← Behind The Song: Classic Rock Chronicles
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Hire the right Pro today 97.1fm the drive presents the behind the Song podcast, taking you deeper into classic rock's most timeless tunes. Here's your host, Janda.
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I'm Janda and in this episode of behind the Song Powered by Chick Fil A, I'm getting into the album everybody is talking about Foreign Tongues by the Rolling stones, released on July 10, 2026. 60 years in and the Rolling Stones just dropped a 14 track record with Paul McCartney, Steve Winwood, Benmont Tench, Robert Smith and others and it includes drumming from the late great Charlie Watts. Four in Tongues is, in my opinion, a triumph for the Rolling Stones. A late era banger that comes out of the gate with a wallop and ends with a laugh. It sounds both classic and current at the same time and I am sure that it's going to end up on so many best of lists when it comes to albums released in 2026. There's a lot to unpack in this episode, so let's go track by track. If you like it, you know what to do, Give it a like and hit subscribe First, a little backstory on how all this came together. Foreign Tongues started in a relatively small room at Metropolis Studios in West London. That was a deliberate choice. The Stones have truly done it all, of course, recorded in castles, in their own famous mobile truck and everywhere else. This time they wanted something tighter, more contained, and the whole album reportedly came together fast. Most of the sessions took less than a month and an accelerated pace meant to echo the band's earliest days, when new Stone songs used to come out every couple of months. Which is a wild thing to say about a band whose core members are all in their 80s. But this album has energy. It's like they took the momentum from 2023's Hackney Diamonds and rolled it right into Foreign Tongues. Before we even get to the songs, can we talk about how awesome the rollout was? For instance, the Cockroaches thing? Before the album was even announced, a mystery AA side single showed up on limited edition 12 inch vinyl credited to a band called the Cockroaches. This was a pseudonym the Stones had actually used back in the 70s for Secret Club shows, so eagle eyed fans clocked it almost immediately. Then there was the Billboard thing. Posters started appearing in cities around the world with the phrase foreign tongues translated into different languages, which ended up being both the album title and a pretty clever bit of guerrilla marketing. It's very on brand for a band that's been doing this since before man walked on the moon and still wants you to feel like you're onto something.
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The Stones remember and honor their past here by including Charlie Watts on one of the songs recorded during one of his final sessions before he passed away in 2021. There's something really special about hearing Watts actually play on a new song in 2026. It's not a remix, it's not AI trickery, and it's a real take that he did that sat there until they had the right song to build around it. And let's talk about who else showed up, because the guest list on this thing is genuinely awesome and surprising. Paul McCartney's back. He played on Hackney Diamonds too, so that's less of a shock. Steve Winwood's on piano in organ on multiple songs. Chad Smith from the Chili Peppers sits in. And then there's Robert Smith, the Cure's Robert Smith on a Rolling Stones record. The Robert Smith appearance is probably the most surprising. Apparently he was in another studio at the same time the Stones were recording Foreign Tongues. And the story goes that Jagger saw a guy with his back turned wearing a long overcoat, and when he turned around, the lipstick gave him away. Jagger realized that it was Robert Smith of the Cure. Instead of just saying hello, Mick Jagger apparently just put him straight to work. Smith ended up laying down a backing vocal on the spot. Jagger said something to the effect of oh, you're here. Great. Sing something. And of course Robert Smith said yes. I mean, who's gonna say no to Mick Jagger? Alright, now let's talk songs. 14 tracks. What are we actually hearing? You got straight up rockers, a couple of ballads, a heartbreak song with a real disco feel, a country track, and two important covers. With the Stones doing their take on Amy Winehouse and Chuck Berry songs, the politics are worth mentioning too. This isn't a band that usually gets explicitly topical, but by several accounts, a handful of songs on here take some pretty direct shots at billionaires and modern autocrats without ever naming names outright. From a band that gave us Street Fighting man, that isn't exactly new territory. It's just interesting that they're still doing it in their 80s. So let's get into it song by song. Rough and Twisted, the opener and one of two lead singles teased before the album release in extremely limited vinyl form under the Stone's old pseudonym the Cockroaches. It's got an absolutely killer riff and a rambunctious Jagger harmonica solo capturing the sense of a band still playing like a chaotic bar bar band six decades on. Mick even drops an F bomb in it. It's so Stones. Track 2 in the stars, the other lead single, an upbeat hooky rocker built with stadium stages in mind. Producer Andrew Watt reportedly aimed for songs that would translate live and this one along with Never Wanna Lose youe fills that bill completely. It's got a classic Keith Richards guitar riff that would be equally at home on any of their classic albums leading up to and including Some Girls. This is one of two tracks on the album featuring Benmont Tench on organ, hands off. Jealous Lover, Please Let Me Be. Track three, Jealous Lover A funky soul number that pulls all the punches of emotional rescue with Jagger breaking things off with a lover with a great falsetto over her jealousy of other women, notably without denying that he's cheating himself. It's got a great music video too, starring Anya Taylor. Joy. Track 4, Mr. Charm this is a really playful and self aware gigolo anthem in which Jagger seduces a rich woman telling her that life's too short for just making money and to show him how to spend it. He also owns his age here, joking that he once dreamed of roving Mars but now he prefers staying home to do anagrams and spew epigrams. The political edge shows up in a jab at a certain tech mogul referenced as mad mogul Mr. Musk as Jagger sings in the song, he don't give a damn, Madam. Divine Intervention. Is that a question? Track 5 Divine intervention to me this is one of the best tracks on the album. It features Robert Smith on backing guitar and a really great bluesy Ronnie Wood solo and Steve Winwood handling piano and organ. It's one of nine tracks to feature Winwood. It's a cheery song about tuning out the apocalypse with Jagger describing billionaires as scuttling scrambling to their bolt holes in the sky. Delivered over some serious some girls style guitar boogie. The lyrics go divine intervention is out of the question and I'm gonna dance in the flames on all these songs. Jagger is singing his ass off. It might as well be 1978. It's ring album. It's ringing deep, it's ringing hollow. Ringing Hollow. Another standout track. This is a country rock number recalling Graham Parsons influence on the band. The lyrics are a sort of disillusioned love letter to America. Jagger sings of once being madly in love with the US before ever visiting, but now finds Lady Liberty with a tear in her gown. As lyrics go, it's a deep observation on current events from the perspective of a band who have watched every era of America since the 60s. Richards and Wood's guitar interplay is really beautiful on this song. Track 7, never wanna lose youe, a pop rocker with funky bass and Robert Smith on synths and backing vocals. It's a disco party, a raver, with another surprise guest, Bruno Mars playing the cowbell. In the song, Jagger talks about moving to a run down trailer park with Jackson Pollock paintings on his kitchen wall, suggesting that money isn't the end all be all. I love the lyrics. I never will refuse you even if this world falls into decadent disarray. Track 8, hit me in the Head. This is a hang fire style barn burner. The track built around Charlie Watts 20, 21 session drumming. In a way, it's the emotional centerpiece of the whole album, but it's certainly not a tear jerker. It's classic Mick Jagger attitude. He's in love, but she's driving him crazy. The lyrics go, one of these days I'm gonna fall down dead, and I'll go a lot quicker if you hit me in the head. You can't believe when you listen to this song that this band are for the most part in their 80s. And it's really wonderful to think that somewhere up there, Charlie Watts must be smiling at what they did with his drumming on this oh so stonesy song. Track 9, you know I'm no good. This is a cover of Amy Winehouse's hit song, and it makes sense to me that they would choose it. Both the Stones and Winehouse are prime examples of how the blues sound through a British filter. Winehouse, no doubt, was influenced by the Rolling Stones, and this song has that quintessential Stones thing about it. A love story told by somebody less than perfect. The love affair itself. A burning flame that can't be put out.
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Track 10. Some of us this song, to my ears, is the most emotional on the album and it's sung by Keith Richards. It's a ballad with roots dating back to the 1980s. Originally titled Some Of Us Are on Our Knees, the demo was first recorded during the Dirty Work studio sessions. In France between April and June of 1985, but it got shelved until foreign tongues. The lyrics are a declaration of love that seemingly is hopeless, where Richard's voice interlaces with Jaggers at the end in a really moving way. Covered in youn this song features Paul McCartney on bass, and he reportedly laid down his part in about 10 minutes. In the song, Jagger raps about being sick and tired of all these autocrats. It's a song from an unhinged perspective. Lyrically interesting. Part love song, part railing against a mad world as when he sings Opposition plays charades. They must always be obeyed. Track 12 side effects this is a song about obsessive love through the metaphor of love as a drug. When Jagger sings there's a price to pay for everything you put in your veins, it ties into the common thread of the album and ultimately into the idea that often has returned in stone songs throughout the years. That love is really quite troublesome almost as much as it is irresistible. Track 13 Back in youn Life this is a ballad about the exits that happen in relationships and the internal tug of war that goes on with those exits when the person means something to you. Sung by Mick Jagger, the lyrics go, is this how our story will end? I hate that I'm losing a friend. When he tosses it to Ronnie Wood to play the guitar solo, it gives you room in your mind to think about your own exits and the ones who took their exit from you in whatever way that took shape. A rock and roll goodbye song about the vanished connections that fade, just like the song does at the end. It's maybe my favorite on the whole album. And here we are at track 14. Beautiful Delilah Four in Tongues ends with another cover song. This time it's a Chuck Berry cover, coming full circle back to their roots when they were English lads eagerly awaiting the blues and rock and roll albums to arrive from the States. The original bond between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Chad Smith from the Chili Peppers makes an appearance playing concert bass drum. It's a thrill to hear them play this stripped down number, a song they must have obsessed over when they were young. And it ends with Mick Jagger giving a little laugh that seems to convey how amazingly far they've come since those days. It's the perfect closer to Foreign Tongues. And there's a bonus track, Bad Luck. Hideaway is an itunes only bonus release, and it again features the late Charlie Watts on drums. Mick and Keith trade vocals on this track too. This is a band that could have stopped 50 years ago and still be legends they didn't need to make Foreign Tongues and yet new material, important collaborators. An emotional tip of the hat to the late Charlie Watts. It's not a band going through the motions. This is a band that still has something to say. I think it's their best album in years. So what's your favorite song on the album? What do you think about it? Let me know on the Socials andalain Radio. And thanks for listening to behind the Song. If you like this episode, tell a Friend. Especially if that friend is a Stones fan. That's the best way to share music. I'll catch you back here for another episode next week on the way. Much more Classic rock and roll Great news. Chick Fil? A catering makes summer party planning easy. Choose from a variety of trays, including Chick Fil? A nuggets, Mac and cheese and chocolate fudge brownies. These party favorites are perfect for your summertime gatherings. Place your order through the Chick Fil? A app online or by calling ahead to pick up your order at your local Chick Fil? A restaurant or get get it delivered directly to your door. Take cooking off your plate this season and enjoy Chick Fil? A catering. Availability and order requirements vary. See Restaurant for details. Chick Fil? A Eat more chicken.