The Spider and the Fly (song)

This article is about the Rolling Stones song. For the 1946 song, see Myra Taylor (singer).
"The Spider and the Fly"
1975 French picture sleeve (reverse)
Single by the Rolling Stones
A-side"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (UK)
Released
  • 30 July 1965 (30 July 1965) (US Out of Our Heads album)
  • 20 August 1965 (UK single)
Recorded13 May 1965
StudioRCA, Hollywood
Genre
Length3:38
Label
Songwriter(s)Jagger/Richards
Producer(s)Andrew Loog Oldham

"The Spider and the Fly" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones, recorded in May 1965 and first released on the US version of their 1965 album Out of Our Heads.[3] In the UK, it was released as the B-side to "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". In 1971, the song was released on an album for the first time in the UK on the Decca Records compilation Stone Age.[4]

The song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The title takes its name from the 1829 poem by Mary Howitt. The lyrics speak about what the band, especially the leader, will do after their gig is over:

Sittin' thinkin' sinkin' drinkin'
Wondering what I'll do when I'm through tonight
Smokin', mopin', maybe just hopin'
Some little girl will pass on by

Jagger explained in a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone, "I wasn't really that mad about it, but when you listen to it on record, it still holds up quite interestingly as a blues song. It's a Jimmy Reed blues with British pop-group words, which is an interesting combination: a song somewhat stuck in a time warp."[5] In an AllMusic review, Mike DeGagne describes it as one of their earliest attempts at country music.[2]

The Stones have performed "The Spider and the Fly" live very rarely: they did so during two eras of their career, in 1965-1966 and once during the 1995 leg of their Voodoo Lounge Tour. A March 1995 studio reworking of the song was included on the Stones' album Stripped. For this version the age of the woman in the song was updated from thirty to fifty.[6]

  1. ^ Margotin & Guesdon 2016, p. 121.
  2. ^ a b DeGagne, Mike. "The Rolling Stones: The Spider and the Fly – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  3. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "The Rolling Stones: Out of Our Heads – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  4. ^ Thompson, Dave. "The Rolling Stones: Stone Age – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Jagger Remembers". Rolling Stone. Dec 14, 1995 (accessed 26 April 2007).
  6. ^ "Stripped (Live)". Apple Music. Retrieved 13 April 2021.