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Under My Thumb Lyrics

Under my thumb
The girl who once had me down
Under my thumb
The girl who once pushed me around

It's down to me
The difference in the clothes she wears
Down to me, the change has come, she's under my thumb

Ain't it the truth babe?

Under my thumb
The squirmin' dog who's just had her day
Under my thumb
A girl who has just changed her ways

It's down to me, yes it is
The way she does just what she's told
Down to me, the change has come she's under my thumb
Ah, ah, say it's alright

Under my thumb
A siamese cat of a girl
Under my thumb
She's the sweetest, hmmm, pet in the world

It's down to me
The way she talks when she's spoken to
Down to me, the change has come, she's under my thumb
Ah, take it easy babe
Yeah

It's down to me, oh yeah
The way she talks when she's spoken to
Down to me, the change has come, she's under my thumb
Yeah, it feels alright

Under my thumb
Her eyes are just kept to herself
Under my thumb, well I
I can still look at someone else

It's down to me, oh that's what I said
The way she talks when she's spoken to
Down to me, the change has come, she's under my thumb
Say, it's alright

Say it's all
Say it's all

Take it easy babe
Take it easy babe
Feels alright
Take it, take it easy babe
Song Info
Submitted by
oofus On May 16, 2001
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76 Meanings

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Cover art for Under My Thumb lyrics by Rolling Stones, The

I can see why some would find it offensive, after all, he's singing about making this girl submissive so he can live his life his own way without having her nag him constantly. Jagger is telling her to be his bitch essentially. It doesn't take a feminist to see that this song is super misogynistic. But that doesn't mean it's not catchy as fuck.

My Opinion

I agree w/ your interpretation, it's fairly obvious, but, she wasn't always easy to deal w/ ("a Siamese cat of a girl".) With some work, he got her to submit.

@bkennedy I like the meaning because she sounds like a real selfish, annoying girl and she shouldn't be treating people like that.

@bkennedy So a song about a man who gets revenge on an abusive controlling woman is super misogynistic?

Do you even know what the word means?

Cover art for Under My Thumb lyrics by Rolling Stones, The

minero, you've said everything I wanted to say. Thanks! But, I'll say it all again, anyway.

This blues-rock, xylophone-accompanied ditty is absolutely perfect. Mick Jagger's delivery is so unapologetic. Really a great example of why the Stones are of the most respected rockers ever.

Classic!

Cover art for Under My Thumb lyrics by Rolling Stones, The

What many people fail to read in these lyrics is the lyrics at the beginning of the song which are: "Under my thumb The girl who once had me down Under my thumb The girl who once pushed me around."

I am a male who is an advocate for abused women either physically, mentally, or both. There is never a time when any type of abuse is acceptable. Mick Jagger said in a 1998 interview that this song was written as a joke in response to a female that he dated at one time that as the beginning of the song states "Once had him down, once pushed him around" so he wrote the song as if the shoe was on the other foot but it was a joke and it never happened. People that take this song to serious don't realize the fact's for one and two, are looking for something to bash anyone about regarding anti-feminism lyrics, etc. You could do that with just about any song by any band, by a male singer or a female singer. It's all in what you want to take from a song and how far you want to take it. Are they role models? No, and I don't think the Stones ever pretended to be. What I find ironic is when a male writes a song like this it is viewed as a song that condones abuse, etc. When a woman writes a song like this most times she is held in high regards for finally breaking free from the cycle of abuse and so on. As I mentioned I am a male and I was in an abusive relationship for nearly 7 years both physical and mental but I was the one who was abused. So that goes both ways but of course woman are the ones abused more often than men, but when a man admits he's been abused he takes a lot of flack from friends, etc. and little support is available for him. My point is if you don't like a song you don't have to listen to it. Make sure you know what it's about and why it was written. And enjoy music, it's a great escape.

The song "Under My Thumb" by The Rolling Stones first of all was written as a joke or tounge and cheek and that's coming from Mick Jagger himself.

Thank you, you just wrote the only comment worth reading about this song! :)

The rest of the people who are on about "YEaHH Fuck Feminism" clearly don't know why this song was written. Stop having your heads up your asses.

@1sty2000 . and of course Mr Wonderful treated Jerry etc so well.

@xCretin Love to see how you get triggered so hard it's jokes (troll) on women, karen. (Similar song like "stupid girl"). This song is in my opinion is an anti faminist song.

Cover art for Under My Thumb lyrics by Rolling Stones, The

seems to me it's like this:

boy likes girl, but she rejects him. once he stops, she suddenly realizes that she likes him back. so now he feels he can do what he likes with her, cause now she'll do anything for him.

Cover art for Under My Thumb lyrics by Rolling Stones, The

Right, one more thing. About the last part of your comment. You'd think that the girl would be insulted and embarassed, not complimented, because it's not just him sitting back and laughing at her, it's him telling millions of people how he's taking advantage of you, and you're just going along with it.

Cover art for Under My Thumb lyrics by Rolling Stones, The

I appreciate satire, but this song never sounded satirical to me (the more so when you consider some other, similar Stones lyrics). It definitely sounds gloating. Even if the girl had abused him first, the healthy response would be to repair the relationship to one of mutual respect (which is a feature of healthy M/s relationships too, btw), or else put her behind him. "Turning the tables" on abuse just perpetuates the pathology. Even if it were intended as satire, I'm sure many would hear it as validation of their uglier impulses.

I personally dislike this song so much that I've recorded other music over it both places it appears in my Stones tapes.

Song Meaning

@strippy6 you're a fucking faggot dude

@strippy6 "I appreciate satire, but this song never sounded satirical to me (the more so when you consider some other, similar Stones lyrics). It definitely sounds gloating. Even if the girl had abused him first, the healthy response would be to repair the relationship to one of mutual respect"

You would not be saying that if the relationship started with the man abusing and controlling the woman.

MEn are not even allowed to fantasize about revenge now.

The thing to do with controlling women is dump them. You will not change people like that.

Cover art for Under My Thumb lyrics by Rolling Stones, The

The song is about a BDSM relationship, and no, that is not "sexist" because the woman in the song CHOOSES such an arrangement. "Feminists" (i.e. female politicians) expressing opposition to this song is laughably ironic as it completely flies in the face of female liberation, which was intended to give women rights and freedoms and not treat them as infantile beings incapable of understanding their own needs and making decisions accordingly. The only people who criticise ANY type of relationship consisting of consenting adults are nothing more than judgemental bluenoses.

The woman in the song initially "pushed around" the male subject because she did not respect a man who wasn't dominant. Once he exerted power and influence, she became satisfied with the relationship which was compatible to her needs. It seems most people are too blind to realise that SHE was the one who made the change in him; either that or they're daft enough to believe that women alternate between attraction to submissive and dominant men.

And as has already been mentioned, if the submissive character in the song was male (whether he be straight or homosexual) there would likely be little protest; entirely due of course to political correctness. The reverse equivalent would be a masuclinist group opposing Iggy Pop's 'I Wanna Be Your Dog', which would of course be considered high comedy by our contemporary society. It's unfortunate double standards have to rear their ugly heads even when art is concerned.

hahaha, complete BS, but thanks for the laugh!

hahahahaaaaaaaa....

Not Valid

This is exactly what I thought too, PinkGoddess. Maybe not the healthiest bdsm relationship in the world, but if it's not about it then I'm pretty surprised. It's just so obvious.

She so topped him from the bottom amirite?

Not Valid

@PinkGoddess finally!! A well penned reply! BDSM relationships have at core love and mutual respect. The woman WANTS domination and once the guy figures out how to give her what she craves, all is good. That’s why BDSM is growing. Many professional women don’t want submissive men. They want to be dominated \r\nRemember the word “consensual “?

Cover art for Under My Thumb lyrics by Rolling Stones, The

This is a song about a relationship based on hate and control instead of love. The singer has an obvious, palpable disdain for his partner, and possibly for all women. It really speaks to the times and should be a wake up call for anyone who thinks this time period was a bastion of equality, peace, and love.

Cover art for Under My Thumb lyrics by Rolling Stones, The

As a woman who is an equalist/feminist whatever you wanna call it…I don’t find this song offensive at all.

The lyrics are about our uglier impulses as people. It touches on the sexual and psychological satisfaction of overcoming someone who used to have the upper hand on you, or didn’t treat you with respect initially.

It’s not healthy but I don’t think it’s meant to suggest abuse on either side, not necessarily. I think it’s not meant to be taken so seriously that he’s saying: she abused him, now he’s abusing her.

I think she rejected and messed with him, because she didn’t fully appreciate him. Now he’s managed to make her fall for him, and he’s reveling in it…but he definitely seems to be exaggerating in order to gloat about the situation. It’s not that deep. It’s a celebration of the meanness and vanity we all have in us.

Music is about shedding light on all aspects of the human condition, and if we shy away from elements that are strange, or less socially acceptable, art becomes boring and lifeless.

[Edit: Grammar mistakes.]

@Emily859 Hmmm, right now I'm sat on my own after my girlfriend left, I was under her thumb, she is a narcissist and denies having said things to me and accuses me of losing her stuff, tells her family that I am a sh*t. I have never been treated like this before. I have known this song for many years but recently it has had some bad press. I re-listened to it and made my mind up, it feels very personal to me.

I am stuck in the song at the end of verse one. She is apparently...

Cover art for Under My Thumb lyrics by Rolling Stones, The

it means he's got her whipped to do what he says, so probably not to good of a thing