“Yes, star crossed in pleasure the stream flows on by
Yes, as we’re sated in leisure, we watch it fly
And time waits for no one, and it won’t wait for me
And time waits for no one, and it won’t wait for me
Time can tear down a building or destroy a woman’s face
Hours are like diamonds, don’t let them waste
Time waits for no one, no favors has he
Time waits for no one, and he won’t wait for me
Men, they build towers to their passing yes, to their fame everlasting
Here he comes chopping and reaping, hear him laugh at their cheating
And time waits for no man, and it won’t wait for me
Yes, time waits for no one, and it won’t wait for thee
Drink in your summer, gather your corn
The dreams of the night time will vanish by dawn
And time waits for no one, and it won’t wait for me
And time waits for no one, and it won’t wait for me
No no no, not for me…”
Jagger/Richards (1974)
Growing up in the 60s, it seemed that my friends fell into one of two camps- they were either a Beatles fan or a Rolling Stones fan. Of course everyone liked songs by both groups, but most people had their clear favorite. As for me, I fell into the Beatles group. I liked their innovative, constantly evolving sound along with those nice harmonies, singing about peace and love. The Stones, on the other hand, were the bad boys of rock. While the Beatles were singing “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”, “With a Little Help from My Friends”, and “All You Need Is Love”, the Stones were rocking out to “Sympathy for the Devil”, “Little T and A”, and “Bitch”. I certainly didn’t dislike the Stones, but the Beatles were more my thing.
But I could not ignore the Stones- they had so many hit songs. One day I saw one of their records in the discount rack and it had a lot of their hits, so I bought it. It was called “Got Live If You Want It”. And I hated it- to me, the sound on this live album was horrendous. The crowd noise throughout was very distracting. I read that for a couple of tracks, they even dubbed in crowd noise over a studio recording to give the appearance that those songs were also recorded live. I liked the songs, but rarely listened to the album because I couldn’t get into all the cheering and yelling over the music. And that was the extent of my Stones collection for a while.
I wasn’t a huge fan, but the Stones rolled on, and I did like their songs that I heard on the radio, but never enough to buy any more of their albums. Then in 1985, I got to see Mick Jagger at Live Aid and I really enjoyed his performance, especially his duets with Tina Turner. He was quite the showman. But what really turned me on to the Stones was, believe it or not, a TV show.
I was born in 1957, and missed the Vietnam draft by a couple of years. But I was always fascinated with the history of that time period, thinking it could have been me that was sent off to war. I wondered how I would have responded and what would have been my fate. I watched every Vietnam-era movie that was released and was very interested in 1987 when a new television series came out called “Tour of Duty”. The show followed an American infantry platoon on a tour of duty during the Vietnam War. It was the first television series to regularly show Americans in combat in South Vietnam. The opening theme song was the Stones’ hit, “Paint It Black”. It gave me chills every time I heard it as they showed those Army helicopters flying over the Vietnamese terrain to the beat of the music. The whole series had a great soundtrack, but that opening scene always got to me. And suddenly I became a big Stones fan.
In 2002, the Stones released “Forty Licks”, a 2-disc 40-year career-spanning retrospective of their music. Now that CD I loved, and I played it endlessly. I eventually got into their other albums as well, but Forty Licks is what really turned me into a fan. Granted, they still weren’t The Beatles, but I now loved their hard-edged, blues driven rock ‘n roll. And as much as I still love everything the Beatles did, nowadays if I want to listen to something upbeat to get my feet moving and my heart pumping, I’m going with the Stones.
In 2013, I saw they were coming to the Wells Fargo Center, and I figured, OK, it’s now or never- these guys aren’t getting any younger, so we should see them now. I thought Mick and Keith were old then, at close to 70-years of age (what did I know?). We had great seats, and the show blew me away. The band was awesome, Mick was on top of his game, and we were on our feet the whole time. I assumed that would be the last time I would ever see them.
Unbelievably in 2024, I saw the Stones were on tour again. We couldn’t miss it! I still can’t believe Mick and Keith are 80 years old. At 67, I’m limping into the stadium on my arthritis knees, and there is Mick running up and down the long stage extension out into the crowd, like he’s still 20. Unbelievable! It was quite a performance- unlike Paul McCartney, whom I can’t really watch any longer because of the decline of his singing voice with age (although his live concerts from years ago are still among my all-time favorites). But I thought Mick still sounds good. Of course his songs don’t require the vocal range of McCartney, but I didn’t have to cringe listening to old Mick sing, and their music still keeps me on my feet. What a memorable night!
It was cool to see that so many of our friends were in attendance. Who would have guessed 60 years ago we’d all be so excited to see 80-year-olds playing rock ‘n roll? The years have flown by. In 1964, they sang “Time Is on My Side”, and just 10 years later, in 1974, they were singing “Time waits for no one, and it won’t wait for me”. It didn’t mean too much to me at the time, but how prophetic that was for the still young rockers to realize that time isn’t waiting for us. It is awesome that they are still out there doing what they love. Keep on rocking, boys!
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