"She's a Rainbow" is a song by the Rolling Stones and was featured on their 1967 album Their Satanic Majesties Request. It has been called "the prettiest and most uncharacteristic song" that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote for the Stones, although somewhat ambiguous in intention.
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Composition and recording
The song includes rich lyricism, vibrant piano by Nicky Hopkins, and Brian Jones' use of the Mellotron. The second verse includes:
John Paul Jones, later of Led Zeppelin, arranged the strings of this song during his session musician days. Backing vocals were provided by the entire band except for Charlie Watts. Notably, all of the vocals sound like soft background singing with the music overshadowing them to the point of the lyrics being difficult to hear. The lyrics in the chorus share the phrase "she comes in colours" with the song of that title by Love, released in December 1966.
The song begins with the piano playing an ascending run with a turnaround, which returns throughout the song as a recurring motif. This motif is developed by the celesta and strings in the middle 8. Humorous and ambiguous devices are used, such as when the strings play out-of-tune and off-key towards the end of the song, and when the other Stones sing their "La La's" like little children.
The song is in the key of B flat major. The ascending run starts on C and goes up the B♭ scale : C D E♭ F G B♭ A.
Release and appearances
"She's a Rainbow" was released as a single in November 1967 and went to No. 25 in the United States. Cash Box said that the Rolling Stones "[step] up their blues beat with orchestrations that surround the listener in a swirling collage of offsetting tonal colors". A lyric video for the song was released in 2017 to coincide with the semicentennial reissue of the album it appears on.
It has regularly featured on Stones' hits compilations, including Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (1969), More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies) (1972), 30 Greatest Hits (1977), Singles Collection: The London Years (1989), Forty Licks (2002), and GRRR! (2012).
Cover versions
Several artists have recorded cover versions of "She's a Rainbow". The best known versions include the following:
Molly Tuttle covered the song for her album But I'd Rather Be with You (2020), releasing it as a single in August 2020. Tuttle introduced a "feminist spin" to her version of the song.
The Polyphonic Spree recorded a cover version that was featured in the television series Legion.
Personnel
According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon:
The Rolling Stones
Mick Jagger – lead vocal, harmony vocal, tambourine
Keith Richards – acoustic guitar, lead guitar
Brian Jones – Mellotron
Bill Wyman – bass
Charlie Watts – drums
Unidentified musicians (played by the Rolling Stones) – backing vocals, percussion
Additional personnel
Nicky Hopkins – celesta, piano, harpsichord
John Paul Jones – string arrangement
Unidentified session musicians – string section
In popular culture
People have speculated that Gilbert Baker's creation of the rainbow flag was inspired by the Judy Garland song "Over the Rainbow" (Garland being among the first gay icons), but when asked, Baker said that it was "more about the Rolling Stones and their song 'She's a Rainbow.'"
"She's a Rainbow" was used by Apple for background music of one of the iMac G3 advertisements. It is used in the season 2 episode, "Rainbow," of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso.