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Mixed Emotions
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

Air Studios, Montserrat, West Indies, March 29 - May 5, 1989 and
Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK, May 15 - June 29, 1989

Mick Jagger - lead vocals, backing vocals, electric guitar
Keith Richards - electric guitar, backing vocals
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Ron Wood - electric guitar
Chuck Leavell - piano, organ
Luis Jardim - percussion
Bernard Fowler - backing vocals
Lisa Fisher - backing vocals
Sara Dash - backing vocals
Kick Horns - brass, horns

Button your lip, baby, button your coat, let's go out dancing, go for the throat
Let's bury the hatchet, wipe out the past, make love together, stay on the path
You're not the only one with mixed emotions
You're not the only ship adrift on this ocean

This coming and going is driving me nuts
This to-ing and fro-ing is hurting my guts
So get off the fence now, it's creasing your butt
Life is a party, let's get out and strut, yes
You're not the only one with mixed emotions
You're not the only ship adrift on this ocean
You're not the only one that's feeling lonesome
You're not the only one with mixed emotions

You're not the only one, you're not the only one

Let's grab the world, girl, by the scruff of the neck
And drink it down deeply, let's love it to death
So button your lip, baby, and button your coat
Let's go out and dancing, let's rock and roll, yeah
You're not the only one with mixed emotions
You're not the only ship adrift on this ocean
You're not the only one that's feeling lonesome
You're not the only one with mixed emotions, mixed emotions, yeah

You're not the only one, you're not the only one…

Produced by Chris Kimsey & The Glimmer Twins

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Mixed Emotions / Fancyman Blues” 7” single
(CBS 655193-7) UK, August 16, 1989

I still remember hearing the fake JJF intro and then Jagger's debile verses on the radio back in 1989, thinking: can it get any worse than that?
To me, they finally hit rock bottom with this one, going for the most obvious stadium rock clichés to please those beer-bellied babyboomers who do not want to be bothered with any kind of musical challenge

I have always had mixed emotion about this track.


Just getting that out of the way

Good song, their last hit(?), but horrible production (which goes for the whole SW album). I'm sure this sounded fresh in 1989, and marked a comeback from a decade full of internal fights and bad music, but you can barely listen to it today.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-01-07 11:47 by DiscoVolante.

Really liked the song, still do, and the video was good!!!
jeroen

They were back!
That's what mattered the most at the time.
It took an enormous amount of time for them to come up with a new album, after going
through (what the press called) World War III. But here they were. The hatchet was buried,
and Mick didn't mind singing about Mick's Demotion.
I remember being impressed by it all. Even my friends, who were not "into" the Stones,
congratulated me with the fine singles that came from Steel Wheels at the time.

This clip gave us an idea of what was going on in the studio:





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

It was written by Keith for The Winos. Titled "Mick's Emotions." One of my favorite tracks from this era.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-01-07 11:50 by DoomandGloom.

I recall thinking how cool it was that the Stones WERE BACK!!
A NEW ALBUM!! And that was preinternet, so the radio was the place for information... and there was not much of it...except for...

I remember the local radio station having a contest over the release weekend where they were going to play "Mixed Emotions" 15 times, and when they did, the 15th caller would be entered into a drawing on Monday morning, where the winner would get a free trip to Toronto to see The Stones play in two weeks...

We were going to win!!!! so we set up to listen all weekend... and we waited and waited... yeah yeah yeah... I fell for the marketing BS, but it did make me happy when the song came on, and I liked it because it meant we could call in and try to register... THEN late on Saturday afternoon it came on, again, and I called in and hurrah!! I was the 15th caller... and entered into the contest with only 15 others... She had run out for a second whne that happened, and She thought I was kidding, but then the man on the radio said my name and she loved me so much.... we were so pumped, WE KNEW we were going to win.

So come Monday... the DJs were making a huillabaloo about pulling the name... and then they did..... and of course it wasnt me... and I was so pissed off!!!! fkrs!! But I told my girlfriend "FKTHEM!!! I am doing my own contest, and I WILL WIN THAT ONE FOR SURE!! and we will go to Toronto and see The Stones" and we did, not the next weekend, but 3 months later, on December 3rd 1989.... and I never gave one fk about ANY stupid contests (of any kind) ever since... but I still fondly remember laughing, singing(baddly) and dancing around with my girl friend to that song.... Good Times.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2013-01-07 13:24 by Max'sKansasCity.

Mick's demotions.

Keith as director of music.

...the 12" version is great.....

I got into the Stones by ways of Wandering Spirit. That was much later than when this song came out. Hence, my emotional attachment to it as being an event is absolutely nil. I'm just saying ...

Anyway, when I got Steel Wheels, it was already the early 00s. I had pre-listened to the album in a store in the 90s though, and nothing really grabbed my attention. Instead, the sound design rather put me off, so I postponed the album until later.

That's why "Mixed Emotions" to me is just a slightly above average song in their oeuvre, slightly above the average standard on "Steel Wheels", too. I prefer "Sad Sad Sad" and "Rock And A Hardplace" over this track. The former should have been the single, not this one.

I happen to like it, and I think some of Steel Wheels isn't too bad. It does have an 80s sheen to it, though.

Good track

Quote
marcovandereijk
They were back!
That's what mattered the most at the time.
It took an enormous amount of time for them to come up with a new album, after going
through (what the press called) World War III. But here they were. The hatchet was buried,
and Mick didn't mind singing about Mick's Demotion.
I remember being impressed by it all. Even my friends, who were not "into" the Stones,
congratulated me with the fine singles that came from Steel Wheels at the time.

This clip gave us an idea of what was going on in the studio:

Hilarious is the quote of Keith to Charlie just before they count of and start the song live in the studio:

"Don't go mad at the drum solo".

Quote
marcovandereijk
They were back!
That's what mattered the most at the time.
It took an enormous amount of time for them to come up with a new album, after going
through (what the press called) World War III. But here they were. The hatchet was buried,
and Mick didn't mind singing about Mick's Demotion.
I remember being impressed by it all. Even my friends, who were not "into" the Stones,
congratulated me with the fine singles that came from Steel Wheels at the time.

This clip gave us an idea of what was going on in the studio:

As usual this is staged specially for the camera.

Mathijs

To sum it up with one letter (repeated): ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Superb singing from Jagger...

2 1 2 0

Standard, run of the mill Stones.

Nothing outstanding about it IMO.

An average song by the Stones, the intro seems to be heard about thousand times under different titles ... but on the contrary to Plundered my Soul the track has a bridge, at least ...

..I don't know but it's my only 5/5 from Steel Wheels...Keiths singing is also very good at it...

Quote
Tantekäthe
I still remember hearing the fake JJF intro and then Jagger's debile verses on the radio back in 1989, thinking: can it get any worse than that?
To me, they finally hit rock bottom with this one, going for the most obvious stadium rock clichés to please those beer-bellied babyboomers who do not want to be bothered with any kind of musical challenge

it just seemed like rock bottom in '89....little could we know

The 'Dirty Work' abomination aside, the first sign of real bad news...the stones trying to sound like a band call the Rolling Stones.

They would hit rock bottom in 2002 with Don't Stop.

BTW, this lyric should never have passed quality control, and is again, a bad omen for the future:

This coming and going is driving me nuts
This to-ing and fro-ing is hurting my guts
So get off the fence now, it's creasing your butt
Life is a party, let's get out and strut, yes



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-01-07 17:11 by treaclefingers.

Quote
treaclefingers
The 'Dirty Work' abomination aside, the first sign of real bad news...the stones trying to sound like a band call the Rolling Stones.

They would hit rock bottom in 2002 with Don't Stop.

BTW, this lyric should never have passed quality control, and is again, a bad omen for the future:

This coming and going is driving me nuts
This to-ing and fro-ing is hurting my guts
So get off the fence now, it's creasing your butt
Life is a party, let's get out and strut, yes

you gotta admit - those lines DO rhyme. kudos for that.

Quote
StonesTod

Quote
treaclefingers
The 'Dirty Work' abomination aside, the first sign of real bad news...the stones trying to sound like a band call the Rolling Stones.

They would hit rock bottom in 2002 with Don't Stop.

BTW, this lyric should never have passed quality control, and is again, a bad omen for the future:

This coming and going is driving me nuts
This to-ing and fro-ing is hurting my guts
So get off the fence now, it's creasing your butt
Life is a party, let's get out and strut, yes

you gotta admit - those lines DO rhyme. kudos for that.

Didn't Mick once say, and I quote, "Rhyme? We don't need to rhyme"

Quote
StonesTod

Quote
treaclefingers
The 'Dirty Work' abomination aside, the first sign of real bad news...the stones trying to sound like a band call the Rolling Stones.

They would hit rock bottom in 2002 with Don't Stop.

BTW, this lyric should never have passed quality control, and is again, a bad omen for the future:

This coming and going is driving me nuts
This to-ing and fro-ing is hurting my guts
So get off the fence now, it's creasing your butt
Life is a party, let's get out and strut, yes

you gotta admit - those lines DO rhyme. kudos for that.

Reminds me of a joke.

A man goes to the Doctor and says "Doctor I've got a steering wheel stuck down my underpants... it's driving me nuts".

Now it seems very much of its time and place. The last well known Wyman related single. The beginning and end of eras really. No more wobble.

Quote
GravityBoy

Quote
StonesTod

Quote
treaclefingers
The 'Dirty Work' abomination aside, the first sign of real bad news...the stones trying to sound like a band call the Rolling Stones.

They would hit rock bottom in 2002 with Don't Stop.

BTW, this lyric should never have passed quality control, and is again, a bad omen for the future:

This coming and going is driving me nuts
This to-ing and fro-ing is hurting my guts
So get off the fence now, it's creasing your butt
Life is a party, let's get out and strut, yes

you gotta admit - those lines DO rhyme. kudos for that.

Reminds me of a joke.

A man goes to the Doctor and says "Doctor I've got a steering wheel stuck down my underpants... it's driving me nuts".

Yes, I know that one, the doctor then replies, "So get off the fence now, it's creasing your butt!".

OK average not bad pretty good.

Mixed Emotions was like a gust of fresh, bracing ocean air after the lull the band experienced in the mid-80's. It shouted "Hey, we're back!!" .. and it did so with style and aplomb. I can remember hearing this one for the first time and being so excited that my favorite band was once again creating great rock and roll. That driving rhythm, those soaring harmonies, and Mick's plaintive cries to bury the hatchet and wipe out the past, all told the listener that the Stones were back with a vengeance.

One of the best tracks on Steel Wheels and still sounding very good today, albeit a bit sterile. Excellent video, too.

Drew



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2013-01-08 01:51 by drewmaster.

This coming and going is driving me nuts
This to-ing and fro-ing is hurting my guts
So get off the fence now, it's creasing your butt
Life is a party, let's get out and strut, yes

Or

This coming and going is driving me mad
This to-ing and fro-ing is hurting my dad
So get off the fence now, it's creasing your pants
Life is a party, let's get out and dance (yes)