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Song Stories

“It's Too Late”

Carole King | 1970

Underpinned by rumbling piano riffs suggesting the end is near, Carole King's warning that a relationship is too late to salvage gave her a Number One hit in 1971, solidified by a chorus as jubilant as it is relieved that the game is over. King co-wrote the song with Toni Stern, who said she did her part "very fast, in a day." "I won't say who 'It's Too Late' is about," Stern added. "I don't kiss and tell."

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Song Stories

“Satisfied”

Tom Waits | 2011

Only the genius of Tom Waits could combine the subject of mortality, a reoccurring theme in his work, with wordplay that name checks both Mick and Keith, whom he calls "Mr. Jagger" and "Mr. Richards," and the title of their magnum opus, "Satisfaction." And to show just how cool Waits really is, he even got Mr. Richards to play along, one of nine guest appearances the guitarist has made on three Waits albums. "This growling roadhouse stomp is a late-breaking response to the Stones' greatest hit," Rolling Stone said of the track.

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