I look inside myself and see my heart is black/
I see my red door I must have it painted black.
The Rolling Stones “Paint it Black” is about a man whose girlfriend dies and he falls into depression. He describes his depression as his heart turning black. His hurt is so deep inside that he wants to manifest it outside too. So every time he sees something like flowers or the sun, he thinks about painting it black.
This song is an interesting description of mourning. Depression is a little different in that it usually doesn’t have a direct cause…like losing your girlfriend. Though we use similar words to describe our feelings.
The lyric is sung angrily: Jagger is upset at the world and he wants to do something about it. The world should not be filled with colorful flowers when his love was taken from him. There is some experimentation in the use of instruments here…the sitar is featured prominently. The Stones, The Beatles and Beach Boys began a Cold War of sorts, trying to outdo each other by experimenting with the amount of sounds that could be produced on a rock record.
Paint it Black Lyrics
I see a red door and I want it painted black.
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black.
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes,
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes.
I see a line of cars and they’re all painted black.
With flowers and my love, both never to come back.
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away,
Like a new born baby, it just happens every day.
I look inside myself and see my heart is black.
I see my red door, I must have it painted black.
Maybe then I’ll fade away and not have to face the facts,
It’s not easy facing up, when your whole world is black.
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue.
I could not foresee this thing happening to you.
If I look hard enough into the settin’ sun,
My love will laugh with me before the mornin’ comes.
I see a red door and I want it painted black.
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black.
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes,
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes.
Hmm, hmm, hmm,
I wanna see it painted, painted black.
Black as night, black as coal,
I wanna see the sun, blotted out from the sky.
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black.
Yeah
Hmm, hmm, hmm
written by Jaggar/Richards