VIDEO: Rolling Stones Roar Back to Life With ‘Living in a Ghost Town,’ First Original Song in 8 Years
“We thought [the track] would resonate through the times we’re living in,” legendary frontman Mick Jagger explains
April 24, 2020
The Rolling Stones roared back to life this week, releasing their first fresh tune in nearly a decade.
On Thursday, the Mick Jagger-fronted rock legends dropped the official music video for their “Living in a Ghost Town,” the band’s first original song since it’s 2012 compilation album “GRRR!”
“Keith Richards and I both had the idea that we should release it,” Jagger explained in a recent interview. “But I said, ‘Well I’ve got to rewrite it.’ Some of it is not going to work and some of it was a bit weird and a bit too dark. So I slightly rewrote it. I didn’t have to rewrite very much, to be honest. It’s very much how I originally did it.”
In a tweet foreshadowing the song’s release, Jagger said the band recorded “Living in a Ghost Town” before the lockdown began but believes it still very much relates to the ongoing pandemic. “We thought [the track] would resonate through the times we’re living in,” he wrote.
“Living in a Ghost Town” arrives after the Rolling Stones—like so many other acts right now—were forced to reschedule their upcoming tour. While the song serves as the band’s first original tune in eight years, the band did release a 2016 compilation of covers called “Blues & Lonesome.” “Living in a Ghost Town” is expected to serve as one of the tracks on a new album of originals the band has been working on for years.
The Rolling Stones have been one of rock’s most enduring acts for decades and Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney had plenty of kind things to say about them earlier this month during his sit-down with Howard. “The Stones are a fantastic group. I go and see them every time they come out because they’re just a great, great band and Mick can really do it, the singing and the moves and everything, and Keith and now Ronnie [Wood] and Charlie [Watts]. I mean, they’re great. They really are great. So, I love them, but their stuff’s rooted in the blues,” Paul said. Listen to more from his and Howard’s conversation (below).
