Think

Aftermath (USA version)
Side 1, Track 6
"Think" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards) – 3:09



When I saw "Think" on the track list for Aftermath, I started licking my chops. Would it be a cover of "Think", the James Brown R&B number? Or maybe (hope against hope) Aretha Franklin's feminist anthem "Think"[*], a cover which would rank just behind Rod Stewart's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Man" in the Register of Bad Ideas?

Alas. You can imagine my disappointment when I found the Stones' "Think" to be merely an original composition. And a dull one at that. That's no fun. It's hard to work up any emotion over such a limp recording, especially when the possibilities were so promising.

(Okay, those possibilities existed only in my head, but wouldn't it have been fun to hear Mick try to wrap his voice around lines like

Think about the sacrifices that I made for you.
Think about the good things I done for you.
Now think of all the bad things I tried not to do baby baby.
Think of all the wrong things you did to me too.

The possibilities for snark are nearly endless.)

[* I was unable to locate online a clip of the Aretha Now version of "Think" – the internet, however, is filled to the brim with clips of her performing the song in that Blues Brothers movie. I think that really depresses me or something.]