No. 20: ‘Moonlight Mile’ – Top 100 Rolling Stones Songs

The delicate soul swoon ‘Moonlight Mile’ is a departure from the swagger and bravado permeating ‘Sticky Fingers’—and is one of the Rolling Stones’ most underrated songs.

Driven by weepy strings and pastoral acoustic guitar, the album-closing song is burdened with longing and exhaustion: “I am just living to be lying by your side/But I’m just about a moonlight mile on down the road.”

An instrumental coda, which features sighing piano and shivering guitars, adds a sense of melancholic finality. The song’s deep sense of loss made it a natural to be used as the title (and soundtrack anchor) of the 2002 movie ‘Moonlight Mile.’

Hear the Rolling Stones Perform 'Moonlight Mile'