| "Take It So Hard" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byKeith Richards | ||||
| from the albumTalk Is Cheap | ||||
| B-side | "I Could Have Stood You Up" | |||
| Released | 1988 | |||
| Recorded | August 1987 – May 1988 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 3:11 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Songwriter | K. Richards/S. Jordan | |||
| Producers | Keith Richards andSteve Jordan | |||
| Keith Richards singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Take It So Hard" is the first single fromKeith Richards' first solo record,Talk Is Cheap. The long-timeRolling Stonesguitarist recorded the record after bandmateMick Jagger refused to tour in 1986 in support of the albumDirty Work. The second song of the eleven track record, it is a powerful example of vocal rock harmonies andrhythmic guitar, piano and percussionsyncopation, with an overlay of vocal tracks that bury the lyrics within the push and pull of the music. It received heavy airplay on US rock radio, reaching #3 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks.
Richards described writing and recordingTalk is Cheap as a bit by bit accumulation of song threads and recording sessions. Except for "Make No Mistake", which he said came to him all at once, "Take It So Hard" like other songs was put together through several recording sessions in 1987 and 1988.[1]
The song was reviewed inRolling Stone magazine positively, but Richards never explained the lyrics.
The song was discussed in theWall Street Journal's weekly music column, week of March 25, 2019, by Keith Richards and Steve Jordan. The song started with a guitar riff, as is usual for Keith Richards, and he quickly came up with the refrain. The rest of the lyrics developed from a vowel exercise that Keith Richards has also used on other songs, to see what fits the music, and once he had vowels he came up with words to go with the vowels.
Kurt Loder called it the "perfect Keith single".[2]
The music video for the song shows Richards and the X-Pensive Winos- the name for Richards' backing band- in the ruins of a sports stadium playing in the nuclear dust after anatomic bomb has destroyed everyone but the cat-like musician.
"Take It So Hard" led off the 1988 concert tour sets, and was played in the 1992–1993Main Offender dates as well.
| Studio albums | |
|---|---|
| Live albums | |
| Compilations | |
| Singles | |
| Bands | |
| Other works | |
| Family |
|
| Related articles | |
