Time Is on My Side

Originally a gospel and country standard that the Rolling Stones claimed in 1964 and made into something altogether more knowing and unhurried, this recording turns patience into a kind of weapon. The tempo is leisurely to the point of languor, with a horn arrangement sitting low and warm beneath Jagger's vocal, which he delivers with maximum confidence — the voice of someone who has genuinely never worried about the outcome. The production has that early-mid sixties American soul feel, the horns and the rhythm guitar locked in a groove that suggests the song has all the time in the world, which is precisely the point. Lyrically it operates as reassurance delivered with a slight smile: the singer is not troubled by his lover's restlessness because he knows the relationship's resolution is predetermined. There's erotic certainty here, and a touch of arrogance that makes the tenderness complex. It suits late evening listening, the windows open, something simmering on the stove — or slow dancing in a kitchen when the guests have mostly gone home. The song is in absolutely no hurry, and neither should the listener be.