Start Me Up

The harmony of 'Start Me Up' is deceptively simple — a I-IV-V framework stripped to its essentials and driven entirely by the guitar riff. What makes it distinctive is not harmonic sophistication but the raw energy of Keith Richards' open G tuning, which produces partial chords with open strings ringing sympathetically. The ambiguity between full triads and power chords gives the riff its aggressive, open character. The blues influence is evident in the reliance on plagal (IV-I) motion and the overall riff-centric approach rather than functional chord progressions.

The song originated in March 1975 during sessions for the album Black and Blue as a reggae-rock track titled 'Never Stop.' After dozens of takes the band abandoned the reggae approach and shelved the recording. It was revisited during January and March 1978 sessions for Some Girls but still did not make the cut. In 1981, engineer Chris Kimsey proposed building a new album from archived material and discovered two rock-oriented takes of the song buried among roughly fifty reggae versions. Mick Jagger changed the central lyric from 'start it up' to 'start me up' during the final overdub sessions.

Released as the lead single from the Rolling Stones' 1981 album Tattoo You, 'Start Me Up' distills the band's blues-rock essence into a relentless, groove-heavy track powered by one of rock's most famous guitar riffs. Originally conceived as a reggae number in 1975, the song was resurrected six years later as a straight-ahead rocker and went on to become a perennial concert opener, sports anthem, and cultural touchstone.