How 'Steel Wheels' and 'Mixed Emotions' Patched Up Jagger and Richards

By the late ’80s, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards weren’t just creatively estranged—they were barely speaking. Richards was furious about Jagger’s solo career and perceived attempts to seize control of the band. When they finally agreed to reconvene for a new Stones album in 1989, they chose Air Studios in Montserrat, a remote Caribbean island where they’d recorded some of their best work during the ’70s. The isolation forced them to talk. Richards later said the sessions were like “group therapy,” with both of them having to air grievances before they could even play a note.

The most direct result of those conversations was “Mixed Emotions.” Richards wrote the lyrics as a blunt response to the feud, walking into the studio one day with a chorus that spelled it out: “You’re out there on your own / You’re not the only one / You know you’re not alone / Mixed emotions.” Jagger understood immediately what it was about. They recorded it live in the room together, and the tension in the track—the way the guitars push and pull—isn’t an accident. It’s the sound of two people deciding to keep going.