That’s one interpretation of the Stones’ WAITING ON A FRIEND (which I’ve always loved too) I found surfing:
This is a rare mature reflection from The Stones, as Mick Jagger sings about the values of friendship as opposed to women. Then again, it might be about drugs. Keith Richards was a heroin user at the time, and the song could be a euphemism for waiting on the “connection” – the man with the drugs. Should Keith (or in this case, Mick, as he is singing in the video) get questioned by the police, his response would be, “I’m just waiting on a friend.”
But I actually think the song really is about friendship as our deepest longing. A friend is someone to cry to and someone to protect, the lyrics go. You can’t get more personal than that. So a bit of thought about waiting and you have the Stones’ most Christian reflection.
So our John Presnall is right: It’s a tune very appropriate for funerals. Maybe the wait is over.
Awkward transition to shameless self-promotion. My spring tour continues with a lecture at LSU next Friday, March 23 at 3 p.m. at the Hill Memorial Library.
Title: Tocqueville, Individualism, Indefinite Longevity, and Our Birth Death
Subtitle: Are Love and Death More Trouble Than They’re Worth?
Experiment: To bring together 4 of my big topics into one 40 minute presentation.
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