Shine A Light - Rolling Stones (May 2024 Contest) v2 (Completed)

One of my favorite songs from the great 1972 Exile On Main Street album (that I have not already covered on BandHug). This one has a giant, exuberant gospel chorus that has me singing out loud and waving my hands in the air every time.

It's a loving and tender ode to a girl who appears to be dying as a result of poor lifestyle choices. She is close enough to the edge between this world and the next that the angels are gathering on the other side to usher her home. And she is so winsome and hot that the angels are kind of losing their saintly composure over her. It's just a little bit creepy - these angels are here to escort her into the afterlife, not to help her find the will to recover and live among us in the here and now. She's in a hospital bed but there seem to be no doctors around. Her imminent death seems to be a foregone conclusion - unless the protagonist (Mick) can inspire her to "come on up now", find her joy, and discover the motivation she needs to live through this. He and the gospel soul choir sing a prayer for divine intervention, and do their best to sing her back to life. Whether or not God actually sees fit to shine a light on this girl is unclear, but it is a beautiful image nonetheless.

I want to really focus on singing with feeling and building vocal harmony for the gospel choir. This song is about life and love and death - it is not one to hold anything back on. It has pathos and it has joy. It should sound sweet and bluesy and fervent and 110% emotionally committed. Let's shake the rafters of the church of rock 'n' roll and sing a song that could inspire one in need to hang on to the thread of life.