Tag Archives: She Bangs the Drums

Bass Line #3: The Stone Roses – She Bangs the Drums

I’m not touching the meaning of the Stone Roses‘ ‘She Bangs the Drums’ right now, as it wasn’t until last year when I started reading what other people thought the song was about, and boy, do some people think it’s dirty! I’m not convinced it’s actually about a girl drummer John Squire fell in love with…

No, today’s bass line post is all about Mani’s mastery of the best part of the song. (Well, the Ian Brown lyrics aren’t bad, but every time I think about the song, I want to give him a slap on the side of the head and tell him, “dude, you wrote such a dirty song! Why’d you do that?” Haha.) The bass shines during the “guitar solo”, which is a misnomer, because it’s really a bass solo with a guitar overlaid on top. So there.

I went on YouTube to find a cover, and this dude’s got huge hands. Which makes me wonder if it’s just easier for men to play bass because they can cover more ground on the fretboard because their hands are bigger? (Mind out of the gutter, ladies.)