Blue Turns to Grey

December's Children (And Everybody's)
Side 2, Track 5
"Blue Turns to Grey" – (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards) 2:29




What the hell? I thought "Gotta Get Away" was as "pop" as the Stones would ever get, but "Blue Turns to Grey" sounds like one of Spinal Tap's early 60s numbers – that is, a parody of a Beatles single. This is the strangest Stones song I have ever heard. Even though this was a period in their career when they had no established identity (ie post-crappy blues band, but pre-iconic rock and roll combo) this song is so utterly at odds with their strengths that I wonder where it came from. Something this bizarre almost has to be the idea of a studio executive.