The Rolling Stones Songs - If You Can't Rock Me Lyrics

The Rolling Stones - If You Can't Rock Me

The Rolling Stones - If You Can't Rock Me Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: It's Only Rock 'N' Roll
Released: 1974

If You Can't Rock Me Lyrics

The band's on stage and it's one of those nights, oh yeah
The drummer thinks that he is dynamite, oh yeah
You lovely ladies in your leather and lace
A thousand lips I would love to taste
I've got one heart and it hurts like hell
If You Can't Rock Me somebody will
If you can't rock me somebody will
Now who's that black girl in the bright blue hair, oh yeah
Now don't you know that it's rude to stare, oh yeah
I'm not so green but I'm feelin' so fresh
I simply like to put her to the test
She's so alive and she's dressed to kill, but
If you can't rock me somebody will
If you can't rock me somebody will
If you can't rock me somebody will
If you can't rock me somebody will
Now I ain't lookin' for no pretty face, oh no
Or for some hooker workin' roughish trade
And there ain't nothing like a perfect mate
And I ain't lookin' for no wedding cake
But I been talkin' 'bout it much too long
I think I better sing just one more song
I've got one heart and it hurts like hell
I'm simply dying for some thrills and spills
Oh yeah
If you can't rock me
If you can't rock me, somebody will
Somebody will, somebody will
If you can't rock me
Well, well, well, well
Writer/s: JAGGER, MICK/RICHARDS, KEITH
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

If You Can't Rock Me Song Chart

This is the first track on It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, the first album after producer Jimmy Miller left the band. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards did the production instead.

This song finds Mick Jagger singing about being on stage performing for the ladies in the crowd. Is this a stereotypical Stones womanizing song, or what? Notice that other groups did songs about women all the time, but the lyrics here make it like he's personally pointing out into the audience: "You lovely ladies in your leather and lace, a thousand lips I would love to taste." He even later calls out to "that black girl in the bright blue hair." Wouldn't it be eerie to be in the audience and fit that description on the song's first stage performance?

This was one of the last Stones songs guitarist Mick Taylor played on.

In fandom (not necessarily only music fandom), there's an expression called "growing the beard." That's when an artist has officially reached middle age / maturity / grace and established themselves as the dignified guru of their genre or form. In other words, they get old, but do so gracefully so that they're recognized as masters. The opposite of "jumping the shark," where you get old in the "falling down and needing Depends" sense. Anyway, It's Only Rock 'n Roll is widely recognized as the point where The Rolling Stones grew their beard.

Along with this respected status, many critics noted a darker, edgier tone to their songs. It seems hard to fathom now, but the Stones were cutting-edge outrageous back in the '70s, in the same bad-boy reputation that modern black/death metal or gansta rap gets.