No. 93: ‘Slipping Away’ – Top 100 Rolling Stones Songs

It's often been joked that the only things that could withstand a nuclear holocaust are cockroaches and Keith Richards. However, even the Rolling Stones' guitarist has acknowledged his own mortality in 'Slipping Away,' the moving closing track from 1989's 'Steel Wheels.'

Even though it's written as an ode to a departed love, there's no doubt that Richards, who was 45 when he wrote 'Slipping Away,' was referring to the passage of time.  Uncharacteristically for Richards, who had casually dismissed death 11 years earlier on 'Before They Make Me Run,' he seems almost remorseful at having used up so many of his nine lives just as he's starting to realize the beauty of life.

Hear the Rolling Stones Perform 'Slipping Away'