The Spider and the Fly (song)

"The Spider and the Fly" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones, recorded in May 1965 and first released on the US version of their 1965 album Out of Our Heads.[1] In the UK, it was released as the B-side to "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". In 1971, the song was released on an album for the first time in the UK on the Decca Records compilation Stone Age.[2]

"The Spider and the Fly"
Single by the Rolling Stones
A-side	"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (UK)
Released	30 July 1965 (30 July 1965) (US Out of Our Heads album) 20 August 1965 (UK single)
Recorded	13 May 1965
Studio	RCA, Hollywood
Genre	Blues blues rock
Length	3:38
Label	London Decca
Songwriter(s)	Jagger/Richards
Producer(s)	Andrew Loog Oldham

The song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The lyrics speak about what the band, especially the leader, will do after their gig is over:

Sittin' thinkin' sinkin' drinkin'
Wondering what I'll do when I'm through tonight
Smokin', mopin', maybe just hopin'
Some little girl will pass on by

Jagger explained in a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone, "I wasn't really that mad about it, but when you listen to it on record, it still holds up quite interestingly as a blues song. It's a Jimmy Reed blues with British pop-group words, which is an interesting combination: a song somewhat stuck in a time warp." [3] In an AllMusic review, Mike DeGagne describes it as one of their earliest attempts at country music.[4]

Jagger performs harmonica on the recording while Jack Nitzsche provides percussion and keyboards.

The Stones have performed "The Spider and the Fly" live very rarely: they did so during two eras of their career, in 1965-1966 and once during the 1995 leg of their Voodoo Lounge Tour. A March 1995 studio reworking of the song was included on the Stones' album Stripped.