Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Biggest Mistake
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

La Fourchette, Pocé sur Cisse, France & St. Vincent, West Indies,
June - September 2004, La Fourchette, Pocé sur Cisse, France,
November - December 2004, March 7 - 9 & March 14 - June 2005 and
Ocean Way Recording Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US,
June 6 - 28, 2005

Mick Jagger - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Keith Richards - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmony vocals
Charlie Watts - drums
Ron Wood - acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Darryl Jones - bass
Chuck Leavell - organ

When love comes so late, it'll really hit hard
It slams through the gate, it'll catch you off guard
And everyone said: What a perfect love match
'Cause she is so smart, she's a hell of a catch
I was drinking in love, gulping it down, drifting for months on a billowing cloud
But after awhile I start to rebel, I'm back in the past and I'm raising up hell
But I think I just made the biggest mistake of my life
And I think I just made the biggest mistake of my life

We'd been living together for over a year
The harmony's perfect, it rang loud and clear
But then very slowly, my nerves start to fray
It’s the little things, baby, that's what they say
I acted impatient, I acted unkind, I took her for granted, I played with her mind
She didn't deserve it, but it was too late, I walked out the door and left her to her fate
But I think I just made the biggest mistake of my life
And I think I just made the biggest mistake of my life

Now I'm down in a slump and I'm eating alone
I’m rueing the day with some friends on the phone
I never go out, I'm becoming a grouch
I just watch the TV and I drink on the couch
But if love comes again, I'll be really surprised
I'll grab it real fast, keep it right in my sights
'Cause I think I just made the biggest mistake of my life
Well, I think I just made the biggest mistake of my life
Well, I think I just made the biggest mistake of my life

Produced by Don Was & The Glimmer Twins

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “A Bigger Bang” CD
(Virgin Records / EMI TOCP 66440) Japan, August 31, 2005

Get the UK promo CD with the instrumental track,
then you´ll all realize the real beauty of this track
behind those cheesy lyrics.

Terrible song.

I just wanna say I love that tune, it's my favorite on the Bigger Bang album, to sad they didn't play it live.

The one and only, true-and-through, magnificent follow-up to "Dead Flowers"...
Thumbs up; a most enjoyable song- as is most of the work on "Bigger Bang".
We should cherish it when they come up with stuff like that!
I myself am very,very happy that they didn't stop after the '70s... As so very much of us of this board obviously did.

What is to dislike about Biggest Mistake? I rarely take note of the lyrics in Stones songs anyway. It has a great warm feel and melody to it. Perfectly executed performance.

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Big Al
What is to dislike about Biggest Mistake? I rarely take note of the lyrics in Stones songs anyway.

i think you just answered your own question

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T&A

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Big Al
What is to dislike about Biggest Mistake? I rarely take note of the lyrics in Stones songs anyway.

i think you just answered your own question

OK, i have just had a look at the lyrics on this thread - not too goo. Still, better than 'sharks will cry' and 'tooth brush, mouth wash and all that sh*t'!!

i'd call it a nice and typical radio tune.
i'm glad i dont listen to radio at all....

Adult pop at its best - and worst...

The early mix of this song is better. It has a dandy Ronnie steel intro and outro entirely and Ronnie parts missing from the final version. It gives the song a legit country flair rather than the lite-pop of the final version.

a song that would be a perfect fit on something like Dogshit in the Doorway....much like about 80% of ABB songs....

It's catchy but it's filler. It's funny too. Mick's 'I'm a mean guy' stance once again. Still better than most of Dirty Work and Steel Wheels and some on Bridges...so it works.

Awful song. Definitely one that should never have made it into the public domain

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andy js
Awful song. Definitely one that should never have made it into the public domain

G e t t h e U K p r o m o C D w i t h t h e i n s t r u m e n t a l
t r a c k, t h e n y o u ´ l l a l l r e a l i z e t h e r e a l
b e a u t y o f t h i s t r a c k b e h i n d t h o s e c h e e s y
l y r i c s.

Mick says he's very autobiographical when he writes lyrics. This one must've cost him a lot (emotionally).
A bit related to "Old Habits Die Hard", isn't it? And probably even about the same incident.

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Addicted
Mick says he's very autobiographical when he writes lyrics. This one must've cost him a lot (emotionally).
A bit related to "Old Habits Die Hard", isn't it? And probably even about the same incident.

Has he said that? I seem to remember him saying exactly the opposite - that although his songwriting reflected emotions he experienced, people read too much autobiography into his lyrics. It has tende to be others - noteably Marianne - who have claimed links to specific incidents and people for his songs.

Well it's rather obvious who it's about - himself.

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skipstone
Well it's rather obvious who it's about - himself.

Sorry to be so stupid - why is it obvious in any literal way that it's about him?

Great great tune. Love it!

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Lady Jayne

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skipstone
Well it's rather obvious who it's about - himself.

Sorry to be so stupid - why is it obvious in any literal way that it's about him?

you know someone ELSE who never goes out and just watches tv on the couch while becoming a grouch? i didn't theeeenk so....

This song is among the best 3 or 4 on the ABB album. Its lyrics sound like they are very personal to the singer himself, so it's entirely believable, which is seldom seen in recent era Stones songs. That's also why I think it might originate from a Mick solo session.
I agree that the longer mix that exists but wasn't included on the album sounds much fresher than what turned out to be the album version, and they should have kept that mix.
I wouldn't have chosen it for 3rd single, though. Not when "She Saw Me Coming" hasn't been a single, too, which unfortunately, it hasn't.

It seems almost like a part 2 or 3 or 4 to Out Of Tears, Already Over Me, Out Of Control, etc... It has that same thing going on lyrically, hence why I think it really is Mick writing about himself.

Why do you find that SO difficult to believe?

Yeah, She Saw Me Coming would have made a much better SECOND single had they not screwed around with releasing Streets Of Love...

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T&A

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Lady Jayne

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skipstone
Well it's rather obvious who it's about - himself.

Sorry to be so stupid - why is it obvious in any literal way that it's about him?

you know someone ELSE who never goes out and just watches tv on the couch while becoming a grouch? i didn't theeeenk so....

don't forget that he's drinking while on the couch.

I kind of like that line. It reminds me of Memory Motel. "I hit the bottle, I hit the sack and cried..".

Terrible Mistake recording it in the first place.

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T&A
a song that would be a perfect fit on something like Dogshit in the Doorway....much like about 80% of ABB songs....

You said it best, T&A!

Drew

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ryanpow

I kind of like that line. It reminds me of Memory Motel. "I hit the bottle, I hit the sack and cried..".

OT, but I hear the line as "I hit the bottle, I hit the second prize." Like a carnival game--I think they're at an outdoor summer fair.

I'm not too keen on Biggest Mistake and I think it would have suited better on a Jagger solo album.

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Lady Jayne

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skipstone
Well it's rather obvious who it's about - himself.

Sorry to be so stupid - why is it obvious in any literal way that it's about him?

Because all he ever writes about is boffing models and/or going dancing.

I like "Biggest Misake", a kind of ballad with catchy melody and nice feel.. We're divided I see.