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Paint It Black

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"Paint It Black" (originally released as "Paint It, Black") is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, jointly credited to the songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It was first released as a single on May 7th 1966, and was later included as the opening track to the American version of their 1966 album Aftermath.

The Residents have covered the song within a number of their live shows, beginning with Disfigured Night in 1997. Most recently, the song appeared in the Randy Rose "cabaret" show Sam's Enchanted Evening in 2012. A demo version credited to Rose (labelled "PaintItBlackMix2") was released via the unofficial Tumblr blog Diskomo in 2011.

History[]

The song was released May 7th 1966, while The Residents were still living in Shreveport, Louisiana. By June 11th, it reached number 1 on the US charts. It charted for five weeks.

The Residents covered the song for the first time at the Adobe Disfigured Night show in May 1997. A recording of this version of the song was first released in an edited form on the compilation album dot.com in 2000. The full, unedited version (featuring an additional, improvised outro based on the Disfigured Night theme) eventually appeared on the 2009 digital live album 1997: The Missing Year - Adobe Disfigured Night.

The Residents left the song alone until 2010, when they recorded a demo version for the one-off So Long Sam live show. This version was released on the So Long Sam EP, with the vocals pitched down from the live performance.

The song was performed again from 2011 to 2012 as part of the Randy Rose "cabaret" show Sam's Enchanted Evening. Within the context of Sam's story, the song represents the torture that Sam featured as a prisoner during the Vietnam War.

A demo recording of the track credited solely to Rose was released by Rose to the fan-made Tumblr blog Diskomo in 2011; Rose later uploaded the track to his own Tumblr blog, Maurice and Me, in February 2012.

A March 2010 demo, and The Residents' 2010 live version, were officially released in 2022, on the album So Long Sam (1945-2006).

Lyrics[]

The Rolling Stones version (1966)[]

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colours anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I see a line of cars and they're all painted black
With flowers and my love, both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a newborn baby, it just happens every day

I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door, I must have it painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black

No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the setting sun
My love will laugh with me before the morning comes

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colours anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I wanna see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted
Painted black

Disfigured Night version (1997)[]

I see a red door and I want to paint it black
Just like a legless corpse with tar upon its back
I hate the spring with blooming flowers everyday
Deceiving darkness and the pleasure that it brings

I see a line of cars, they are always black
Inside the hole, the hole, that never can come back
More darkness opens up inside me everyday
Festering fecal matter, eating me away

I like to look into nothingness and black
Where I know all I need, the meaning that I'm at
Why can't I fall into a dark and endless crack
Life is so simple when your world is painted black

Black, black, black, black, 
Black, black, black, black, 
Black, black,
Black as hate, black as spite, black as sin
Deep deep deep down

So Long Sam version (2010)[]

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No blood upon it, only inky, oily black
What happened to the girls dressed in their summer clothes
Waiting to touch me with their fingertips and toes

I see a line of cars, and they're all painted black
They're filled with flowers and the emptiness of black
I see the strangers turn and quickly walk away
They are avoiding me like rats avoid the day

I am a hole consumed with loneliness and black
I look inside myself and see my soul is black
My mother's memory is dying in my mind
It's turning black and getting blacker all the time

No more can I perceive my personality
I could not foresee this thing happening to me

And then I see her face
Painted black, black as night
And then I see the sun
Blotted out from the sky
And then I see the paint of, paint of, paint of,
Paint made of
Black

List of releases[]

List of versions[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Adobe Disfigured Night live recording, Adobe World Center, San Jose, California, May 1997 (edited version, 2:55)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Adobe Disfigured Night live recording, Adobe World Center, San Jose, California, May 1997 (unedited version with coda, 3:57)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 So Long Sam live recording, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, California, June 4th 2010 (with overdubs, 2:30)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Randy Rose studio demo recording, March 2010 - September 2011 ("Mix 2", 3:33)
  5. ↑ San Anselmo studio demo recording, March 2010 (2:37)
  6. ↑ Randy Rose live recording, The Marsh, Berkeley, California, November 10th 2011 (2:43)

Resources[]

Listen online[]

External links and references[]

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