The Rolling Stones’ Wild Horses is a fan favourite, but listeners may be surprised to realise how little the band has played it live.
The Mick Jagger-fronted group has performed Wild Horses sporadically since its release in 1971. The Sticky Fingers classic did not stick around on the setlist for all that long after release, but has been picked up by the band occasionally since the 1990s. On their last tour, The Rolling Stones performed Wild Horses just eight times. The group has played it just fifteen times this decade, and 166 times in total. Despite the song not being performed live as frequently as some may have assumed, Wild Horses is a fan favourite which listeners are keen to hear as much as they can. It means seeking out live renditions of the song, with the “beautifully devastating” performance below noted as one of the band’s very best moments.
One fan wrote: “This song has one of the most beautifully devastating closing lines of lyrics in all of music: ‘I know I’ve 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.’ Man what lyrics.”
Other fans are still hoping a version of Wild Horses which has Keith Richards on lead vocals will receive an official release. Richards’ vocal work for the Sticky Fingers track has been hailed by listeners, who now want an album of “Keith Demos” to be released. Though none may be forthcoming, Richards did have a solo career, with three albums and a collection of EP releases out there for listeners.
But fans of The Rolling Stones are hoping to hear his take on Wild Horses released officially, though it may not occur. A YouTube upload of the performance of Wild Horses had members of the public praising the rendition, which proved very different to the mood and atmosphere of the Jagger-fronted classic.
One listener wrote: “The Rolling Stones should release an album of all the Keith Demos. Love this.” Another added: “Hearing Keith sing this beautiful, iconic song made me think of all the people I’ve loved and lost throughout the years. I really miss some of you cats…”
A third wrote: “Keith comes up with the music and the subject, and Mick fills it out perfectly. They were a perfect songwriting combo. It’s almost as though they were one super person. They may not be the longest surviving songwriting duo (though they might be) or the best songwriting duo (though they might be), but they sure are the longest surviving duo that wrote and performed some of the best rock songs.
“Their only competition might be Steely Dan – obviously not very comparable. And who knows what would have happened if Keith hadn’t been so limited by his addiction and (as a result) they’d held on to Mick Taylor. I suspect that Mick and Keith were so tight they didn’t want to make room for anyone else, no matter how talented.
Others believe this rendition of Wild Horses highlights the nuance Richards is capable of when writing and recording with The Rolling Stones. A fan wrote: “The thing I respect about Keith and The Rolling Stones is he isn’t a showboat or some high-energy guitarist.
“He just writes, plays, and blends beautifully. Essentially, he is just a blue player with a folk-like style approach, not some showboat shredder playing other people’s shit in their own format and selling it back to the fans. Yes, he got a lot of inspiration from blues guitarists before him, including Chuck Berry, but he put it into his own creative outlet of songwriting and recording and making it original as they come.”
