As Tears Go By

December's Children (And Everybody's)
Side 2, Track 3
"As Tears Go By" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards/Andrew Loog Oldham) – 2:45



Can you believe the same guy that wrote

Well, when you're sitting back in your rose pink Cadillac
Making bets on Kentucky Derby Day,
I'll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon
And another girl to take my pain away.

also wrote

My riches can't buy everything
I want to hear the children sing
All I hear is the sound
Of rain falling on the ground
I sit and watch
As tears go by

Me neither. I refuse to believe the whole "As Tears Go By" thing was anything other than the work of a criminal gang employed by Brian Epstein, who captured the Rolling Stones and held them hostage while a group of impostors worked to discredit the band's unruly bad boy image by releasing a series of pussy ballads. Fortunately, their nefarious scheme was foiled just after "Lady Jane" was released, but the damage was done – the band would not regain their street credibility until "Jumping Jack Flash" (only to lose it all again with "Angie", but that's another story).