Song of the Day 1/29: The Rolling Stones, “Jigsaw Puzzle”

Guest post by Nathan Arizona

Have you heard the news? This is National Puzzle Day.

Alby, who usually fills this spot, would never embarrass himself by using National Puzzle Day as an excuse for a Song of the Day. On the other hand, he might if he knew he could get a two-fer out of it. (Editor’s note: I would also use the opportunity to note that the pandemic has been a boon for jigsaw puzzle manufacturers, who can’t keep up with demand.)

Here’s the deal. The best song I could find after straining for something with “puzzle” in the title turned out to be a pretty good one, the Rolling Stones’ “Jigsaw Puzzle” from one of their best albums, 1968’s “Beggars Banquet.” Alby might even have come up with this himself yesterday if he weren’t in the hospital having his kidney stones removed (successfully).

So that makes this also a Stones Song of the Day, in honor of Alby’s malady.

Like most of the tunes on “Beggar’s Banquet,” this one is essentially country-blues. The best-known songs from the album are “ Street Fighting Man” and “Sympathy for the Devil,” but “Jigsaw Puzzle” has gotten plenty of love (along with some disparagement). Rolling Stone (again!) called it the 69th best Rolling Stones, song, which is actually pretty good. Critic Richie Unterberger, on the other hand, said it was “album filler.”

It’s a fairly long tune from a time when the band was expanding its lyrical content, a surrealistic metaphorical journey (“menthylated sandwich,” indeed) in the manner of Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row.” It’s not as good as that one, but then this is Dylan we’re talking about.

But there’s more than one way to celebrate National Puzzle Day. The California indie band Saint Motel released “Puzzle Pieces” four years ago on its “Saintmotelevision” album. Nothing about stones there, but from the look of the video that might have been their condition.