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

Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK, December 9 - 10, 1969 and
Rolling Stones Mobile Recording Unit, Stargroves, Newbury, Berkshire, UK &
Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK, March - May 1970.

Mick Jagger - lead vocals, acoustic guitar
Keith Richards - electric guitar, harmony vocals
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Mick Taylor - electric guitar
Ian Stewart - piano

Well, when you're sitting there in your silk upholstered chair
Talking to some rich folks that you know
Well, I hope you won't see me in my ragged company
Well, you know I could never be alone

Take me down little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the Queen of the Underground
And you can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the mail, send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave

Well, when you're sitting back in your rose pink Cadillac
Making bets on Kentucky Derby Day
I'll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon
And another girl to take my pain away

Take me down little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the Queen of the Underground
And you can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the mail, send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave, yeah

Take me down little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the Queen of the Underground
And you can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the US mail, say it with dead flowers at my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave
No, I won't forget to put roses on your grave

Produced by Jimmy Miller

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Sticky Fingers” LP
(Rolling Stones Records COC 59100) UK, April 23, 1971



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2011-03-14 14:04 by René.

I never really liked this track. Untill I saw 'Ladies and Gentlemen...'. It's because of Mick Taylor, playing his cool solo!

A very good Stones track, but still the weakest on their greatest album!!

love the solo!

A classic. A timeless, beautiful song done with a toungue in cheek attitude.

For a long time I didn't even know that Stones were playing this great country song!

Just found this, a Dead Flowers cover in German language, with a translation pretty close to the English original.





I am dead.flowers.

......just one of those timeless songs that will forever sound great. One of their best.

Gilby Clarke & Axl Rose - Dead Flowers (Rolling Stones Cover)





and - the original studio version





Dead Flowers~Rolling Stones~Ladies And Gentlemen 1972~Rolling On
remarkable Keith's backing vocals and the Mick T





and at the Marquee a year before





Rolling Stones - Dead Flowers - Live Paradiso '95
wish I had been there





love this song, used to sing it a capella to my lady when we got together during the VL times

and here's the wikipedia entry with a list of cover versions:

[en.wikipedia.org])

and the lyrics from the rs official website, slightly different and leaving the Cadillac simply pink:

Well, when you're sitting there
In your silk upholstered chair
Talking to some rich folks that you know
Well I hope you won't see me
In my ragged company
You know I could never be alone

Take me down little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the Queen of the Underground
And you can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flower by the mail
Send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave

Well, you're sitting back
In your pink Cadillac
Making bets on Kentucky Derby Day
I'll be in my basement room
With a needle and a spoon
And another girl can take my pain away

Take me down little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the Queen of the Underground
And you can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flower by the mail
Send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave

Take me down little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the Queen of the Underground
And you can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flower by the US mail
Say it with dead flowers at my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave
No I won't forget to put roses on your grave

btw, when was it again that Mick used to sing it as "long black cadillac"?

edit: spelling



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-11-02 16:37 by dead.flowers.

Steve Earle Dead Flowers





I like that one - power country

is "dead flowers" an official expression or is it a jagger word-creation?

>> is "dead flowers" an official expression <<

"dead flowers" is the normal term for ... well, for dead flowers -
cut flowers that have dried out / given up / left the building

this one always sounds wonderful in the Stones' fine hands

Quote
guitarbastard
is "dead flowers" an official expression or is it a jagger word-creation?

Jagger prose I would say. Every bunch of flowers consists of "dead flowers" hence is "dead flowers", ain't it? Or what do you mean by "official expression"?

What would our native-speaker boys and girls say?

Bonus question: Is "another girl" a slang drug reference?

>> Bonus question: Is "another girl" a slang drug reference? <<

not that i know of. the song is addressed to one chick but he'll be with someone else.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-11-02 21:31 by with sssoul.

the great Townes Van Zandt:





Keith Richards, Willie Nelson, Ryan Adams, Hank Williams III:

seen, seen and seen again the L&G version of Dead Flowers and always considered as one of the greatest captured live instant , the complicity beetween Mick & Keith ...

>> one of the greatest captured live instant , the complicity beetween Mick & Keith <<

smile: nicely put - it is indeed a joy forever

Quote
with sssoul
>> one of the greatest captured live instant , the complicity beetween Mick & Keith <<

smile: nicely put - it is indeed a joy forever

It's an amazing version - probably the best. But wasn't there some overdubbing going on, at least with the backing vocals?

Good time sleaze never sounded so happy. And such a great uplifting song to sandwich between the nightmare desperation of Sister Morphine and the narcotic reverie of Moonlight Mile.

Regarding the song lyrics: Is there a real story behind this song? Have the Mick or Keith ever mentioned anything in this respect?

I have looked through songfacts.com, there are a number of contributions, besides of course loads of drug reference, it is said, the song may be about Suzy Creamcheese (isn't that a ficctional character?), or that Gretchen Parsons used to mail Gram flowers from the States to England, which at the time of arrival were "dead flowers" then. Also, I somewhere read the song would refer to a lady member of the royal family.

[www.songfacts.com]

Great song! Easy to play too!

There has been a bit of a debate here before as to who played the guitar solo on the record. The solo has elements of Keith (ghost notes, playing behind the beat) and of Mick T. (phrasing, a mixture of pentatonic scale and minor pentatonic scale (on the outro)) and so although both guitarists have very distinctive styles that are very easily discernible, I found it difficult in this case to state conclusively who actually played it. On the phrasing alone I lean towards Mick T. but I seem to recall from a long lost interview that he stated Keith played it. If any of you have thoughts on this, please state them along with your rationale. I'm interested in hearing them!

Quote
ChrisM
There has been a bit of a debate here before as to who played the guitar solo on the record. The solo has elements of Keith (ghost notes, playing behind the beat) and of Mick T. (phrasing, a mixture of pentatonic scale and minor pentatonic scale (on the outro)) and so although both guitarists have very distinctive styles that are very easily discernible, I found it difficult in this case to state conclusively who actually played it. On the phrasing alone I lean towards Mick T. but I seem to recall from a long lost interview that he stated Keith played it. If any of you have thoughts on this, please state them along with your rationale. I'm interested in hearing them!

Taylor for sure. Just listen to the last four bars of the solo, there's no way Keith ever played this fast and fluidly.

Mathijs

The Vikings might have something to add to this thread because "Dead Flowers" was performed a time or two on the 1970 European tour.

I like the song a lot, especially the early live versions. I've played it and sung it with a couple different bands, too, as Elmo said, it's easy and fun to play. I think it fits perfectly on the SF album, too. Such a great album, that one.

My favorite hybrid:

One Of The MEZ'S Favorites!! MEZ

How great is the version on Ladies and Gentlemen! That Taylor solo! Mick and Keith sharing a mic! Amazing. Just beautiful.

"You'll be studying history and you'll be down the gym. And I'll be down the pub, probably playing pool and drinking."

When singing this number, I prefer to sing the second verse as "... in your long black Cadillac ...". Now I am pretty sure that I heard Mick singing it in exactly these words some time during the VL tour. Now I checked the Stripped (Paradiso 95) version, where I only hear it as "... in your long pink Cadillac ...". But I can't find any example for my perception of "... long black Cadillac ...".

Can anyone help and confirm this long black Cadillac-version of the lyrics?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-11-05 15:27 by dead.flowers.