Sway Lyrics

[Intro]
One, two, three, four

[Verse 1]
Did you ever wake up to find
A day that broke up your mind?
Destroyed your notion of circular time?


[Chorus]
It's just that demon life has got you in its sway
It's just that demon life has got you in its sway

[Verse 2]
Ain't flinging tears out on the dusty ground
For my friends out on the burial ground
Can't stand the feeling getting so brought down

[Chorus]
It's just that evil life that got me in its sway
It's just that evil life that got me in its sway

[Bridge]
There must be ways to find out
Love is the way they say is really strutting out


[Verse 3]
Whoo
Hey, hey, hey now
One day I woke up to find
Right in the bed next to mine
Someone that broke me up with a corner of her smile, yeah

[Chorus]
It's just that demon life that got me in its sway
It's just that demon life that got me in its sway
It's just that demon life that got me in its sway
(It's just that demon life that got me in its sway)

[Outro]
It's just that demon life has got me

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About

Genius Annotation

“Sway” is perhaps the perfect musical manifestation of that morbid triptych of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. Or rather of the price to be paid for a life in their grip.

The bitterness felt by the character in the song is most probably a reflection of what Mick Jagger and the other Rolling Stones were feeling after the tragedy of Altamont.

Mick on stage with a member of the Hell’s Angels at the moment of the horrific murder at Altamont Speedway

The verdict is a painful one: society is violent – and there is no reason to believe it will ever be any different.

“Sway” was the first Sticky Fingers track to be cut at Stargroves, a manor house where Mick Jagger resided in the early 1970’s. Although the song is credited to Jagger/Richards, Keith Richards is present only as a backup singer – he hated going to Stargroves and traveled down there only rarely – his unannounced, repeated absences may also be explained by his increasing addiction to heroin – it was therefore the two Micks (Jagger/Taylor) who took things in hand. Taylor plays a major role on the track with his two solos, while Jagger makes his grand debut on electric guitar.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Credits
Produced By
Backing Vocals
Sound Engineer
Recorded At
Stargrove House, East Woodhay, Hampshire, UK (October 1970)
Release Date
April 23, 1971
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