So That's What That Song Was About

Karen: As happens with me at times, I've been on a little reading jag, this time centered on the Rolling Stones. Since I've been doing a bit of traveling I've gotten a lot of reading done. I was on a plane making my way through Robert Greenfield's infamous "S.T.P." tome, a look at the Stones' 1972 tour of America, when I was gobsmacked by this little nugget: the song "Sweet Black Angel" off of the Exile on Main Street album was written in support of activist Angela Davis! I must have heard that song dozens of times and never even thought about it. Now it's not a major cut off that album, but I'm certainly familiar with it. Probably the most memorable thing about it (to me) was the percussion, with the washboards chuck-a-chucking in the back. As soon as I could, I put on my headphones and listened to the song. Admittedly most of Jagger's lyrics were unintelligible to me, but I realized I'd never truly listened to the words before. I went and looked up the lyrics, and then there was no doubt. The song references her being on trial for a judge's murder, and says she's "not a gun totin' teacher, not a Red-lovin' school marm." 

For those who might not know, Angela Davis was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles who was a political activist. She was charged with the murder of a judge because she owned the guns used in the crime, although she was not at the scene of the crime. The case became quite huge in the press and a real cause celebre.

I was both surprised and disappointed in myself that I'd never paid attention to the song and caught all of this before. It's an unusual song in that the Stones were very rarely political. I think I had always assumed  the song had a more sexual meaning and completely wrote it off, not giving it any thought. Now when I hear it, of course it will be in a very different light.

What about you? Are there any songs that you discovered the meaning behind them that really surprised you?