Flashback Friday: "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" - The Temptations (1972)

Do you remember when I talked about The Temptations?

Remember when I went over their single "I Wish it Would Rain" back around Valentine's Day, and how I said it perfectly summed up feelings of people who may not have a significant other that day? Well, just in time for Christmas... here's a song that does not connect thematically whatsoever. "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", everybody!

This one's a little bit longer than our first offering. About nine minutes longer. But who's counting? When you have awesome music like this, there's no need to look at the clock!

Indeed, this is a long song, but it's well worth it to take a listen if you have the time. The instrumentals on this song are just great. With the thumping bass, the wailing horns, and the rattling drums, it sets the Motown scene perfectly.

"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" tells a narrative that revolves around a group of siblings asking their mother questions about their father. They demand to know if the things that they have heard about their smeared father are true. And every time, Mama simply replies,

Papa was a rolling stone
Wherever he laid his hat was his home
And when he died, all he left us was alone

Oh yeah, uh, he's dead, too.

This song is just so full of emotion, and the lyrics combined with the vocal performances in particular really sell that emotion. The mother's words really convey a world-weary disposition, but also someone who wants to protect her kids from bad images of their father. The siblings, meanwhile, are distraught and want answers. Unfortunately, all they get is the chorus, despite the detail they go into with what they hear about their dad. A drinker, a lecherous pervert, even a criminal. A hypocritical one at that.

Heard them talking about Papa doing some store front preachin'
Talked about saving souls and all the time leeching
Dealing in death, and stealing in the name of the Lord

Long story short, Papa doesn't exactly resemble a poster boy for good morals. What's interesting about the mother's choral reply is that she doesn't try to praise Papa all too much. She just spares her children the details. Based on the chorus, Papa still sounds like a scumbag. But maybe the mother doesn't detail too much information because she not only wants her kids to forget about Papa, but she herself does as well. She just wants the problem, and the questions, to leave.

While the instrumentals are funky, I think the true heart of the song lies in the singers. The story is great, and it's told well through voice and through lyrics. It's a great song that deserves to be twelve minutes long.