The Rolling Stones Lyric that Put Their Flower Power Era to Bed

The Rolling Stones have recorded many amazing songs throughout their illustrious career. But which of those songs is the most important, in terms of what it meant for both the direction their career would take and their eventual status and rock and roll’s indefatigable warriors?

Well, that’s up for argument, of course, but we’d like to put our two cents in for their bruising, brilliant 1968 single “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” The music found them returning to their bluesy roots, while the lyrics stared unflinchingly into the dark side of life. That’s a formula they pretty much minted in the years to come, as they became the standard-bearers for rock’s enduring power.

How “Flash” Provided Substance

Let’s be clear about this: The Rolling Stones were pretty adept at delivering the psychedelic rock/baroque pop songs that were all the rave from 1965 through 1967. Those genres allowed the songwriting duo of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to show off their staggering growth as lyricists and melodicists. What band wouldn’t have given their all to records songs such as “Ruby Tuesday,” or albums such as Aftermath?

But as they moved further in this direction, the Stones started to veer away from their strengths. It didn’t help that this was also a particularly tumultuous time for them, as they dealt with the continuing personal struggles of founding member Brian Jones and a myriad other distractions.

The Stones released the album Their Satanic Majesties Request at the end of 1967. Many saw it as nothing more than a pale retread of what The Beatles had just pulled off with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, right down to the packaging. While there are great moment on that Stones record, it was clear they’d somewhat lost the plot.

Luckily, Richards had a new riff in his pocket that sounded like an inverted version of the iconic opening notes of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” And they developed a refrain that came from the wee hours of a songwriting session, when Jagger was startled by Richards’ heavy-footed gardener, whose name was Jack. They just needed some lyrics, and those lyrics diverted their career trajectory with their fierce imagery and brutal outlook.

Exploring the Lyrics to “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”

Look high and low in the annals of rock and roll, and you’ll have a hard time finding a more effective, evocative opening couplet than this one: I was born in a crossfire hurricane / And I howled at my Ma in the driving rain. It’s as if the deluge in the song, accompanied by the thundering riff and relentless rhythms, washed away all the Day-Glo colors in which the band had been indulging for the previous few years, returning their musical world to unforgiving black and white.

Things don’t get much better for Jagger’s narrator in the second verse: I was raised by a toothless, bearded hag / I was schooled with a strap right across my bag. There’s nothing nostalgic to which he wants to return when it comes to memories of his childhood.

In the final verses, the calamities pile up on this poor soul, and the words as they read on the paper sound as bleak as could be: Abandoned by all those who loved him (if they ever existed), bleeding, starving, and finally: I was crowned with a spike right through my head.

Yet Jagger’s voice rises in something akin to exultation with each passing line, as if the hardship is energizing hm. That plays into the chorus’ assertion: But it’s all right now / In fact, it’s a gas. There’s nothing that’s going to stop this guy, especially since all the maladies seem to make him stronger.

And that’s the neat thing about this song: As devastating as all the problems piled on the narrator might seem to be, The Rolling Stones suggest that defiance and resilience will win the day. “Jumpin Jack Flash” put them back on the bluesy path they were always meant to trod, if for no other reason so they could set an example for fans trying to rise above their own difficulties.

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