Let it Bleed was released by the Rolling Stones in late 1969 and would become one of the greatest albums the band ever produced. Despite being made by a British rock band, the album includes influences from American blues, country blues, and country gospel. The songs are perfect for rock listeners, love song enthusiasts, and people who like the Rolling Stones. The remarkable part of this album would be the dark lyrics contrasting well with the melody, the more wholesome lyrics, and the upbeat tone within each of these songs.

The album starts out with the classic hit “Gimme Shelter” including a soft electric guitar introduction riff and then a vocal melody to the drums and piano. The lyrics directly reference the Vietnam War which would influence much of the American music and culture of the time. The main feature of the lyrics is the repeating line “It’s just a shot away” directly after mentioning war, rape, and murder. These are accompanied by the metaphor of running to shelter from a storm, in which the storm is about as expected but also comes out of nowhere just like war. The song has a drastic change of tone, as it replaces the dark lyrics with love: “It’s just a kiss away.”

1. “Love In Vain” is a slower, blues-focused song with a guitar melody combined with base and snare drum background and some notes of an electric guitar. The lyrics include the leaving of a lover at the train station and as the train departs, two lights linger. The song describes one of these lights being blue and representing the lover; the other being red and representing the singer’s mind. In the end, both of these lights are lost.
2. “Country Honk” is recognizable as a more country-blues based version of the more popular Rolling Stones song “Honky Tonk Woman” including the exact same lyrics and melody at some points. The guitar drives the melody along with a fiddle, including a snare drum in the background. The lyrics speak of an obsessive love for a “honky tonk woman” by a divorced man in Jackson, MS.
3. “Live With Me” opens with an electric guitar and snare drum along with loud piano parts and a saxophone solo between lyrics. The end of the song includes a loud beat from a cymbal. The lyrics are an invitation from a man to a woman whom he wants her to live with. The man is totally upfront about his “nasty habits” to a comedic extent.
4. “Let It Bleed” is a softer song with a slow guitar melody and a soft drum set, along with a much more present piano sound compared to the other songs in which the other instruments drown it out. The electric guitar does come in with a few riffs throughout the song. The lyrics of the song do include multiple sexual and drug suggestive lines, but besides this, it is mostly about being a support for someone.
5. “Midnight Rambler” goes to a more catchy rock rhythm along with a much notable harmonica piece within the song. The lyrics are pretty dark at many moments but do bring a classic southern rock and country theme of a “midnight” gambler and rambler.
6. “You Got The Silver” is probably the most country-blues based song in the album, but also the shortest song. The melody is made up of guitar only at the start but is joined by soft riffs on the electric guitar and finally, more than halfway through the song, the drums and the piano join in. The lyrics describe a situation where a woman takes everything physically and figuratively from a man, but to this man “that’s no big surprise.”
7. “Monkey Man” comes in with a starting piano solo with sharp guitar riffs that lead into a rock beat with drums and another electric guitar. This song would be the odd one out compared to the other songs in the album, except with the similar rock with piano background like the previous songs. The lyrics are ludicrous to the point of being ramblings from “just a monkey man.” This song does provide some sort of relief from all the more serious country and rock in the album, but the song does have a similar theme of self-description that is heard in “Live With Me.”
8. “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is probably the second most famous song in the album, if not first, bringing the elements of chorus, piano, soft electric guitar, and a base drum. The lyrics are phenomenal, including dark lines but always making it up with some of the greatest and inspiring lines in the entire album: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well, you might just find, you get what you need.”

This album is still proven relevant after half a century from its inception. To me, this album is a piece from a long-gone era of music; the era where all dark meaning could be sweetened by a few wholesome lines but also comfort and soothe a listener going through a struggle. I feel that society right now prefers perfectionist ideals of work and character and those must always be taken seriously. To me, this album is the antithesis of that statement, the acceptance of flaws, the acceptance of situations, and especially the need to make do with what you have: excellent ethics for living life, but don’t take them too seriously either.