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It Must Be Hell
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Pathé Marconi Studios (EMI Studios), Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France,
November 11 - December 17, 1982 and
The Hit Factory, New York City, New York, US, June - August 1, 1983

Mick Jagger - lead vocals, backing vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar, backing vocals
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Ron Wood - electric guitar, electric slide guitar, backing vocals
Chuck Leavell - piano
Martin Ditcham - percussion
Brahms Coundoul - percussion
Moustapha Sisse - percussion

We've got trouble, that's for sure, we've got millions unemployed
Some kids can't write, some kids can't read, some kids are hungry, some overeat
Well

Our TV leader boldly speaks the words of Christ, he tries to preach
We need more power to hold the line, the strength of darkness still abides

Must be hell, living in the world, suffering in the world like you
Must be hell, living in the world, suffering in the world like you

Keep in a straight line, stay in tune, no need to worry, only fools
End up in prison or conscience cells or in asylums they help to build

Must be hell, living in the world, suffering in the world like you, you, you, you, you
Must be hell, living in the world, suffering in the world like you
Must be hell, suffering in the world like you

We're free to worship, free to speak, we're free to kill, that's guaranteed
We've got our problems, that's for sure, clean up the backyard, don't lock the door

Must be hell, living in the world, suffering in the world like you, you, yeah
Must be hell, living in the world, suffering in the world like you

I’ll tell ya, we, we ain't gonna drown, I’ll tell ya, we, we ain't gonna drown
I’ll tell ya, we, we are heaven bound, I’ll tell ya, we, we are heaven bound
I’ll tell ya, we, we are heaven bound, I’ll tell ya, we, we are heaven bound
I’ll tell ya, we, we are heaven bound, I’ll tell ya, we, we are heaven bound…

Produced by The Glimmer Twins & Chris Kimsey

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Undercover” LP
(Rolling Stones Records CUN 1654361) UK, November 7, 1983

Crap

I think the "Undercover" is the second worst Stones album ever, it sucks.
The worst album is "flashpoint" that´s even worse - every decent songs @#$%& awful.

Very boring. Typical AC/DC-riffs..fake sounding...BoooH!

2 1 2 0

Quote
Come On
Very boring. Typical AC/DC-riffs..fake sounding...BoooH!

Not my favourite song....but AC/DC riffs ! ?

That's like saying that Chuck Berry plays Keith Richards licks ;^)

From the same stable as Soul Survivor, painful sounding jarring guitars but I think deliberately so.....encapsulating the angst behind the lyric....same goes (although not exactly the same) for Sweet Neo Con.........'It must be hell' from the brilliant free styling album Undercover.................



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-10-24 11:42 by EddieByword.

A song this mediocre wouldn't have got any further than a quick jam a decade earlier.

It starts out promising, but get too repetitive after a while, imo.

Nice bridge, though.

Yeah, I had just started an 'Undercover' appreciation thread somewhere, and this song...it's not a good one. The recycled riff-age is old hat, but in a way I can deal with that. Any prolific writer is going to repeat himself, sometimes intentionally. e.g I could see that Keith was aware of "Love is Strong/Wicked as it seems" relation, and was probably fine with it: two ways to deliver the lick. Both good.
But "Hell" is a bad song. It is forced. The 'who whoo's', and especially the added percussion - it is the Stones using typical Stones gimmicks, and they are usually way beyond that.

I like it. Even though it uses the Soul Survivor riff and the verses have the same guitar as Honky Tonk Women (which is re-used again on Highwire), I still think it is a fresh track. A nice little upbeat R&R track. Nothing ground breaking, just nice.

Mathijs

I still think it is a fresh track. A nice little upbeat R&R track

You're right! It could have been worser...

2 1 2 0

Mick sings great, and the slide guitar from Ronnie is nice in the break, imo.

I think the lyrical ending with the change from "it must be hell" to "we are heaven bound"
is of a brilliance that shows us the clever side of Mick again. The side that was missed in
Sweet Neo Con.

Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away

No masterpiece, but I enjoy it.

I like it too , the guitar riffs reminds me of Soul Survivor ...

I like it all right, don't love it. I like it a smidgen better than SOUL SURVIVOR, though.

A Mick quote about the song from timeisonourside.com:

MICK: "Yeah, I had a lot of trouble explaining that to these German people. They said, (affecting German accent) You sound so ARROGANT. You are living in such a good vay. And the other people who do the vorking are living in Hell. I said, Well, that's not what it's about. I think I didn't get it right, I didn't get my point across (laughs). The point is... Well, ONE of the points is: even though in the West we have a tremendous load of problems, in the East they have even more. That's really the point."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011-10-24 22:22 by Title5Take1.

...compared to ABB songs this is a masterpiece.

I've always liked it. It ain't a great song, but it's a decent track and makes for a good album closer. Sure it almost self consciously uses a lot oh their old "tricks", echoing everything from HTW to Soul Survivor to Sympathy to JJFLash, but that's not always a bad thing. Kind of reminds me of the stuff they would do for Voodoo Louge a decade later.

ComeOn are you taking the piss?

It Must Be Hell is a great ANGRY tune, but you've probably sat too long on yer lazy a%re thus becoming ignorant.

Thank God when The Stones sings about something else than pus%y for a change, (I love pus&y songs) always nice with songs about foreign policy etc etc.

Stay Angry-Stay Young

I've never met a Stones song I didn't like.

Quote
seitan
Crap

I think the "Undercover" is the second worst Stones album ever, it sucks.
The worst album is "flashpoint" that´s even worse - every decent songs @#$%& awful.

I really like 'Factory Girl' from Flashpoint. I don't even remember 'It Must Be Hell'.

I like the chorus on this one, but there's definitly something "missing" to make it a classic. Lame percussion, lame production except for the guitars. Nice lead work from Ronnie.
Mediocre song from an album that is mostly weak.

[www.reverbnation.com]

Funny thing is that it took ages for me to get to like the last 3 of undercover because of their "classic" production. They dont fit well together with the rest. It is the only thing I don't like in undercover.

C

Micheal Jackson stole the riff and wrote Black or White.

lame at best..worst song on undercover...certainly filler.....

Funny that I always have to listen first, because I can't remember most of the songs released after '82

I don't like this one.....

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A forgettable non-entity, as I have forgotten it and am none the worse.

rip=off of soul survivor, but it still rocks pretty damn hard. light years better than the other soul survivor rip-off, the putrid vegas rock and a hard place,

I renamed it "It Must Be Heck" on my playlist.

I actually see it as a taster for what came after it.
It has this weird kind of 'anonymous' feeling to it, which plagued albums like Dirty Work and Steel Wheels.
It's not as much a song, but more of an exercise in rhytm and sound experimentation.
Good or bad, it kind of breaked new land for the Stones to write songs like this.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-10-25 02:01 by Blueranger.