review: “Plundered My Soul” by The Rolling Stones

Can you believe it… It’s almost as if Mick Jagger somehow knew nearly forty years ago that he’d someday be teasing us with that opening line to the “new” Rolling Stones song entitled “Plundered My Soul” which was actually recorded back during the Exile on Main Street sessions but never has seen the light of day until now. Released as an extremely limited thousand-copy run this week as part of Record Store Day, the song will actually serve as the lead single for Exile’s re-release on May 18th. Universal sent over an advance of the song, and after having spent some time with it, I can confirm that it definitely sounds like it was recorded in 1972 – that’s not a bad thing, mind you – and I’m also left to wonder how the band (and the label) managed to go this many years without finding a way to release it, seeing as how it’s a pretty darn good song.

It’s one of those plodding mid-tempo Stones songs with the meandering guitars in which Jagger’s vocals have a pliable relationship with the downbeat, and he sounds perfectly okay with the fact that he’s been taken by the lady who serves as the recipient of his lines even as he sings “I thought you needed my lovin’ but it’s my heart that you stole… I thought you wanted my money… but you plundered my soul.”

It’s not necessarily a vital song, and may not carve out a place in Rolling Stones history for any bigger reason than the novelty of having spent so many decades sitting in the vault before being sent to radio – and hey, it’s probably the best “new” Rolling Stones single in at least fifteen years.

I know, you don’t want to have to wait another month to hear the song – but if you’ve already waited four decades…