History Music / ExileOnMainSt

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/exile_on_main_st_4061.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"May the good lord shine a light on you. Make every song your favourite tune."'']]

** "Casino Boogie" mentions Creator/MarleneDietrich

''Exile on Main St.'' is the tenth studio album (twelfth American album) by Music/TheRollingStones, released in 1972. It was mainly recorded at Nellcôte in France, with additional recording at Olympic Studios in London and Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles. Hits and fan favourites include "Tumbling Dice", "Rip This Joint", "Happy", "Sweet Virginia", "Rocks Off" and "Shine a Light".

* ProtestSong: "Sweet Black Angel" is one of only about ten in the Stones' entire discography, written in support of civil rights activist UsefulNotes/AngelaDavis, who at the time was on trial for the kidnapping and murder of a California judge (she was acquitted later that year). The song does not mention her by name, but as critic Steve Kurutz writes:

** "Sweet Black Angel", one of the Stones' few overtly political songs, was written in support of [[UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement civil rights]] activist UsefulNotes/AngelaDavis, at the time accused as an accomplice to kidnapping and murder (she would be acquitted on all counts shortly after the release of the album).

* ProtestSong: "Sweet Black Angel" is one of only about ten in the Stones' entire discography, written in support of civil rights activist Angela Davis, who at the time was on trial for murder (she was acquitted later that year). The song does not mention her by name, but as critic Steve Kurutz writes:

** "Sweet Black Angel", one of the Stones' few overtly political songs, was written in support of [[UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement civil rights]] activist UsefulNotes/AngelaDavis, at the time accused as an accomplice to murder and conspiracy (she would be acquitted on all counts shortly after the release of the album).

--> "You got to roll me and call me the tumblin' dice"

* SpiritualSuccessor: Music/LizPhair's ''Music/ExileInGuyville'' is an [[AnswerSong answer]] to this record. Try not to think about it too hard, since some of the song counterparts don't make sense. She did give an interview to ''Magazine/RollingStone'' where [[http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/14639/89656 she elaborated on the parallels]].
** "Exile on Mainstream" by Music/MatchboxTwenty is another ShoutOut.
** Music/{{Chemlab}} named the leading track from the album "East Side Militia" "Exile on Mainline".

* FakeShemp: An essay in the book ''Kill Your Idols'' points out that most of the band-members were trotting in and out of rehab during the recording, and that very few of the parts were played by actual Rolling Stones.

''Exile on Main St.'' is the tenth studio album (twelfth American album) by Music/TheRollingStones, released in 1972. Despite being divisive back in the day and even among themselves (Music/KeithRichards likes it, Music/MickJagger far less) it has been VindicatedByHistory as one of their best albums. It's frequently listed as one of the greatest albums of all time, and it's the one you're most likely to hear rock critics cite as their best album. It was mainly recorded at Nellcôte in France, with additional recording at Olympic Studios in London and Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles. Hits and fan favourites include "Tumbling Dice", "Rip This Joint", "Happy", "Sweet Virginia", "Rocks Off" and "Shine a Light".

''[[Magazine/TimeMagazine Time]]'' magazine included the album in their [[TimeAllTime100Albums 2006 list of 100 timeless and essential albums.]] and it was listed at #7 in ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='s=] [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]].

* WordSaladLyrics: A justified example with "Casino Boogie". Jagger had writer's block when attempting to write the lyrics, so he cut up a bunch of phrases he'd written on torn pieces of paper and mixed them up; then the band members pulled them out at random. The order in which the band members pulled out the phrases was used for the song. This technique was evidently inspired by Creator/WilliamSBurroughs, who in fact had passed through the Nellcôte villa where the Stones recorded much of the album.

--> ''Dietrich movies, close up boogies''.

--> ''Dick and Pat in ole D.C.\\

!!Tumbling Tropes:

* NWordPrivileges: Averted in "Sweet Black Angel" - see BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama above. Because the song was in support of civil rights activist Angela Davis, the Stones escaped controversy over it. (Also, it's an allusion to the original title of Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'', which has been changed in modern printings for obvious reasons.)

* NWordPrivileges: Averted in "Sweet Black Angel" - see BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama above. Because the song was in support of civil rights activist Angela Davis, the Stones escaped controversy over it. (Also, it's an allusion to the original title of Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'', which has been changed in modern privileges for obvious reasons.)

** "Sweet Black Angel", one of the Stones' few overtly political songs, was written in support of [[UseuflNotes/CivilRightsMovement civil rights]] activist UsefulNotes/AngelaDavis, at the time accused as an accomplice to murder and conspiracy (she would be acquitted on all counts shortly after the release of the album).

--> ''Not a sweet black slave.''
--> ''Ten little niggers''
--> ''Sittin' on de wall,''
--> ''Her brothers been a fallin',''
--> ''Fallin' one by one.''
--> ''For a judges murder''
--> ''In a judges court,''
--> ''Now de judge he gonna judge her''
--> ''For all dat he's worth.''
--> ''Well de gal in danger,''
--> ''De gal in chains,''
--> ''But she keep on pushin'''

--> Kissing cunt in Cannes''

--> ''You don't want to walk and talk about Jesus''
--> ''You just want to see His face''

--> ''It's gonna be the death of me''
--> ''It's the graveyard watch''

--> ''May the good Lord shine a light on you''
--> ''Make every song (you sing) your favourite tune''

--> ''Well, I met a little girl in a country town''
--> ''She said: "What do you know: there's Slim Harpo!"''

--> ''Dick and Pat in ole D.C.''
--> ''Well, they're gonna hold some shit for me''

* AlliterativeTitle: "'''L'''et It '''L'''oose" (also mentioning "'''b'''edroom '''b'''lues"), "'''S'''oul '''S'''urvivor" (which talks about "'''b'''ell '''b'''ottom '''b'''lues"). And who could forget that great line in "Casino Boogie":
--> ''Kissing cunt in Cannes''

--> ''Kissing cunt in Cannes''

* DistinctDoubleAlbum: The first of two by the Stones, the other is ''Music/ABiggerBang'' from 2005.
** Was one of these originally, although CD reissues manage to squeeze it onto a single disc.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "Casino Boogie"
--> "Kissing cunt in Cannes"

* IntentionallyAwkwardTitle: "Turd on the Run", which is basically a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech about a former lover.

* PrecisionFStrike: Richards ad-libs "I just can't fuck it" in the outro of the alternate take of "Soul Survivor". The album also contains the lines "Got to scrape that shit right off your shoe" in "Sweet Virginia" and "They're gonna hold some shit for me" in "Rip This Joint", plus the use of CountryMatters mentioned above.

--> "You got to roll me and call me the tumblin'
--> Roll me and call me the tumblin' dice"