Probable line-up:

Drums: Charlie Watts
Bass: Bill Wyman
Acoustic guitars: Keith Richards & Mick Taylor
Vocals: Mick Jagger
Piano: Nicky Hopkins
Strings: (unknown musicians)
 

Angie, Angie
When will those dark clouds all disappear?
Angie, Angie
Where will it lead us from here?

With no loving in our souls and no money in our coats
You can't say we're satisfied
But Angie, Angie
You can't say we never tried

Angie, you're beautiful, yes
But ain't it time we said goodbye?
Angie, I still love you
Remember all those nights we cried

All the dreams we held so close seemed to all go up in smoke
Let me whisper in your ear
Angie, Angie
Where will it lead us from here?

Oh Angie, don't you weep, all your kisses still taste sweet
I hate that sadness in your eyes
But Angie, Angie
Ain't it time we said goodbye? Yeah

But Angie, I still love you baby
Everywhere I look I see your eyes
There ain't a woman that comes close to you
Come on, baby, dry your eyes

But Angie, Angie
Ain't it good to be alive?
Angie, Angie
They can't say we never tried
 
 

TrackTalk

I had the whole chord sequence down maybe a year ago with just the title Angie. It could have been Randy or Mangy or anything, you know, but Mick just picked up on the title and wrote a song around it. He added the strings - all the strings on the album are his idea. I don't know who chose it as a single. I think somebody said that it would make a change and that it would get a heavy reaction on AM stations. I'm really not interested in picking singles.

The basic melody and the title were mine. I don't think you can write really interesting rock and roll songs if you can't get into ballads and slower stuff. Quite often when you write a ballad it ends up as something else. Once we've got a song we tussle around with it, roll in the dirt with it. I'd recently had my daughter born, who's name was Angela, and the name was starting to ring around the house. But I'm into writing about my babies. Angie just fitted. I mean, you couldn't sing 'Maureen'...

Angie and Dancing with Mr. D were recorded in the middle of the sessions...

Like Angie, which is our single, is not the best track on the album, I don't think. But it doesn't matter.

It's quite a straight schmaltzy pop tune, with the piano and string arrangement so prominent, which is probably why it was so popular in Latin countries at the time. It was definitely a change of pace for us, almost like a reaction to the harder sounds of Exile.

I think Keith wrote the first line, I think it was his daughter (Angela). It was about love coming to a full stop. The actual name, I'm not sure where it came from, it's not about Angela Bowie. I think it's Keith's daughter's name.

I've said about a hundred million times that it wasn't (about Angela Bowie)... I don't think I had even met Angela Bowie when I wrote the rest of the lyrics.

I don't know. That was one of Keith's songs (laughs). I just filled in the gaps.

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