It’s nearly impossible to picture Mick Jagger in any role other than that of a rock icon. The idea of him spending his life behind a desk, wearing hi-vis on a construction site, or checking tickets on a commuter train feels almost absurd. Jagger was destined for the stage, and history proved it right.
Still, the early days of The Rolling Stones weren’t built on the glamour and excess that would later define them. In the early 1960s, they began as little more than a cover band, reworking American blues and R&B tracks for small but passionate crowds in London. Their sound stood out, but they were hardly the only band in the city doing the same thing.
The turning point came when Jagger and Keith Richards, urged on by manager Andrew Loog Oldham, began writing their own material. That decision not only set them apart but also laid the foundation for their rise as one of the most important songwriting duos in rock history. From the raw energy of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” to the politically charged “Street Fighting Man,” their catalog showed just how much ground they could cover musically and lyrically.
Of course, their first attempts at songwriting didn’t immediately produce masterpieces. As Jagger himself later reflected in a 1985 interview with Rolling Stone: “I see songwriting as having to do with experience, and the more you’ve experienced, the better it is. But it has to be tempered, and you just must let your imagination run.”
Their very first composition, “As Tears Go By,” revealed an entirely different side of Jagger. The ballad was gentle, melancholic, and far removed from the blues-rock energy that The Stones were known for. Reflecting on the process, Jagger explained, “You can’t just experience something and leave it at that. You’ve got to try and embroider, like, any kind of writing. And that’s the fun part of it.”
Initially, Oldham gave the song to a young Marianne Faithfull, whose version climbed into the UK Top Ten in 1964, launching her career. Just a year later, The Rolling Stones released their own rendition—a stripped-down, acoustic version with a folk sensibility—which found similar success, reaching the Top Ten in the United States.
While the track would never go down as the band’s greatest triumph, its success was crucial. The fact that their first original effort broke through commercially gave Jagger and Richards the confidence to continue writing. That momentum soon led to “The Last Time,” “Satisfaction,” and a long list of legendary songs that cemented The Rolling Stones as one of the most powerful forces in rock and roll history.
Without that unlikely ballad, the band’s journey could have looked very different. Instead, “As Tears Go By” stands as a quiet but essential chapter in the story of two songwriters learning to trust their voices—voices that would soon change music forever.