"Slipping Away" is a song recorded by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

. Written by

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

, it is a ballad sung by Richards. It was included as the last track of the band's 1989 studio album ''

Steel Wheels Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant t ...

''. The Stones have since performed "Slipping Away" during the 1995 leg of the

Voodoo Lounge Tour The Voodoo Lounge Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Rolling Stones to promote their 1994 album '' Voodoo Lounge''. This was their first tour without bassist Bill Wyman, and their first with touring bassist Darryl Jones, as an additional ...

, the 2002-2003

Licks Tour The Licks Tour was a worldwide concert tour undertaken by the Rolling Stones during 2002 and 2003, in support of their 40th anniversary compilation album '' Forty Licks''. The tour grossed over $300 million, becoming the second highest grossi ...

throughout the 2005-2007

A Bigger Bang Tour A Bigger Bang was a worldwide concert tour by the Rolling Stones which took place between August 2005 and August 2007, in support of their album ''A Bigger Bang''. At the time, it was the highest grossing tour of all time, earning $558,255,524 ...

, on the 14 On Fire tour with former guitarist

Mick Taylor Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on: '' Let It Bleed'' ...

guesting, and on the No Filter Tour.

Music and lyrics

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards co-wrote "Slipping Away". The song was recorded by Christopher Marc Potter and Rupert Coulson at both AIR Studios, Montserrat and at Olympic Sound Studios, London. It was mixed by Michael H. Brauer. Musically, "Slipping Away" is a slow "dreamy"

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

song that features Richards as its lead vocalist, with Jagger singing backing vocals alongside

Sarah Dash Sarah Dash (August 18, 1945 – September 20, 2021) was an American singer and actress. She first appeared on the music scene as a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles. Dash was later a member of Labelle, and worked as a singer, sess ...

Lisa Fischer Lisa Fischer (born December 1, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She found success with her 1991 debut album '' So Intense'', which produced the Grammy Award–winning hit single "How Can I Ease the Pain". She has been a back-up singer ...

, and

Bernard Fowler Bernard Fowler (born January 2, 1960) is an American musician. He is known for a long association with The Rolling Stones, providing backing vocals since 1989 and on their studio recordings and live tours. Fowler has been a featured guest vocal ...

. Richards and

Ron Wood Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

perform the song's rhythm guitar parts.

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who achieved international fame as the bassist for the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a membe ...

provides the prominent bass while

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an ...

performs drums. The organ and piano are performed by

Chuck Leavell Charles Alfred Leavell (born April 28, 1952) is an American musician. A member of the Allman Brothers Band throughout their commercial zenith in the 1970s, he subsequently became a founding member of the band Sea Level. He has served as the pri ...

and electric piano by Matt Clifford. The song's brass is provided by the

Kick Horns Kick Horns are a UK horn section based in London. They have worked prolifically as session musicians with a wide variety of performers, and have also recorded as an ensemble. The Kick Horns were established in the 1980s by Simon C. Clarke and Ti ...

. Richards recorded a re-worked acoustic version for the 1995 live album ''

Stripped Stripped may refer to: Music * "Stripped" (song), by Depeche Mode, 1986 * ''Stripped'' (Christina Aguilera album) or the title song, 2002 * ''Stripped'' (Daniel Ash album), 2014 * ''Stripped'' (Macy Gray album), 2016 * ''Stripped'' (Pretty Ma ...

''. Of the song he said at the time, "(When we recorded it for ''Stripped'') we realized, 'Wow, that song kind of slipped away.' It just kind of tailed off at the end of ''Steel Wheels''. We realized what potential it still had, and the band and especially the horn guys said, 'You've got to do that!' So in a way, I agreed to do it at gun point. But when I got into it, I really liked singing that song. It's got some depth."

Critical reception

In a retrospective article looking over Richards' 20 greatest songs, ''Rolling Stone'''s Jon Dolan et al. ranked it number 5, writing that "Slipping Away" was a "moving" song and "somber closing track" for ''Steel Wheels''. In 2019, Jon Dolan wrote in ''Rolling Stone'' that "Slipping Away" was the "best song" of the album. ''Vulture'' ranked "Slipping Away" in 2017 as the band's 320th best song of all time. ''Billboard'''s Joe Lynch wrote that the quality of the song was "enough to prove that even without the Stones, ichardscould have enjoyed a solo career of renown and relevance".{{Cite news, last=Lynch, first=Joe, date=2 August 2019, title=The Rolling Stones Roar Into New Jersey On No Filter Tour, work=Billboard, url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8525899/the-rolling-stones-new-jersey-no-filter-tour-recap/, access-date=11 July 2021

References

External links

Complete official lyrics
The Rolling Stones songs 1989 songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Chris Kimsey