Remembering the Unlikely Genius of “Exile on Main St.” 50 Years Later

Published by
InsideHook

By Bonnie Stiernberg The first truly great moment on the Rolling Stones’ 1972 masterpiece Exile on Main St. comes about halfway through its opening track, after “Rocks Off” takes a brief distorted, psychedelic left turn as Mick Jagger perhaps pulls a little inspiration from his famously strung-out bandmate Keith Richards as he sings, “Feel so hypnotized, can’t describe the scene/Feel so mesmerized, all that inside me.” Eventually, the song reaches a crescendo and a deceptively joyful-sounding Jagger declares, “The sunshine bores the daylights out of me.” It’s not just clever wordplay; that lin…