The Rolling Stones

Anyone who knows me particularly well knows my love of the Rolling Stones.

I have been listening to them since I was a little kid, but it was only later in my life that I truly began to understand and appreciate what the Stones are really about. They don't apologize for who they are or who they were. They are as much a story as they are history, as much myth as they are men.

I've had the privilege of seeing these living gods of rock and roll in concert. Say what you will about their age or their habits or their history, but the moment they set foot on stage it is alchemy. You can see their souls, They become the myth of themselves, they become the music.

I've been nosebleed and I've been front row. And I can honestly say that every time I've seen them, I become utterly lost in the moment, in the music. It's not just a concert, it is a spectacle and it is beautiful moments. I remember when I saw them in Paris, after a particularly boisterous version of She Was Hot, all the lights dimmed and the big screens went dark, and Mick walked out on the catwalk with a guitar and a single spotlight. He proceeded to play a stripped down version of Waiting on a Friend that nearly brought me to tears.

I'm often asked what my favorite Stones song is. The truth is, I don't have one. I have many. I have some I love for the lyrics, some I love for the moments that they remind me of, some I fell in love with after hearing them live, some I merely loose myself in.

I know it's only rock and roll, but I like it.

But in the spirit of my frequent posting of playlists, I offer you a selection of my favorite songs (and the album you can find them on):

1. You Got the Silver Let it Bleed
2. Sway Sticky Fingers
3. Moonlight Mile Sticky Fingers
4. Slipping Away the Stripped version
5. Play With Fire Out of Our Heads
6. Sympathy for the Devil Beggar's Banquet
7. Rock's Off Exile on Main Street
8. Beast of Burden Some Girls
9. Star Star Goat's Head Soup
10. You Can't Always Get What You Want Let it Bleed
11. Wild Horses Sticky Fingers and for a gut wrenching version, Stripped
12. Dead Flowers Sticky Fingers
13. Can't You Hear Me Knocking Sticky Fingers
14. Waiting on a Friend Tattoo You
15. Ruby Tuesday Between the Buttons
16. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction Out of Our Heads
17. Ventilator Blues Exile on Main Street
18. Monkey Man Let it Bleed
19. Gimme Shelter Let it Bleed
20. Child of the Moon B-Side to Jumpin' Jack Flash

The above photographs were taken at Stade de France in Paris le 16 Juin 2007. Front Row... in Paris. I will remember until the day I die. I am one lucky girl.