A dark country blues song by the Stones with help from Marianne Faithfull.
Mick Jagger wrote the music in Rome in 1968. Marianne Faithfull wrote the lyrics, but The Stones did not give her an official songwriting credit until they released it on their 1998 live album No Security. The Stones were very protective about songwriting credits to say the least…they made sure most of their songs were credited to Jagger/Richards.
The Stones recorded this in 1968. Ry Cooder played the bottleneck guitar on this track. He was filling in for the Brian Jones, who died before this song was released. This was the only song on Sticky Fingers that Mick Taylor, who replaced Jones, didn’t play on.
A little trivia on Sticky Fingers… The Sticky Fingers album had an actual zipper on the cover. On many copies, this track was damaged because the zipper pressed into it. To solve the problem, the zipper was opened before the album shipped, this way it just dented the label.
Marianne Faithfull: “I just liked the name, and loved Lou Reed’s work, ‘Sister Ray and ‘Heroin.’ I liked the idea poetically. I thought it was like Baudelaire, but the song doesn’t glamorise anything. It was a really interesting vision.”
From Songfacts
Marianne Faithfull recorded this during The Stones’ Let It Bleed sessions (she was Mick Jagger’s girlfriend at the time). Her version was released in 1969 and tanked. Decca Records pulled it after 2 weeks.
The song is about a man who gets in a car accident and dies in the hospital while asking for morphine.
Faithfull was not a heavy drug user when she wrote the lyrics, but became an addict in 1971, at the same time The Stones’ version was released. She called this her “Frankenstein,” consuming her and leading her into an abyss of drugs. In later years, she was able to break the habit resume a successful career as both a singer and an actress.
Some of the lyrics were inspired by the time Anita Pallenberg, Keith’s girlfriend, was hospitalized and given morphine.
The Stones recorded this in 1968, but their version was not released until 1971.
This was left off the Spanish release of Sticky Fingers because of the explicit content. It was replaced with “Let It Rock.”
This was influenced by the Velvet Underground, who were writing dark songs about drugs, especially heroin.
Not long after writing the song, the lyrics came painfully true to Marianne Faithfull. She recalled to The Guardian: “The story is about a man in a car accident in hospital, who’s very damaged and wants to die. It isn’t exactly what happened to me, but my feelings about it are probably the same. I was hospitalized in Sydney after an attempted suicide after Brian Jones died. It was a terrible time.”
Sister Morphine
Here I lie in my hospital bed
Tell me, sister Morphine, when are you coming round again?
Oh, I don’t think I can wait that long
Oh, you see that I’m not that strong
The scream of the ambulance is sounding in my ears
Tell me, sister Morphine, how long have I been lying here?
What am I doing in this place?
Why does the doctor have no face?
Oh, I can’t crawl across the floor
Ah, can’t you see, Sister Morphine, I’m trying to score
Well it just goes to show
Things are not what they seem
Please, sister Morphine, turn my nightmares into dreams
Oh, can’t you see I’m fading fast?
And that this shot will be my last
Sweet cousin Cocaine, lay your cool cool hand on my head
Ah, come on, sister Morphine, you better make up my bed
‘Cause you know and I know in the morning I’ll be dead
Yeah, and you can sit around, yeah and you can watch all
The clean white sheets stained red
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I disliked this song intensely until maybe 10 years ago, and then made myself re-listen to Marianne’s version. I’m sure it’s an ongoing argument about who did it better, and I’m firmly in Camp Marianne. Her version is haunting and believable; and poetic imo, even if she didn’t personally live out the experience until later.
I can’t believe it took her until the 90s to get songwriting credits…I don’t know why they are like that.
I agree. It’s a real turnoff.
Cool song! I didn’t really know the backstory so some interesting insight!
Thanks John!
That was the first time I heard the Marianne Faithfull recording and I can see why it tanked.
With that name…it’s not going up the charts…it is a great album track though. They should have given her credit though at the time.
I prefer Marianne Faithfull. Her ghostly original remains one of the most disturbing songs in rock music.
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but there are 8 stone cold classics on Sticky Fingers and this is one of them.
Yep…you helped convince me of leap frogging this one over Exile…
There are only four artists that have a pair of studio albums that strong that I know about – along with The Stones, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and Randy Newman.
You have me thinking…right now nothing else is coming. Yep the Who have Who’s Next and Zeppelin has 4 but neither has anything else to match those.
Houses and Physical are actually my favourite Zeps, but I don’t think either is quite at that level. Dylan gets close with Blonde on Blonde and either Highway or JWH.
You wouldn’t rank Blood on the Tracks up there? Just curious.
I hate the bassline on Lily, Rosemary… – makes that track a big downer for me. I like the bootleg version better.
I do like the bootleg a lot also.
I like the polished version of Tangled Up In Blue better, so it’s not all an un-improvement. But that bass drives me crazy.
Great track and you can add KD Lang to that list of co writing credits as well. Imagine if KD Lang tried suing the STONES? lol
LOL… they are bad about it dude…Bill Wyman wrote some of Jumping Jack Flash but yet…the credits….Jagger and Richards
I’ve never heard this but, the guitar work and music is wonderful. Mick should not be singing this. He does pretty well on some things with some harmony or back-up singers but, he detracts from the excellent music. Has Springsteen ever done this?
And, I can’t take Faithfull in anything.
No….I could not see Bruce singing Sister Morphine lol….but weirder things have happened!
John Mellencamp? Rod Stewart? Mick just doesn’t fit this well.
Rick Rubin shoulda got Johny Cash to try it
There’s an idea…
That would have been interesting
I can see The Black Crowes doing this justice. They’ve written songs very similar to it.
You have a point, there…
I thought her version was pretty good
I am not fond of her voice.
Why does that not surprise me lol
I love music but, an ill-placed voice can negate the frequency harmony. Sometimes, it’s the music that is bad, for a variety of reasons.
With me not being a musician, I won’t have the same appreciation for certain things that you do. I suddenly have “Everyday People” running thru my head, now…
Everyday People is a great one to run through it…better than many others.
I can pretty confidently say that Springsteen has never done this.
I sort of figured… I was trying to think of a voice that would do the music justice. Mick is…lacking.
One eerie tune.
Great story. I think I like Marianne’s a bit better…even more so knowing how the Glimmer Twins sought to take all the credit & the gold from it
The history with them goes back so far…share the credit boys!
I’d never heard Marianne Faithfull’s version… She sounds like she’s living the lyrics, more so than Mick
Yes I agree…and she eventually did.
Its almost like Marianne saw the writing on the wall with Brian 🙁 I’m embarrassed to say this is the first time I’ve heard this song, either version. Marianne’s voice suits it better than Mick’s.
I think her voice fits it better also.
I actually prefer the Stones version – Micks performance although perhaps not his voice and Cooders slide guitar added much to song
Cooder is great on anything he did…he made Honky Tonk Women to me.
Great track. Haunting. Ry Cooder is exceptional on this.
Cooder is so great in whatever he is in…he was also great in Honky Tonk Women.