head in agreement. Keith and Mick get a phrase in their collective heads and start playing around with it. This is no different.
But just when you're ready for the next scene in the dream sequence, it's cut short with this:
What's it all about?
It just reflects my mood.
Dreams, for all their weirdness, can reflect a mood. But what's the mood? Here it is:
Sitting in the dirt
Feeling kind of hurt
All I hear is doom and gloom
And all is darkness in my room
The mood, if I might be so bold, includes resignation to a dismal status quo, pain, and existential despair in its personal and collective varieties. The chorus just nails it -- with "it" being the mood of the world in many and various ways.
As Stones fans know, they've "gone political" before. Recall "Highwire" on the "Flashpoint" live album. ("Highwire" is the only studio cut amid concert recordings on that album.) They "go political" here:
Lost all that treasure in an overseas war
It just goes to show you don't get what you paid for
Battle to the rich and you worry about the poor
Democrats blast Republicans for paying for two wars on a credit card. Republicans blast Democrats for paying only lip service to the poor while pocketing the cash. And on this blame game goes with no resolution in sight. What to do? Here's what Mick and Keef think:
Put my feet up on the couch
And lock all the doors
They're sick and tired of the political run-a-round that we're all increasingly privy to. Who isn't? But it's starting to really hurt -- as they point out:
Hear a funky noise
That's the TIGHTENING OF THE SCREWS.
Somewhere, amid all this doom and gloom, the pressure is on us; we're the ones getting screwed!
Then there's the energy crisis ("Fracking deep for oil but there's nothing in the pump") and the lack of potable water in parts of the world ("I'm running out of water so I better prime the pump"). Add to that our personal problems ("I'm trying to stay sober but I end up drunk"). And what of the future? ("We'll be eating dirt living on the side of the road; there's some food for thought -- kind of makes your head explode").
We may have bad dreams, but we're LIVING a nightmare, the song seems to say.
Who or what is the way out from this doom and gloom? Mick and Keef seem to suggest it's the next hottie that comes their way:
Through the night your face I see
Baby take a chance
Baby won't you dance with me?
Is this the plea of 70-something lyricists trying to wring out the last ounce of testosterone in the arms of yet another woman?
I DON'T THINK SO.
I think the "baby" they reference is something -- or someONE! -- more than just a means to instant gratification amid the doom and gloom.
I would suggest that this is a primal scream of the soul for God. The prayer goes like this:
GOD, I'M HURT...
GOD, I'M SITTIN' IN THE DIRT...
WHY DON'T YOU TAKE A CHANCE?
WHY DON'T YOU COME AND AND DANCE WITH ME?
In so many words, that's what Job said in the Old Testament book bearing his name. What are we saying?
On a less spiritual note, it really is a great tune for thirty minutes of elliptical! Rock on, Rolling Stones!
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