“You Jump on the Riff, and It Plays You”: The Story Behind “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” by The Rolling Stones

If The Rolling Stones are the epitome of rock ‘n’ roll bands, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” may just be the song that brought it all together. The band started as a blues combo in 1962, evolved into a pop outfit, and then found their footing as rock stars. The lyrics’ imagery and the killer riff’s raw power add up to a “gas, gas, gas.”  Let’s take a look at the story behind “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” by The Rolling Stones.

I was born in a crossfire hurricane
And I howled at the morning driving rain
But it’s all right now. In fact, it’s a gas
But it’s all right, I’m Jumpin’ Jack Flash
It’s a gas, gas, gas

The Riff

Even though the writing credit is Jagger-Richards, the song originated with the bass player. Bill Wyman wrote in his 1990 memoir Stone Alone: “The crucial riff for this song was mine, and it evolved in the unorthodox way that some of the best ideas do. One night during rehearsals at Morden, I was sitting at the piano waiting for Mick [Jagger] and Keith [Richards] to arrive. Charlie [Watts] and Brian [Jones] came in as I began playing the electronic keyboard, messing around with a great riff I’d found. Charlie and Brian began jamming with me, and it sounded really good and tough. When Mick and Keith walked in, they said, ‘Keep playing that, and don’t forget it. It sounds great.’

“A few weeks later, when we were in the Olympic studio, out came my riff, the backbone for Mick’s terrific lyrics: I was born in a crossfire hurricane. And we all worked on the music. The part I’d composed worked perfectly—but the credit for this, one of our best tracks ever, reads Jagger-Richards. I knew the important riff was my idea, and so did the band, but I’d forgotten to do anything about it. Even Keith admitted in interviews that I wrote that song. At the time, it didn’t worry me so much as I considered it a contribution to our success.”

I was raised by a toothless, bearded hag
I was schooled with a strap right across my back
But it’s all right now. In fact, it’s a gas
But it’s all right, I’m Jumpin’ Jack Flash
It’s a gas, gas, gas (ooh)

Older than Keith Richards!

Richards wrote about the riff in his 2010 memoir Life: “When you get a riff like ‘Flash,’ you get a great feeling of elation, a wicked glee. Of course, then comes the other thing of persuading people that it is as great as you actually know it is. You have to go through the pooh-pooh. ‘Flash’ is basically ‘Satisfaction’ in reverse. Nearly all of these riffs are closely related. But if someone said, ‘You can play only one of your riffs ever again,’ I’d say, ‘OK, give me ‘Flash.’ I love ‘Satisfaction’ dearly and everything, but those chords are pretty much a de rigueur course as far as songwriting goes.

“But ‘Flash’ is particularly interesting. ‘It’s allllll right now.’ It’s almost Arabic or very old, archaic, classical, the chord setups you could only hear in Gregorian chants or something like that. And it’s that weird mixture of your actual rock and roll and, at the same time, this weird echo of very, very ancient music that you don’t even know. It’s much older than I am, and that’s unbelievable!”

I was drowned, I was washed up and left for dead
I fell down to my feet, and I saw they bled. Yeah, yeah
I frowned at the crumbs of a crust of bread
Yeah, yeah, yeah

“It’s Like Taking off in a Learjet”

When the Stones shifted gears and moved on from Their Satanic Majesties Request, Richards began playing more open five-string tuning. “Levitation is probably the closest analogy to what I feel—whether it’s ‘Jumpin’ Jack’ or ‘Satisfaction’ or ‘All Down the Line’—when I realize I’ve hit the right tempo and the band’s behind me. It’s like taking off in a Learjet. I have no sense that my feet are touching the ground. I’m elevated to this other space. People say, ‘Why don’t you give it up?’ I can’t retire until I croak. I don’t think they quite understand what I get out of this. I’m not doing it just for the money or for you. I’m doing it for me. The big discovery, late in 1968 or early 1969, was when I started playing the open five-string tuning. It transformed my life. It’s the way of playing that I use for the riffs and songs the Stones are best known for.”

I was crowned with a spike right through my head, my, my, yeah
But it’s all right now. In fact, it’s a gas
But it’s all right, I’m Jumpin’ Jack Flash
It’s a gas, gas, gas

The Lyrics

Jack Dyer, a gardener who worked at Redlands, Richards’ West Sussex estate, inspired the title. Richards remembered: “I know where the lyrics came from. They came from a gray dawn at Redlands. Mick and I had been up all night, it was raining outside, and there was the sound of these heavy stomping rubber boots near the window, belonging to my gardener, Jack Dyer, a real country man from Sussex. It woke Mick up. He said, ‘What’s that?’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s Jack. That’s jumping Jack.’ I started to work around the phrase on the guitar, which was in open tuning, singing the phrase ‘Jumping Jack.’ Mick said, ‘Flash,’ and suddenly, we had this phrase with a great rhythm and ring to it. So we got to work on it and wrote it. I can hear the whole band take off behind me every time I play ‘Flash’—there’s this extra sort of turbo overdrive. You jump on the riff, and it plays you.”

Jumping Jack Flash, it’s a gas
Jumping Jack Flash, it’s a gas
Jumping Jack Flash, it’s a gas
Jumping Jack Flash, it’s a gas
umping Jack Flash, it’s a gas
Jumping Jack Flash, it’s a gas

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