In Another Land

Album: Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967)
Charted: 87
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Bill Wyman: "I went to the studio one night and when I arrived at the studio Glyn (Johns) said, The session's canceled, so I said, Oh, what a drag, 'cause it was quite a drive for me, about a 45 minute drive. And he said, Well... got any songs you want to mess around, try and demo and things? Nicky Hopkins was there on keyboards. I'm not sure whether Charlie was there or not. I can't remember. And I said, Yeah, 'cause I'd been messing with this song. It was a bit, what I thought was kind of spacy, you know... a bit kind of Satanic Majesties-like. And psychedelic in a way. And he said, We'll have a go at it and I just used those players and next door, in the other studio, were the Small Faces who were recording. And Steve Marriott came in and Ronnie Lane and they sang with me 'cause I just didn't want to sing. So I used that tremolo effect on the voice 'cause I was really uptight about my singing - which I still am. And we just used effects and we tried all kinds of things and it came out quite nice and I went home sort of reasonably satisfied, with an experiment, if you like. And next day I got to the studio and we were just chatting about what we were going to do tonight and Glyn said, Hey, hang on, he said to Mick and Keith and Brian. He said, Hang on, have a listen to this, and put the tape on, played them a rough mix. They said, That's really good, what is it? He said, Bill. He did it yesterday. And so they all liked it and they thought it fitted in so we put it on the album." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Bertrand - Paris, France

Comments: 6

  • J Menar from LouisianaI see a man caught up in an old fashioned romance - in a dream. He is in love. Then he awakes to the hard, rock n roll world and he is, suddenly, a hard, modern, cynical man, denying his softer feelings. Then he falls asleep again and reaches, again, the love and the softer side of himself. I see it as a tragedy. It is an unusual song to find on a Rolling Stones album.
  • Joe from Seattle, WaAwesome song!
  • Scott from Boston, MaOn the album version, you can hear Bill snoring at the end. One night, Bill fell asleep in the studio, so Mick and Keith recorded him snoring and tagged it onto the end of his song without him knowing. Bill didn't find out until he listened to the final version of the album. The snoring doesn't appear on the single.
  • Craig from Melbourne, AustraliaOnly 1 other Bill Wyman song has made it onto a Rolling Stones record. THat song is "Downtown Suzie", sung by Jagger, which is on the compilation album Metamorphosis.
  • Brian from Alluhrst, Njthis is a great song i wish bill wyman sang lead on more songs
  • Barry from New York, NyOne of my favorite songs on this underrated album. I never felt that Their Satanic Majesty's Request was a ripoff of Sgt Pepper like some people have said.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About Transgenderism

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About TransgenderismSong Writing

A history of songs dealing with transgender issues, featuring Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Morrissey and Green Day.

Melanie

MelanieSongwriter Interviews

The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.

90210 to Buffy to Glee: How Songs Transformed TV

90210 to Buffy to Glee: How Songs Transformed TVSong Writing

Shows like Dawson's Creek, Grey's Anatomy and Buffy the Vampire Slayer changed the way songs were heard on TV, and produced some hits in the process.

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple PilotsSongwriter Interviews

Stone Temple Pilots bass player Robert DeLeo names the songs that have most connected with fans and tells the stories behind tracks from their Tiny Music album.

Matthew Wilder - "Break My Stride"

Matthew Wilder - "Break My Stride"They're Playing My Song

Wilder's hit "Break My Stride" had an unlikely inspiration: a famous record mogul who rejected it.

David Sancious

David SanciousSongwriter Interviews

Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.