Throughout their career, the Rolling Stones defined the concepts of sex, drugs, and rock & roll, especially in the early days. When the band wrote about women, they mostly focused on objectifying traits, which frequently landed them in hot water. Having said that, other recordings were pure and straightforward love ballads. This was a rarity in The Stones’ early days but an important part of their back repertoire.
The Rolling Stones broke their mold with the release of the love song ‘She’s A Rainbow,’ much to the surprise of many. They normally talked about sex and the often controversial but cooler parts of what it meant to be a rockstar. It was surprising when they produced something that reflected pure love.
The Rolling Stones did a few things to try to convey that feeling of love. The first was to devote a lot of time to the track’s lyrics. Love is inherently difficult to express, considering that most individuals respond with a blasé “you just know” when asked when they realize they’re in love. Many musicians have attempted to put this ubiquitous, inexplicable feeling into words, including the Rolling Stones.
The song is well-known for its lines: “She comes in colors everywhere, she combs her hair, she’s like a rainbow.” These lines rang true with fans all around the world but seemed a little too similar to one person. The striking resemblance between the song’s lyrics and those of Love’s ‘She Comes In Colors’ prompted Michael Stuart-Ware to speak out, alleging blatant plagiarism. The analogies are evident, but they made no mention of potential influence.
“The Rolling Stones stole the line comes in colors’ for ‘She’s A Rainbow,'” Stuart-Ware told Rolling Stone in an interview. “How could Mick think that was okay?” The collective reaction was shock, not concern about a potential lawsuit.
The Rolling Stones also chose a new musical direction for this song. Most likely, this was to make it seem sweeter than their other rock tunes. In doing so, they had a string section contribute to the final edit, which was arranged by none other than John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. He does a fantastic job on this track, as the strings shape the melody and add another depth to it.
He had recorded the impressive tape before even joining the famed rock band, a testament to his natural talent and future success in the music world. The song’s string part is really beautiful, and it brings forth feelings of love and purity more than the lyrics do.
It was a huge departure for the Rolling Stones to compose a song about love rather than sex. However, they beautifully achieved this in what is today considered one of their best songs. The combination of lovely (and contentious) lyrics sets the stage. John Paul Jones’ string section work works in conjunction to begin describing the inexplicable emotion of loving someone.
