Sway

'Sway' is the soundtrack of a swoon. This track from the Rolling Stones' epical 1971 album, Sticky Fingers, is one of the band's most hauntingly beautiful tracks. Composed by the veritable Jagger-Richards combo, Sway is a showcase for guitarist Mick Taylor, whose searing play elevates the track into something incandescent.

The song's origin lies in the Stones' immersion in the darker side of blues-rock. Unlike their swaggering anthems, this composition is melancholy with teeth. 'It's just that demon life has got me in its sway,' intones Jagger, as admission as well as defence. This refrain captures the song's fatalistic beauty, a recognition of the inability to resist the crushing pull of life.

Sway is built on a slow, grinding groove, with Charlie Watts' drums and Bill Wyman's bass laying down a steady, almost funereal rhythm. Keith, absent from the actual recording, cedes the spotlight to 'the other Mick' - Taylor - whose slide guitar and soaring solo are iconic in the Stones' and, indeed, rock catalogue. Taylor's bends and sustain cut through the arrangement with aching intensity.


This is a track of stunning beauty and raw power. It's fragile, and yet so heavingly heavy.