Music / A Bigger Bang

Oh No, Not You Again!

A Bigger Bang is the twenty-second studio album (twenty-fourth American album) by The Rolling Stones, released through Virgin Records in 2005. The follow-up to Bridges to Babylon from 1997, it was their last studio album primarily consisting of original material until Hackney Diamonds eighteen years later. The LP release also marks their second double album, the first being Exile on Main St..

The album was written by a rejuvenated Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in 2004. That year, Charlie Watts was diagnosed with throat cancer and had to undergo radiotherapy. This was a major cause of the rejuvenation, as well as the improvement of the relationship between Jagger and Richards. Luckily, Watts was able to get rid of his cancer. Meanwhile, Ronnie Wood was busy on his solo work and ended up appearing on only 10 out of 16 tracks.

---

Tracklist:

1. "Rough Justice" (3:11)
2. "Let Me Down Slow" (4:16)
3. "It Won't Take Long" (3:54)
4. "Rain Fall Down" (4:54)
5. "Streets Of Love" (5:10)
6. "Back Of My Hand" (3:32)
7. "She Saw Me Coming" (3:12)
8. "Biggest Mistake" (4:06)
9. "This Place Is Empty" (3:12)
10. "Oh No, Not You Again" (3:46)
11. "Dangerous Beauty" (3:48)
12. "Laugh, I Nearly Died" (4:54)
13. "Sweet Neo Con" (4:33)
14. "Look What The Cat Dragged In" (3:57)
15. "Driving Too Fast" (3:56)
16. "Infamy" (3:47)

---

Principal Members:

• Mick Jagger - lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboard, bass, percussion
• Keith Richards - guitar, backing and lead vocals, keyboard, bass, percussion
• Charlie Watts - drums
• Ronnie Wood - guitar

---

Troping Too Fast:

• Alliterative Title: "A Bigger Bang".
• Animal Motifs: "Rough Justice"
  One time you were my baby chicken
  Now you've grown into a fox
  Once upon a time I was your little rooster
  But now I'm just one of your cocks
  (...) First time I saw baby
  I know you still got that animal attraction for me
  (...) You were springin' like a young gazelle
  And next thing I know, we're way down the road
  And you're flying like a bat outta hell
• Break-Up Song:
  • "Streets Of Love".
  You're awful bright
  You're awful smart
  I must admit
  You broke my heart
  • "It Won't Take Long"
  And it won't take long to forget you
  You know, I'll never own her
  And then all be over in a minute
  And it won't take long
• Buxom Beauty Standard: "This Place Is Empty"
  Come on, bare your breasts
  And make me feel at home
  You and me we're just like all the rest
  And we don't want to be alone.
• Cradle of Loneliness: "Laugh, I Nearly Died"
  I've been down to India, but it froze my bones
  I'm living for the city, but I'm all alone
  I've been travelling, but I don't know where
  I've been wandering, but I just don't care
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: "Driving Too Fast"
  You can follow the road to the mountain
  Or the track leading down to the beach
  You can go where your life go left or go right
  It's you in the driver's seat
  But if the rain starts swamping your windscreen
  And the lights don't piss through the night
  And the truck's coming at you, just going to splash you
  The highway's blinding bright
• Dreaming of Things to Come: Keith Richards dreamt the riff of "Rough Justice".
• Embarrassing Nickname: "Dangerous Beauty"
  In your high school photo
  You looked so young and naive
  Now I heard you got a nickname
  The lady of the leash
• Face on the Cover: The band sitting around a light flash.
• Femme Fatale: "Dangerous Beauty"
  Well you're a dangerous, dangerous
  A dangerous beauty
  Yeah, disdainfully, painfully
  A bit of booty, yeah
• Fortune Teller: "Back Of My Hand"
  I hear a preacher on the corner
  Ranting like a crazy man
  He says there's trouble, troubles are coming
  I can read it like the back of my hand
• New Sound Album: Although this album is a (yet another) return to their roots, the album's style has been compared to works by contemporary artists such as The White Stripes and The Black Keys.
• One-Word Title: "Infamy"
• Power Ballad: "Streets Of Love".
• Product Placement: "Sweet Neo Con"
  But one thing that is certain
  Life is good at Haliburton
  If you're really so astute
  You should invest at Brown & Root...
• Protest Song: "Sweet Neo Con", aimed at the neo-conservatives within the American government.
  How come you're so wrong
  My sweet neo con?
  If you turn out right
  I'll eat my hat tonight
• Real Life Writes the Plot: "Sweet Neocon" was inspired by George W. Bush's war in Iraq:
  You call yourself a Christian
  I think that you're a hypocrite
  You say you are a patriot
  I think that you're a crock of shit
  And listen now, the gasoline
  I drink it every day
  But it's getting very pricey
  And who is going to pay?
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: "Look What The Cat Dragged In"
  What's that look on your face?
  It must have been the walk of shame
  Your eyes are all red, get ready for bed
  Your hair's all over the place
  And look what the cat dragged in
  Don't you call me a friend
  Get out of my house with your dirty old mouth
  Take yourself out again
• Sanity Slippage Song: "Driving Too Fast"
  You're going out of your brain, out of your mind
  Going insane, you're going blind...
• Shout-Out:
  • "Back Of My Hand"
  I see dreams, I see visions
  Images I don't understand
  I see Goya's paranoias
  • "Streets Of Love" references Julius Caesar and Felix Mendelssohn 's "Wedding March".
  Mmmm, the lamps are lit
  The moon is gone
  I think I've crossed the Rubicon
  (...) A band just played the wedding march
  • "Look What The Cat Dragged In" provides a Take That! against The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
  You look like a tumble of spades
  It must get a horrible taste
  You look like a fucker, Sergeant Pepper
  Are you going to throw up all over my face?
• Step Up to the Microphone: Keith Richards sings lead vocals on "This Place Is Empty" and "Infamy".
• Textless Album Cover: Just a photo of the band.
• Time Marches On: "Look What The Cat Dragged In" references the fact that there was war and civil unrest in Syria and Lebanon at the time this album was recorded. And... unfortunately not much has changed since...
  Looking at the sunday papers up what all the ladies did was so quiet
  Checking what was going on in Syria and Lebanon
  A bad pride, bad bribe
• Wham Line: "Infamy"
  I know you've got it in for me
  You didn't miss a thing
  It's you that wrote the song, baby
  But me who's got to sing

---