At first, the narrator of "Paint it Black" seems like just a young man struggling with depression and grief after the death of his girlfriend. Like a moody teenager, he wants to paint everything black to match the way he feels inside.
This desire for absolute blackness peaks in the song's outro when the singer goes into a full-on temper tantrum, expressing his fervent desire to see the "sun blotted out of the sky" in a fully encapsulating apocalyptic darkness of borderline Biblical proportions. Is this really just your typical teenage angst? This might be the voice of a teenager struggling to get over the loss of his first love, but there may be more to it. The narrator might be another depressed civilian kid, but he could also be a young soldier just returned home from Vietnam.
After witnessing so much death in the war, observing another funeral back at home may be enough to push him over the edge. For him, the hearse might be taking much more than the body of a loved one — it may be taking away his ability to love and feel altogether. Depression was widespread amongst the veterans of the Vietnam War. In fact, so many Vietnam veterans returned home from the war with negative psychological side effects that the healthcare industry was forced to come up with an official name for this new phenomenon.
In the s, the term "post-traumatic stress disorder" PTSD came into use in large part due to the diagnoses of US military veterans of the Vietnam War. Veterans who witnessed the widespread bloodshed and trauma of the Vietnam War firsthand often became psychologically overwhelmed, sometimes not fully recovering if and when they were lucky enough to make it home after the war. Like a veteran suffering from PTSD and depression, the narrator of "Paint it Black" is no longer entertained by the little things that used to amuse him back at home, like seeing girls "dressed in their summer clothes.
The depressed narrator of "Paint it Black" pushes people away, but the people back at home aren't exactly welcoming him with open arms, either. While World War II veterans were mostly regarded as heroes upon their homecoming, Vietnam vets were often alienated or, even worse, met with anger and disdain, sometimes being yelled at and even spit on by people who, for whatever reason, blamed them for the war.
Maybe it is just all in his head, but the "Paint it Black" narrator also feels as though people are keeping their distance from him, only adding paranoia to his mounting feelings of isolation and alienation.
As Mick Jagger suggested, drugs do play a part in understanding the meaning of "Paint it Black. With everyone at home looking the other way, like so many he also turns to drugs, hoping to "fade away" into a psychedelic reverie where he can ease his pain and maybe even find "love" and happiness again.
Obviously, finding relief in drugs and alcohol wasn't something that only Vietnam veterans did. Many young people felt discontent with mainstream culture, and drugs were one way to escape. While the Vietnam War plays a large role in the meaning of "Paint it Black," it was not the only political upheaval going on in the turbulent s.
The Civil Rights Movement was also in full swing, and for African Americans the two were very connected. In fact, in the first printing of the single "Paint it Black," the cover title was accidentally transcribed as "Paint It, Black.
The errant comma was later removed by the record company Decca Records, but the punctuation error added a mysterious and racially charged new meaning to a song already rife with social commentary.
In the end, the meaning of "Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones is up for interpretation. While Mick Jagger suggested that the song's meaning is inconsequential and perhaps influenced by drug use, "Paint it Black" endures as a classic rock and roll song because it has so many layers of meaning that indirectly connect with the experiences of a variety of different people living and struggling in an era of political uncertainty: Vietnam veterans and mourners, young members of the counterculture, Black Americans struggling during the Civil Rights movement and really anyone experiencing a sense of restlessness and dissatisfaction during a tumultuous time in American history.
What is the meaning of the Radiohead bear art? The Kid A bear logo has become a symbol of Radiohead itself and may have been inspired by American artist Charles Burchfield. Who is Llewyn Davis? Is Llewyn Davis Bob Dylan? They performed it also on the BBC. Eric Burdon performed it also on his "Hippiefest" tour in Rock Music Wiki Explore.
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