For My Sunday Song #310 and the final in the 10 Song Aerosmith set, we will discuss my all time favorite track, “Sweet Emotion”. The song is another off ‘Toys in the Attic’ and was the first single off the album. It kicks off side two of the album and actually went all the way to #36 just cracking the Billboard Top 40 song chart.
The song is supposedly about Joe Perry’s ex-wife and the riff she caused in the band. I guess she was the Yoko of the band as they did eventually part ways briefly with Joe Perry (he came back after his marriage ended). Steven blasts her for “Talking about things that nobody cares/ wearing things that nobody wears”. And how she was on the side of the stage just shaking her ass for Joe and he was soon eating form her hand. No, no tensions there! The song also is about the infighting in the band as not only were the wives getting in the way, but so were the drugs and egos.
Another Tom Hamilton and Steven Tyler penned track which explains that killer bass opening to the song. Damn Tom is on fire with this one. That bass line is so hauntingly cool and then throw in Perry on the Talk Box and you have a memorable, killer opening. And that vibraslap you hear in the opening, actually broke on their third take from what I’ve read. Tyler’s vocals are pristine and no one can deliver a lyric like him. Perry’s guitar playing is on fire just like the pants in the lyrics. Kramer lays down a great rat-tat-tat right before Perry’s solo and his fills throughout are over the top as he is playing on the twos and fours rather than than ones and threes of the beats which totally blew producer Jack Douglas away. The band shows a more sophisticated side to their writing and they deliver one of my all time favorite Aerosmith tracks. It is a freaking masterpiece.
Give the song a listen and let me know what you think. Is it their best song they’ve ever written? Ignoring the fact it has been overplayed, it is still my favorite. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you hall have a wonderful and Happy Sunday!!
“Sweet Emotion”
Sweet emotion
Sweet emotion
Talk about things that nobody cares
Wearing other things that nobody wears
You’re callin’ my name, but I gotta make it clear
I can’t say, baby, where I’ll be in a year
Some sweat hog mama with a face like a gent
Said my get up and go must’ve got up and went
Well, I got good news: she’s a real good liar
‘Cause a backstage boogie set your pants on fire
Sweet emotion
Sweet emotion
I pulled into town in a police car
Your daddy said I took it just a little too far
You’re tellin’ other things, but your girlfriend lied
You can’t catch me ’cause the rabbit done died
Yes it did
Standin’ in the front just a-shakin’ your ass
I take you backstage you can drink from my glass
I talk about something you can sure understand
‘Cause a month on the road and I’ll be eatin’ from your hand
Written by Tom Hamilton and Steven Tyler
2 Loud 2 Old Music 
You have saved the best for last!
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Like it? Yes. I like to play that riff on guitar. Best song? Mmmm…don’t know. I’d draw the line though, at masterpiece. Much as I like my homies I’m not sure anything they ever did quite reaches that height.
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I see what you did with the casual “Draw the Line” reference, well done:) Hard to say what counts as a masterpiece in this genre, but it has everything you want from a killer rock song, and then some.
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No argument at all. I’d love to play that in a band.
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Yeah, it’s one of those songs! That should be awesome.
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“Sweet Emotion” is amazing and sounds killer live!
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It does indeed! For me it’s of those special pieces which even the greatest bands only stumble upon once-twice in their lifetime. They may not even be their best songs per se, but they are the ones where everything magically falls together, as if the song was there all along, waiting to be found. It’s the league of songs like Honky Tonk Women, Whole Lotta Love, Highway to Hell, Sweet Child O’ Mine, etc…
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Oh I love “Honky Tonk Women”! And how about that talk box in ” Sweet Emotion?!?
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Love it, it gives me goosebumps every time! I also love how they open with such a moody intro and hold back that monster riff until the chorus, it gives the song so much tension!
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Another great Aerosmith song. When they played it at Download 2017, it came right after Tom’s bass solo. Pretty fitting I thought.
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Nice! Perfect placement for it.
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Give me the 90s remix of the song though. The bass line makes the song a classic. To me, this is the prototypical Aerosmith song.
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No argument from me, this song is straight fire.
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Have u watched the old Aero show from 77 that they posted on YouTube for the week John? If not watch it as its Live Bootleg before our eyes…so amazing yet so baked lol
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No, I haven’t seen it yet. I don’t watch much on Youtube.
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Played this twice Sunday
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Just listened to a great cover of this song by the band Art Of Dying.
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Ooh!! I’ll have to go hear that. This is one of those songs though I’m not sure I can enjoy a cover of it as I love this one too dang much.
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