Angie (song)
| "Angie" | |
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| Song |
"Angie" is a song by rock and roll band the Rolling Stones featured on their 1973 album Goats Head Soup.
Recorded in November and December 1972, "Angie" was written primarily by Keith Richards. The song is an acoustic guitar driven ballad which tells of the end of a romance. The song is noted for its pointed lyrics concerning lost love and the grieving involved. Singer Mick Jagger gives a wrenching performance for the recording, while Stones-recording regular Nicky Hopkins plays the song's distinctive piano chords. The strings on the piece (as well as "Winter") were arranged by Nicky Harrison.
Despite being so downbeat (the Stones at the time were not known for their ballads), "Angie" went straight to the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and reached number five on the UK singles chart.
Questions about the song's origins have never ceased. Despite wide-ranging rumors that "Angie" was written by Jagger about a relationship he had with David Bowie's wife Angela, Jagger denies this. Richards claims to have come up with the title and chord sequence a year before production on the album began. In the liner notes to the compilation disc Jump Back, Richards says, "I'd recently had my daughter born, whose name was Angela, and the name was starting to ring around the house. 'Angie' just fitted."
The song is a very popular at Stones live shows and has been performed live often since its introduction to the Stones' canon of work, appearing throughout the 1970s and on every tour since the American Tour 1981. Recordings were captured for release on the albums Stripped and Live Licks.
This song was also recorded and released by The Rolling Clones on their 2001 "Unplugged" tribute album.
The German party CDU used the song for its election campaign for Angela Merkel, although The Rolling Stones interdicted using the song.