Lyrics
Under my thumb
The girl who once had me down
Under my thumb
The girl who once pushed me around
The girl who once had me down
Under my thumb
The girl who once pushed me around
It’s down to me
The difference in the clothes she wears
Down to me, the change has come
She’s under my thumb
The difference in the clothes she wears
Down to me, the change has come
She’s under my thumb
And ain’t it the truth babe?
Under my thumb
It’s a squirmin’ dog who’s just had her day
Under my thumb
A girl who has just changed her ways
It’s a squirmin’ dog who’s just had her day
Under my thumb
A girl who has just changed her ways
It’s down to me
Yes it is
The way she does just what she’s told down to me
The change has come
She’s under my thumb
Yes it is
The way she does just what she’s told down to me
The change has come
She’s under my thumb
Ah, ah, say it’s alright
Under my thumb
It’s a Siamese cat of a girl
Under my thumb
She’s the sweetest, hmmm, pet in the world
It’s a Siamese cat of a girl
Under my thumb
She’s the sweetest, hmmm, pet in the world
It’s down to me
The way she talks when she’s spoken to
Down to me, the change has come
She’s under my thumb
The way she talks when she’s spoken to
Down to me, the change has come
She’s under my thumb
Ah, take it easy babe
Yeah
Yeah
It’s down to me, oh yeah
The way she talks when she’s spoken to
Down to me, the change has come
She’s under my thumb
The way she talks when she’s spoken to
Down to me, the change has come
She’s under my thumb
Yeah, it feels alright
Under my thumb
Her eyes are just kept to herself
Under my thumb, well I
I can still look at someone else
Her eyes are just kept to herself
Under my thumb, well I
I can still look at someone else
It’s down to me, oh that’s what I said
The way she talks when she’s spoken to
Down to me, the change has come
She’s under my thumb
The way she talks when she’s spoken to
Down to me, the change has come
She’s under my thumb
Say, it’s alright
Say it’s all
Say it’s all
Say it’s all
Take it easy babe
Take it easy babe
Feels alright
Take it, take it easy babe
Take it easy babe
Feels alright
Take it, take it easy babe
Songwriters: Keith Richards / Mick Jagger
Under My Thumb lyrics © Abkco Music, Inc
When listening to this song (released in 1966), consider the following:
- How is gender constructed in the lyrics of this song?
- What words are used to describe women in the lyrics?
- What is your personal response to this song?
- Has anything changed in over half a century since this song was released? Out of interest, view ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones for a construction of masculinity… Quite an interesting contrast between the two songs…
- It’s worth considering both the context of production and the context of reception for a text like this.
Image Analysis
For your next assessment, next week, you will need to respond to two questions; one on narrative fiction, and one question on image analysis.
Here are the things to look for in analysing images:
- Symbols
- Depth of Field
- Framing / composition
- Rule of Thirds
- Diagonals
- Gaze
- Proximity
- Body language / posture
- Setting
- Light and shade
- Juxtaposition / incongruity
- Parody / irony
Here is a link to the images we explored in class: Image Analysis_Gender-10mj02t