Black Limousine is a ‘deep’ track from 1981′s Tattoo You. There have been a few ideas tossed around as to who this song is about. One source (I’m sorry I forget who) claims the subject is former Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. That doesn’t make sense. Why would they reference Andrew’s dress color? Some think the subject is either Marianne Faithfull or Anita Pallenburg based on the lines “I get so scared just to see you on the street…You’re washed high up on the beach”. That’s doubtful, because by 1981 Mick was long over writing songs about MF, and it’s unlikely that Keith would have written anything so mean about Anita. I personally think this one goes out to Bianca Jagger. The line “you in white and me in green” is a possible refernce to Mick and Bianca’s wedding. She famously wore a white YSL le smoking, he wore a suit that does look a bit greenish (it’s hard to judge, for all the hordes of paparazzi present that day, there appears to be only one color photo). Or not. The songs Bianca did inspire aren’t the most romantic ones, so I think she’s the muse at work in this case as well. Bianca has gotten an unfairly bad rep, most likely becuase Keith liked to say she was a bad influence on Mick – “a bigger negative influence…than anyone would have thought possible”. Keith was way off the mark, though. Bianca was a great influence, in that she took Mick away from the self-immolating life style Keith and Anita enjoyed. When Mick was with Marianne Faithfull, she and Anita were the best of friends and the four of them were insepatable. Bianca, on the other hand, Anita couldn’t abide and vice versa, and Keith was just jealous that Mick’s life with Bianca didn’t include him. Imagine, if Marianne Faithfull hadn’t run away to pursue her lifelong ambitions of becoming a homeless person, Mick would probably have succumbed to the temptation of the needle. As it were, he just stuck to blowing things up his nose, and pulled through with most of his brain cells intact.
We used to ride, baby, ride around in limousines
We looked so fine, baby, you in white and me in green
Drinking and dancing all inside our crazy dream
Well now look at your face now, baby
Look at you and look at me
I get so scared just to see you on the street
The living dead, you’re all the same, you never speak
You’re wrecked out now, washed up high up on the beach
We used to shine, shine, shine, shine, say what a pair, say what a team
We used to ride, ride, ride, ride, ride in a long black limousine
Those dreams are gone, baby, they’re locked away and never seen
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