Play With Fire

Well, you've got your diamonds and you've got your pretty clothes
And the chauffeur drives your car
You let everybody know
But don't play with me, 'cause you're playing with fire

Your mother she's an heiress, owns a block in Saint John's Wood
And your father'd be there with her
If he only could
But don't play with me, 'cause you're playing with fire

Your old man took her diamond's and tiaras by the score
Now she gets her kicks in Stepney
Not in Knightsbridge anymore
So don't play with me, 'cause you're playing with fire

Now you've got some diamonds and you will have some others
But you'd better watch your step, girl
Or start living with your mother
So don't play with me, 'cause you're playing with fire
So don't play with me, 'cause you're playing with fire



- Released March 1965

- "Play with Fire" is credited to Nanker Phelge, a pseudonym giving credit to each member of the band, even though it was the result of a session between lead singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards.

- An unreleased version of the song, entitled "Mess with Fire", was also recorded. It featured a much more upbeat, soul-oriented feel with a vengeful Brian Jones substituting the less polished "Play With Fire" version on the single to embarrass other members of the group.

- Lyrically the song is a diatribe -- and a pretty subtle and understated one, especially as Stones songs go -- against rich bitches, to be blunt, out to impose their neuroses on louts from lower classes, such as the Stones, one presumes. The resentment against people who strut their diamonds and chauffeur-driven cars is palpable, although in actual fact the Stones reached an income level in the mid-'60s which allowed them to flaunt such accouterments themselves.

- The only Stones to appear on the track are Jagger and Richards. The rest, including Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, had already left the studio for the night. Richards performed the song's acoustic guitar opening while Jagger handled vocals and tambourine (enhanced using echo chamber). Phil Spector provided the song's bass as well as a tuned-down electric guitar. Jack Nitzsche provided the song's distinctive harpsichord arrangement and tamtams.

Gov't Mule version "Play With Fire"