Mick Jagger Had To Learn Gambling Lingo for This Rolling Stones’ Classic

Let’s face it: It’s not always that easy to discern just what exactly Mick Jagger is singing in some Rolling Stones songs. But that doesn’t mean that he’s getting away with just spouting nonsensical gibberish.

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Consider, for example, “Tumbling Dice”, perhaps the most well-known song from the Stones’ 1972 masterpiece Exile On Main St. Jagger’s words aren’t easy to decipher. But they make up a pretty good case that committing to the narrator in a romantic relationship is a major gamble.

Rolling and “Tumbling”

Ask most Rolling Stones fans, and they’ll tell you that Exile On Main St. stands as one of the finest albums not only in the band’s catalog but also in rock history as a whole. But if you query Mick Jagger, he’ll probably tell you that it’s a bit overrated.

Jagger wasn’t pleased with the mixing job done on the album. It is an unusual record in that the sounds of the different instrumentalists seem to blend together at times like a slurry. That’s certainly true on “Tumbling Dice”, which still became a Top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Stones first started working on the song back when they were making Sticky Fingers, the predecessor to Exile. It then featured the title “Good Time Women”. They laid down the track for good when they were at Keith Richards’ estate in France. An unusual lineup, including Mick Taylor on bass and producer Jimmy Miller helping Charlie Watts on drums, played on it.

Jagger worked on the lyrics once the band headed to Los Angeles to put on the finishing touches. He came up with the title “Tumbling Dice”, but he realized he didn’t know all that much about gambling. To help with the terminology, he quizzed a housekeeper who knew a little bit about craps.

Examining the Lyrics of “Tumbling Dice”

Jagger sprinkles gambling lingo throughout “Tumbling Dice”. When he sings, “There’s fever in the funk house now,” that’s a reference to a specific roll. So too when he sings, “You know the deuce is still wild,” and “I’m all sixes and sevens and nines.”

But Jagger really isn’t out to dissect strategies for the game. He’s using this Vegas argot as a metaphor for the protagonist’s romantic escapades. This guy has a high opinion of his allure, even as he acknowledges that it causes problems. “Women think I’m tasty but they’re always tryin’ to waste me,” he admits. “And make me burn the candle right down.”

“’Cause all you women is low-down gamblers,” he accuses. “Cheatin’ like I don’t know how.” Protest though he may, the narrator still finds himself in the company of women throughout the song. But he’s moving too fast to stick with anyone too long. “Don’t see the time flashin’ by,” he explains of his lifestyle.

Ultimately, it means that he’s solitary in the end, the “lone craps shooter.” And he identifies with the objects bouncing around on the felt. “Baby, I can’t stay,” Jagger sings. “You got to roll me and call me the tumbling dice.”

We’d like to think that this article might do a service for those who’ve listened to “Tumbling Dice” for decades, none the wiser about the actual lyrics. It turns out there’s a lot of meaning in that soupy mix.

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