You’re A Fool to Cry

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote the ballad ‘Fool to Cry’ for the Rolling Stones 1976 album Black and Blue.  Mick Taylor had just left the band and the Stones were left without a lead guitarist, so they got session man Wayne Perkins to play guitar on this track.  Jagger plays electric piano and Nicky Hopkins performs regular piano on the track, with Hopkins also playing the string synthesizer.  ‘Fool To Cry’ was the biggest Rolling Stones single since ‘Angie’ three years earlier and this song reached #6 on the UK Singles Chart and it went to #10 on the US Billboard Hot 100.  Jagger sings falsetto vocals while the beat is relaxed in this song, which was not typical of most Rolling Stones songs and Keith Richards admitted that he once fell asleep on stage while playing this in 1976 while touring Germany.

This is a sad song about being depressed and while Mick Jagger is feeling down, he gets comfort first from his daughter, then from his lover, as both of them tell him he’s a fool to cry.  Mick has everything that anyone could ever want, so there is no need for him to cry and his daughter and his significant other both love him.  My best guess is that his daughter and his lover are both telling Mick to man up and stop acting like a little bitch.

When I come home baby
And I’ve been working all night long
I put my daughter on my knee, and she says
Daddy what’s wrong?
She whispers in my ear so sweet
You know what she says, she says
Ooh, daddy you’re a fool to cry
You’re a fool to cry
And it makes me wonder why

Daddy you’re a fool
You know, I got a woman (daddy you’re a fool)
And she lives in the poor part of town
And I go see her sometimes
And we make love, so fine
I put my head on her shoulder
She says, tell me all your troubles
You know what she says?
She says, ooh, daddy you’re a fool to cry
You’re a fool to cry
And it makes me wonder why

Daddy you’re a fool to cry
Yeah, she says
Oh, Daddy you’re a fool to cry
You’re a fool to cry
And it makes me wonder why

She says, ooh, daddy you’re a fool to cry
Ooh, daddy you’re a fool to cry
Ooh, daddy you’re a fool to cry
Ooh, daddy you’re a fool to cry

Even my friends say to me sometimes
And make out like I don’t understand them
You know what they say?
They say, ooh daddy you’re a fool to cry
You’re a fool to cry
And it makes me wonder why, ah

I’m a fool baby, ah ya
I’m a certified fool, ah yeah
Gotta tell ya, baby
I’m a fool baby, ah yeah
Whoo
Certified fool for ya, mama, ya, yeah, come on, yeah
I’m a fool, yeah

Written for Thursday Inspiration #140 What a Fool Believes.