‘Miss You’ is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in May 1978. It was released as the first single one month in advance of their album Some Girls. ‘Miss You’ was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the UK Singles Chart. An extended version, called the "Special Disco Version", was released as the band's first dance remix on a 12-inch single.
‘Miss You’ was written by Mick Jagger jamming with keyboardist Billy Preston during rehearsals for the March 1977 El Mocambo club gigs, recordings from which appeared on side three of double live album Love You Live (1977). Keith Richards is credited as co-writer as was the case for all Rolling Stones originals written by either partner or in tandem. Jagger and Ronnie Wood insist that ‘Miss You’ wasn't conceived as a disco song, while Richards said, "'Miss You' was a damn good disco record; it was calculated to be one." In any case, what was going on in discotheques did make it to the recording. Charlie Watts said, "A lot of those songs like 'Miss You' on 'Some Girls' ... were heavily influenced by going to the discos. You can hear it in a lot of those four-to-the-floor and the Philadelphia-style drumming."
The lyrics were seemingly inspired by Mick Jagger's deteriorating relationship with his wife, Bianca. Jagger has claimed otherwise, saying: "'Miss You' is an emotion, it's not really about a girl. To me, the feeling of longing is what the song is." Session musicians included Sugar Blue (James Whiting) on harmonica, Mel Collins on sax and Ian MacLagan on electric piano. Collins had played with King Crimson, MacLagan had been in the band Faces with Stones guitarist Ron Wood. Sugar Blue was from Harlem, but was playing in the Paris metro (their subway) when someone from The Stones record company heard him and brought him to the sessions. The bassline, horns and drums gave this a disco sound that alienated many of their fans, but also propelled it to the top of the charts. The Stones thought of it as more R&B than disco.
‘Miss You’ became the Rolling Stones' eighth and final number one single in the United States on its initial release in 1978. It hit the top on 5 August 1978, ending the seven-week reign of ‘Shadow Dancing’ by Andy Gibb. It also reached number three in the United Kingdom. The song was originally nearly nine minutes long, but was edited to nearly five minutes for the album version, and to three-and-a-half minutes for the radio single. In order to properly edit the radio single without audible bumps and glitches, a separate mix was constructed and then edited for continuity. Cash Box said that "strong, driving, funky backbeat" is good for dancing that "Keith Richards provides a wrangling guitar line." Record World said that it was "a rather hushed soul-rocker that is one of their best records in some time" and praised Jagger's vocals.
The same day they recorded this track, The Stones came up with the idea for ‘Start Me Up.’ In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine rated ‘Miss You’ number 498 in its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, dropping down 2 spots from number 496 in the 2004 version.
Label – Rolling Stones
Songwriters – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
Producers – The Glimmer Twins
SONG LYRICS
[Produced by The Glimmer Twins][Verse 1]
I've been holding out so long
I've been sleeping all alone
Lord, I miss you
I've been hanging on the phone
I've been sleeping all alone
I want to kiss you sometime
[Chorus]
Ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
[Verse 2]
Well, I've been haunted in my sleep
You've been starring in my dreams
Lord, I miss you, child
I've been waiting in the hall
Been waiting on your call
When the phone rings
It's just some friends of mine that say
"Hey, what's the matter, man?
We're goingna come around at twelve
With some Puerto Rican girls thats just dying to meet you
We're goinna bring a case of wine
Hey, let's go mess and fool around
You know, like we used to"
[Chorus]
Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah
[Verse 3]
Oh, everybody waits so long
Oh, baby, why you waitin' so long?
Won't you come on, come on?
I've been walkin' Central Park, singing after dark
People think I'm crazy
Stumbling on my feet, shuffling through the street
Asking people, "What's the matter with you, boy?"
Sometimes, I want to say to, to myself
Sometimes I say
[Chorus]
Ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh, ooh, I won't miss you child
[Verse 4]
I guess I'm lying to myself
It's just you and no one else
Lord, I won't miss you, child
You've just been blotting out my mind
Fooling on my time
No, I won't miss you, baby, yeah
[Chorus]
Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah
Lord, I miss you child
Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah
Lord, I miss you child
Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah
Why, why, why, why