Tumbling Dice

To me,

Having read and watched several documentaries on what the Stones were going through at this point in their career....I've always felt that this song was the epicenter of the entire album.

To be more exact, at the time, the band was trying to figure out if they should stay together as a band. Having been through all sorts of legal and financial troubles, and also with their personal lives taking them in very different directions (Mick enjoying the jet set with Bianca...) The making of this album, as chaotic as it was, was an effort to see if the band could or should continue. Looking through the album, you can easily pick up on this as one of the main lyrical themes: keep on rolling, soul survivor, the diesel drumming all down the line, etc.....

To me, the answer to the question of "should the band stay together" was resolved in tumbling dice, when Keith chimed in (seemingly out of nowhere - and also very much 'going against the grain' of the song's rythm) "Keep on rolling". Obviously, they are the rolling stones, and so this exclamation of "keep on rolling" goes way beyond the simple lyrics of tumblin dice (gambling and women). This little "keep on rolling" jam kind of takes the song over, and meaning-wise, it basically sums up the entire album.... No matter what you're going through - Keep on Rolling !!!

To comment on the above, I believe the lyric actually is "rank outsider", and this goes to the theme of being an exile (from their home in the UK) or more generally, the theme of being somewhat "lost" and out of the mainstream of society. Being "rank" is also a somewhat common theme...for examnple "yes i'm nitty gritty and my shirts all torn", "seen too many flies on you", etc...

So, to me, this song becomes all about the major theme of "keep on rolling". Otherwise, the lyrics I think are fairly straightforward - mixing gambling metaphors with other tongue-in-cheeck expressions to describe all the women who have rubbed him the wrong way (not that he isn't to blame for this, but that's another story).

definitely one of my favorite stones songs....i think this is just about taking chances and dealing with whatever life throws at you.....

Reminds me of life when I hear it. You know? Life? Some somes just make you have these feelings...I don't know how to explain it. It's like rolling down the highway with no place to go and nothing matters, I guess.

I think Jagger is just using gambling as a metaphor for his permiscuous life style. ..."And make me burn the candle right down" is pretty song sexual innuendo to say the very least. I almost want to say that he's saying he doesn't have the same sexual vitality anymore and thus girls are taking a chance on him by "rolling the dice." In any case, one of my favs by the Stones

A rolling stone gathers no moss. Is this the song that totally encapsulates what the band is about? I think it is.

Don't care what any of you say but Linda Ronstadt did a great version of this.

Another side of the cheating lifestyle,unabashed…partner in crime, cheating like I don’t know how…got to roll the dice and see what you get that night, but in the end he’s a loner.

the best song on exile on mainstreet. classic stones song

What a brilliant acappella breakdown - the <i>got to roll me/got to roll me</i> part towards the end. It simultaneously breaks down and builds up, with such ease.

this song rocks...it makes me feel very meloncholly...it's like mick jagger realized that the shit that he puts up with is all his fault...like he could fix it at any moment...but he is so caught up in his life...so he is just like a tumbling dice that people just roll....who doesn't feel that way sometime in their life