"Shattered" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1978 album Some Girls. The song is a reflection of American lifestyles and life in 1970s-era New York City, but also influences from the English punk rock movement can be heard. The B-side, "Everything Is Turning to Gold", was co-written with Ronnie Wood, who contributed lyrics inspired by the birth of his son.[6][7]
During a 2013 fundraiser, Eddie Vedder played the guitar while Jeanne Tripplehorn sang "Shattered" doing a Julie Andrews impression.[8] The title of the June 2019 book Can't Give It Away on Seventh Avenue: The Rolling Stones and New York City comes from a lyric in the song.[9]
History
Recorded from October to December 1977, "Shattered" features lyrics sung in sprechgesang by Jagger on a guitar riff by Keith Richards. Jagger commented in a Rolling Stone interview that he wrote the lyrics in the back of a New York cab. Most of Richards' guitar work is a basic rhythmic pattern strumming out the alternating tonic and dominant chords with each bar, utilising a relatively modest phaser sound effect for some added depth. Due to the absence of bassist Bill Wyman, the bass track is played by Ronnie Wood.[citation needed]
Billboard stated that the "heavy bottom and...frenetic vocals translate New York's neurotic energy to music."[10]Cash Box said that "the unique rhythmic undercurrents and Mick Jagger's harrowing chant-like vocals of life in the big Apple make this a top pop winner."[11]Record World called it "rock 'n'
roll funk with a flourish."[12]
In the United States, "Shattered" climbed to number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.[13]
