“Paint It Black” Cello Performance by Jenna Ortega in the Netflix Series Wednesday
“Paint It Black” is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was written by the lead singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards. It was released as a single in May 1966 and appears on the band’s 1966 album Aftermath. The song features experimental instrumentation such as a sitar and influenced the psychedelic genre by being one of the first chart-topping songs to feature this sound.
Instrumentation
A raga rock song with Indian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European influences, “Paint It Black” was the first chart-topping single to feature a sitar.[1] The use of the instrument was influential to the psychedelic genre, and the song broadened the Rolling Stones’ audience. Recorded in 1966 for their eighth studio album, Aftermath, the track was written by Jagger and Richards, who were beginning to produce more original material than cover songs on the band’s albums.[2] Despite its sombre lyrics about grief and loss, the song is optimistic and uplifting. [3]
“Paint It Black” was a commercial success, remaining in the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100 for 11 weeks including two weeks at number one. It also topped the charts in Canada and the Netherlands.
Lyrics
During her first scene in the Netflix series Wednesday, Jenna Ortega plays a rendition of The Rolling Stones’ song Paint It Black on her cello. While some viewers questioned whether Ortega actually played the cello for the soundtrack, she is remarkably convincing and shows great attention to detail.
The original version of the song was released in 1966 and is one of the most famous songs written by The Rolling Stones. It was the third number-one single from their album Aftermath and remains a popular song to this day.
The lyrics are a darkly humorous account of the narrator’s grief following the death of a loved one. It has Indian, Middle Eastern and Jewish influences, and features a sitar line. The song also reveals the Jagger-Richards writing partnership was moving away from their early model of recording an album of all original songs and embracing more experimental arrangements. It is considered a landmark song in the evolution of rock music.
Keys
“Paint It Black” is a song by The Rolling Stones. It was released as a single in May 1966 and became the band’s third number one in the US. The song marked a shift in the band’s strategy away from relying on cover songs and toward more original compositions by Jagger-Richards.
It is an uptempo raga rock song with Indian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European influences that explores grief and loss. It was also the first chart-topping single to feature sitar and influenced the developing musical styles of psychedelic rock and raga rock.
The key of “Paint It Black” is C major. To help you learn to play this song, we suggest using our online Metronome and finding similar songs to practice with. The tempo is set at 142 Beats Per Minute (Allegro), which is the same as 36 Measures/Bars Per Minute. This allows for a good mix with other instruments when playing together. The notes of the song are played left to right.
Duration
Unlike previous Rolling Stones singles with straightforward rock arrangements, “Paint It Black” has Indian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European influences. Its sitar line influenced the psychedelic genre and broadened its audience, becoming an early chart-topper and leading to a more widespread use of the instrument in rock music. The song’s lyrics evoke grief and loss. It was the first single from the band’s 1966 album Aftermath to top the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it stayed for two weeks. It also topped charts in Canada and the Netherlands. It was the Rolling Stones’ third number-one song in the United States and their sixth in the UK.
It is the fourth track on the Aftermath album and was credited to the entire band, although Jagger and Richards were the primary songwriters.