As Tears Go By (The Rolling Stones)

1 FEBRUARY 1966


The Rolling Stones’ single ‘As Tears Go By’ was at its peak US Billboard position of #6. This Jagger/Richards composition had more famously been a top 10 hit in the UK for Marianne Faithfull back in 1964.

The songwriters had been pressured into writing a song (one of their first) by their manager Andrew Loog Oldham and were less than impressed with it:
"We thought, what a terrible piece of tripe. We came out and played it to Andrew [Oldham], and he said ‘It’s a hit.’ We actually sold this stuff, and it actually made money. Mick and I were thinking, this is money for old rope!”
They obviously overcame their initial dislike of the song and later recorded it themselves. In the UK the Stones released the song as the B side of the ‘19th Nervous Breakdown’ single in late 1965.

A-side: '19th Nervous Breakdown' (UK)
B-side: 'Gotta Get Away' (US)
Recorded: 26 October 1965, IBC Studios, London
Released: December 1965 (US); 4 February 1966 (UK)
Highest chart position: #6 (US)
Recorded: 26 October 1965, IBC Studios, London
Length: 2:45
Label: London 45-LON9808
Producer: Andrew Loog Oldham

As Tears Go By (Rolling Stones)

'It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Smiling faces I can see
But not for me
I sit and watch
As tears go by
My riches can't buy everything
I want to hear the children sing
All I hear is the sound
Of rain falling on the ground
I sit and watch
As tears go by
It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Doin' things I used to do
They think are new
I sit and watch
As tears go by'