Who was The Rolling Stones song ‘Under My Thumb’ written about?
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(Credits: Bent Rej)
‘Under My Thumb’ is one of the standout songs on the first real album of note released by The Rolling Stones, 1966’s Aftermath. It includes a famous marimba hook by Brian Jones and some of Keith Richards’ best early guitar work for the band.
It’s also rightly considered one of the most controversial songs in the band’s history, as it overtly denigrates its female subject to the position of man-pleaser. Mick Jagger’s lyrics for the track appear to celebrate the fact that his girlfriend has become “the sweetest pet in the world”, who “does just what she’s told” and “talks when she’s spoken to”. The material understandably enraged many fans worldwide from the moment it was released and rarely gets an outing at Stones gigs these days, as some of the band’s more controversial lyrical themes are held to a higher standard of accountability.
Jagger himself has dismissed ‘Under My Thumb’ as “a caricature” that people shouldn’t take so seriously, regardless of the misogyny its lyrics indulge in. In a 2007 interview, however, he did go on to admit that the song has some basis in reality. “It’s in reply to a girl who was a very pushy woman,” he explained.
When Jagger was asked directly whether this “pushy woman” was anyone in particular, he replied, “No, I don’t think so.” This reply seems somewhat ambiguous and suggests that the song’s lyrics aren’t simply about the archetypal ‘tamed shrew’ of chauvinist propaganda but someone specific. Particularly given the rumours that swirled around Jagger’s private life in the year Aftermath was recorded and released.
Another song on the album goes a step further than ‘Under My Thumb’ in spewing outright vitriol against its female protagonist. “All you had you wasted,” Jagger sings in ‘Stupid Girl’. He’s talking about the girlfriend he was about to leave behind for teenage singer Marianne Faithfull.
So, who is it?
The girl in question was 20-year-old model Chrissie Shrimpton, who had been with Jagger since 1963. The two became engaged in 1965 after Jagger felt pushed into the arrangement by Shrimpton’s parents. Shrimpton herself was unhappy with Jagger’s wild lifestyle, later telling the singer’s biographer Philip Norman, “I hated all the fan hysteria stuff, and I wasn’t that interested in running around the clubs and everything rock chicks are supposed to do.” While Jagger was enjoying his time as one of the most desired men on the planet, all Shrimpton wanted to do was “to have babies and be normal.”
Nevertheless, the Stones frontman managed to get his girlfriend to move in with him in 1966 without a wedding ring on her finger, against the wishes of her parents. Perhaps it was this decision, and the control Jagger was increasingly taking over what happened in the relationship, that inspired ‘Under My Thumb’.
Shrimpton described her ex as “very controlling, very paternalistic, very care-taking”. And that’s certainly the person we hear in the song. Maybe it’s not such a caricature after all.
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