Keith Richards Says ‘Start Me Up’ Took 10 Years to Finish: ‘It’s Like Good Wine’

Richards also said the song started off with a “reggae rhythm”

NEED TO KNOW

• The Rolling Stones’ new album Foreign Tongues, featuring Paul McCartney and Robert Smith, releases on July 10

• Keith Richards revealed “Start Me Up” took 10 years to complete and initially had a reggae rhythm

• Similarly, a track on Foreign Tongues was an idea Richards had years ago

Great things take time.

On Wednesday, July 8, the Rolling Stones sat down for an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe for a wide-ranging interview ahead of the release of their new studio album Foreign Tongues.

At one point in the interview, Lowe brought up the new song “Some of Us,” which Keith Richards sings on.

“That song had been hanging around in the head for years and years. I never quite got around to putting the finger on it,” Richards, 82, explained. “Some songs are very elusive.”

Then, Richards recalled having a similar experience with “Start Me Up,” which the band released as a single in 1981 and was later featured on their album Tattoo You.

“I remember ‘Start Me Up’ was 10 years from the writing of it to when it came out,” he said.

“It’s like wine, good wine, some of it’s better aged,” Richards continued, before revealing, “I remember the first hundred takes were reggae rhythm. It went through a lot of styles before we said, ‘Hey, why don’t we just play rock and roll?’”

He concluded, “That’s the one that made it.”

In a recent interview with NBC’s Willie Geist on TODAY, frontman  Mick Jagger, was asked about his favorite Rolling Stones song — which he said was a tough choice — but “Start Me Up” was a top contender.

“I mean, there’s so many different styles. I mean, you’re running the gamut of ‘Sympathy for the Devil.’ You know, ‘Start Me Up,’ ‘Angie,’ ‘Honky Tonk Women.’”

The English rock band’s new album, Foreign Tongues, is set for release on July 10. The album features a collaboration with the Beatles icon Paul McCartney on “Covered in You,” as well as  The Cure’s Robert Smith, The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and Steve Winwood.

Elsewhere in the interview with Lowe, Richards was asked what he would attribute the band’s longevity to.

“Healthy living and going to bed early,” he said with a smile. “There’s nothing like it. That’s the formula. Be a good boy.”

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