We tell the story of the song "Too Much Blood" by the legendary rock band The Rolling Stones
In 1983 venerable gods of rock and roll The Rolling Stones sought to reinvent themselves: rather, their frontman Mick Jagger sought to reinvent the group—and therefore himself—for the modern age. His friend and colleague Keith Richards, however, was keen to continue working with the blues sound that the band had been built on from the start... The resulting creative tension led to one of The Stones' darkest and most underrated albums, titled Undercover. And though its brilliant lead single "Undercover of the Night" with a touch of new wave, pseudo-reggae percussion and dark lyrics served as the perfect statement of bold experiments to all fans of the group, there is a track on the album that is of particular interest to horror fans ... "Too Much Blood" — song Rolling Stones, which really deserves special attention ... At least because its creepy and bloody lyrics are based on absolutely real events.
History and meaning
"Bad Boys" and "Gods of Rock and Roll" The Rolling Stones still held their high ground in the 80s, racking up a dozen top ten hits in a decade, including the stadium rock anthem "Start Me Up", which spent 13 consecutive weeks on the Mainstream Rock Charts! After Tattoo You (1981) went 4x platinum, the Stones released an album Undercover (1983), which "only" went platinum and produced only one Top 40 hit. And its third single, "Too Much Blood", although it didn’t hit the charts, it was still remembered for the director’s creepy video Julien Temple, as well as its bloody history based on real events ...
Written by Mick Jagger, the composition tells about the growing violence actively promoted in the media. In particular, the song is based on the story Issei Sagawa, a Japanese student who ate a girl in the literal sense of the word ... It happened in paris. Jagger later recalled:
“Well, there was this scandalous, murderous story in France – it was a true story – about this Japanese guy who ate a girl, and it kind of captured the imagination of the French public and the Japanese. The Russians wanted to make a movie out of this! So that was the first episode, and then I became more light-hearted about it, the movie and everything…”
Lyrics
Djagger uses hesitant rapping in some lines, saying "I'm not a great rapper..." Lyrics "Too Much Blood» includes truly terrible passages, for example:
"My friend was a Japanese,
Who had a girlfriend in Paris.
He had to date her for six months
And in the end she said yes...
... And when he ate her, he carried her bones
To the Bois de Boulogne
By chance the taxi driver noticed
How he buries the bones, don't you believe me?"
"Too Much Blood" - strong material Jagger, who, frankly, never really shied away from confrontational lyrics... In the other verse of the song, he sings about the famous horror:
“Have you ever watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?
Terrible, right?
You know people ask me "Is this true?"
“…Hey, now every time I pass through an intersection,
I'm afraid there's some guy running around
With a fucking chainsaw…”
Incredible but wild track Too Much Blood" was released in 1984 year as a 12-foot single!
Track recording
Recording "Too Much Blood" took place in Paris between October and November 1982. The horns were provided by Chops and the drums were provided by Sly Dunbar. David Sanborn played saxophone, while reggae sessionist Sly Dunbar played drums. Keith Richards was not present for the recording. Instead on the track we can hear Jim Barber, his guitar technique! Curiously, Barber doesn't just feature on the album: he went on to become a prolific session guitarist. The Stones.
Music video
Music video filmed by Temple shows distraught Richards and Woodwielding chainsaws! The video was filmed in Mexico City. Published on the band's official YouTube channel in 2012 year, the clip scored over 540 thousand views:
Video to "Too Much Blood" more like a thriller! It starts with a young girl flipping through a magazine and she gets uncomfortable - too much horror and violence ... Then she turns on the TV, shortly after Rolling Stones capture the air, performing in a kind of stone mausoleum... At the end of the video, blood is pouring from the TV, from taps, from the heroine's nose... In a word, a masterpiece! However, MTV actually banned all this madness ...
Finally…
While today clip "Too Much Blood" watch for entertainment, the composition itself was inspired by the terrible (and worst of all - real) crime of the Japanese Issei Sagawa, which in 1981 ate his college girlfriend René Hartevelt. All this horror happened in Paris... Due to the fact that he came from a wealthy family, Sagawa's lawyers were able to help him avoid trial by declaring him insane. He was deported to his homeland in a Japanese psychiatric hospital and released in 1986 year after the doctors found him perverted but sane.
