Salt Of The Earth

"Salt of the Earth" is a song from the 1968 Rolling Stones album Beggars Banquet. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the song is most notable for its opening lead vocal by Richards. While not his first as many believe (that title goes to "Something Happened to Me Yesterday" off Between the Buttons), it was his most prominent to date. "Salt of the Earth" heavily features the acoustic work of Richards, typical of most songs from Beggars Banquet. Richards also performs the slide guitar throughout the song as Brian Jones, notable for his slide on other songs from Beggars Banquet, was absent from these sessions. While some songs from Beggars Banquet were famously recorded by Jagger and Richards with only a tape recorder in between them, "Salt of the Earth" was recorded at London's Olympic Sound Studios from May until July in 1968. Featuring on the song are the Los Angeles Watts Street Gospel Choir and a raucous piano performance by Nicky Hopkins. These additions, and their prominence near the end of the song, are thought to have had an influence on their next album Let It Bleed's closing song, "You Can't Always Get What You Want". <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/The+Rolling+Stones/_/Salt+Of+The+Earth">Read more on Last.fm</a>. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

[Verse 1: Keith Richards] Let's drink to the hard working people Let's drink to the lowly of birth Raise your glass to the good and the evil Let's drink to the salt of the earth [Verse 2: Mick Jagger] Say a prayer for the common foot soldier Spare a thought for his back-breaking work Say a prayer for his wife and his children Who burn the fires and who still till the earth [Bridge: Mick] When I search a faceless crowd A swirling mass of gray and black and white They don't look real to me In fact, they look so strange [Verse 3: Mick and Keith] Raise your glass to the hardworking people Let's drink to the uncounted heads Let's think of the wavering millions Who need leading but get gamblers instead [Verse 4: Mick and Keith] Spare a thought for the stay-at-home voter His empty eyes gaze at strange beauty shows And a parade of the gray-suited grafters A choice of cancer or polio [Bridge: Mick] When I look in the faceless crowd A swirling mass of grays and black and white They don't look real to me Oh, don't they look so strange? [Verse 5: Watts Street Gospel Choir] Let's drink to the hardworking people Let's think of the lowly of birth Spare a thought for the rag taggy people Let's drink to the salt of the earth [Verse 6: All] Let's drink to the hardworking people Let's drink to the salt of the earth Let's drink to the two thousand million Let's think of the humble of birth [Outro: Choir] Let's take a drink to the salt of the earth Let's take a drink to the salt of the earth Let's take a drink to the salt of the earth Let's take a drink to the salt of the earth Let's take a drink to the salt of the earth Let's take a drink to the salt of the earth Let's take a drink to the salt of the earth Let's take a drink to the salt of the earth