Mother's Little Helper

"Mother's Little Helper"
Single by The Rolling Stones
from the album Aftermath
Released	2 July 1966 (US)
Format	7"
Recorded	3–8 December 1965
Genre	Psychedelic rock
Length	2:45
Label	London 45-LON.902 (US)
Writer(s)	Jagger/Richards
Producer	Andrew Loog Oldham
The Rolling Stones singles chronology
"Paint It, Black" (1966) "Mother's Little Helper/Lady Jane" (1966) "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" (1966)
French EP

"Mother's Little Helper" is a song by the English rock and roll band The Rolling Stones. It first appeared as the opening track to the United Kingdom version of their 1966 album Aftermath.

It was released as a single in the United States and peaked at # 8 on the Billboard Singles Charts in 1966. The B-side "Lady Jane" peaked at # 24.^[1]

Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Mother's Little Helper" was recorded in Los Angeles from 3–8 December 1965. The song deals with the darker perspective of the use of barbiturates, specifically Nembutal (pentobarbitone), among housewives.

“

Kids are different today, I hear ev'ry mother say Mother needs something today to calm her down And though she's not really ill, there's a little yellow pill She goes running for the shelter of a mother's little helper And it helps her on her way, gets her through her busy day

”

Toward the end of the song, the mothers are warned:

“

And if you take more of those you will get an overdose No more running for the shelter of a mother's little helper They just helped you on your way through your busy dying day

”

The song is based around folksy chords and an eastern-flavoured guitar riff sounding like a sitar. Keith Richards has been quoted that he remembers the signature riff as being slide played on an an electric 12-string. It has also been documented that it was played by Brian Jones on his Vox 12-string Mando-Guitar ^[2]. Richards also remembers the ending of the song being the idea of Bill Wyman,^[3] whose driving bass is a distinctive feature of the studio track.

Cover versions

Over the years the song has been recorded by many notable artists, including Gene Latter, Tesla on their 1990 live acoustic album Five Man Acoustical Jam, Liz Phair for the 2005 soundtrack to the television series Desperate Housewives, and Sum 41 for their acoustic performance on the Sessions@AOL "Sessions Under Cover" series in 2007.

The Go-Go's covered the song on their "Ladies Gone Wild" tour in 2011.

In other media

• The Simpsons episode "Brother's Little Helper" is a pun on the song title. In the episode, Bart Simpson is given Focusyn, which also references the "drugs content" of "Mother's Little Helper".
• The song is referenced by a pilsner brewed by Oskar Blues Brewery's under the name Mama's Little Yella Pils.

References

1. ^ Joel Whitburn (1985), The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, ISBN 0-8230-7518-4
2. ^ http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=460
3. ^ http://www.timeisonourside.com/SOMothersLittle.html