The Rolling Stones weren’t always operating at their highest level in the 80s. Band turmoil and a general lack of consensus about which direction their music should go took their toll on the product. But they could still rear back and bring the heat on occasion, even if the consistency wasn’t there. And speaking of heat, contrasts in temperature play a big role in the band’s underrated 1983 song “She Was Hot”.
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“Hot” Stuff
Tattoo You had papered over the wound. Critics hailed the 1981 Rolling Stones album as their best in nearly a decade. But it only came to fruition because Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, unable to get along together to write new stuff, relied on unfinished tracks from past albums.
When it came time to start making their next album, the power struggle between Jagger and Richards revved up anew. Jagger wanted the Stones to stay in the here and now and use modern sounds and techniques. Richards favored the blues-based rock that had long been the band’s stock in trade.
As they made the record that turned into Undercover, released in 1983, the two men struggled to find any kind of common ground. The album, as a result, came out feeling disjointed. But “She Was Hot” stood out as an undeniable high point.
Musically, the song, with its nimble rhythms and fast-talking lyrical structure, owed a great debt to Chuck Berry. Meanwhile, Jagger’s lyrics focus on the lure of a special one-night stand. As the rigors of the road take their toll on him, he can’t help but fantasize about finding her again.
Examining the Lyrics of “She Was Hot” by The Rolling Stones
Jagger could likely identify with his narrator. After all, the guy spent much of his life touring from city to city, dealing with the various annoyances that accompany such travel. Back in 1976, he’d written about romance on the road in much more sentimental fashion on the song “Memory Motel”.
“She Was Hot” focuses more on the passion of it all. The narrator comes to rely on these trysts to get him out of the traveling doldrums. Faced with freezing rain and cold bed sheets in New York City, he invites a paramour over: “Who wants to brave the pouring rain / For a glass of French champagne? / Well grab a cab and grab a cap, baby, come right by.”
His next stop is Detroit, where the weather isn’t much better. He puts on a brave face and claims that he wants to be alone: “I don’t need your company / Leave me in my misery.”
In the last verse, he realizes he might be getting addicted to these temporary affairs. “I think I’m going off the rails,” he admits. “Riding down the pleasure trails.”
But his protests fall away each time the refrain comes around. That’s when Jagger sings the praises of the girl (or maybe girls) who provide him with distraction. It gets steamy, both within the story of the song and for listeners hearing his vivid descriptions of their bedroom escapades.
After expressing ambivalence for the majority of the song, the narrator caves in at the end and hopes for another rendezvous. “I wish you all the best,” he tells her. “I hope we meet again / In a cold Chicago night.” “She Was Hot”, a lost gem from The Rolling Stones, manages to combine the frustrations piling up on someone stuck on an endless journey with the pleasures available along the way.
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
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