This tells two stories, a young man shot by police in a case of mistaken identity, and a 10-year girl who dies in an alley of a drug overdose. Neither is based on a true story, but is a commentary on urban America. Mick Jagger recalled to Uncut magazine in 2020 that he can't remember any specific inspiration. "It's the timing," he said. "New York as a violent place. America as a heavy-handed police state. We can go back 100 years and it's probably even heavier. Obviously, all that time ago it was heavy in a lot of places, heavy now and heavy before."
The horns were arranged by trumpet player Jim Price, who along with Bobby Keys on sax, provided the brass on records and tours for The Stones in the early '70s. This was the last time Price recorded with The Stones. He went on to produce other artists, including Joe Cocker.
Keith Richards played bass and shared lead guitar duties with Mick Taylor.
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