Wild Horses Lyrics
Childhood living is easy to do
The things you wanted, I bought them for you
Graceless lady, you know who I am
You know I can't let you slide through my hands
[Chorus]
Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses couldn't drag me away
[Verse 2]
I watched you suffer a dull, aching pain
Now you decided to show me the same
No sweeping exits or offstage lines
Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind
[Chorus]
Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses couldn't drag me away
[Verse 3]
I know I dreamed you a sin and a lie
I have my freedom, but I don't have much time
Faith has been broken, tears must be cried
Let's do some living after we die
Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day
[Chorus]
Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day
About
Originally, Keith wrote “Wild Horses” as a simple lullaby for his son, finding it more and more difficult to part from Marlon to go on tour.
The song then took on a different complexion under Mick’s pen. [Marianne Faithfull has revealed that Wild horses couldn’t drag me away were the first words she uttered to Mick in the hospital when she came out of a six-day coma caused by an overdose of sleeping pills in the summer of 1969. For the Stones frontman, however, “Wild Horses” has nothing to do with Marianne Faithfull.
From the liner notes to the 1993 Stones' anthology, Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones:
Everyone always says it was written about Marianne, but I don’t think it was; that was all well over by then. But I was definitely very inside this piece emotionally. This is very personal, evocative, and sad. It all sounds rather doomy now, but it was quite a heavy time.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Gram Parsons, who oftentimes receives erroneous credit for writing the song, tells the story of how he was introduced to the number in this excerpt from a 1973 interview:
As documented by Jim Beviglia in Counting Down the Rolling Stones: Their 100 Finest Songs, Mick Jagger said in Stones Anthology Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones ‘71 – '93:
I remember we sat around originally doing this with Gram Parsons, and I think his version came out slightly before ours. Everyone always says this was written about Marianne but I don’t think it was; that was all well over by then. But I was definitely very inside this piece emotionally.