The time Mick Jagger and Keith Richards fought over lyrics – and gave a song to the Beatles

Jagger and Richards fought like any songwriting duo, but their method for settling lyrical disagreements was surprisingly practical: whoever felt strongest about a line usually got it. The famous exception was “I Want to Be Your Man,” which Richards later admitted he hated – he thought the lyrics were too simplistic and the melody sounded like a nursery rhyme. Jagger insisted it had potential, and rather than kill the song, they gave it to the Beatles, who turned it into a minor hit.

That became something of a pattern. When Jagger pushed for a more pop-oriented lyric or a phrase Richards found embarrassing (like parts of “Ruby Tuesday” or “She’s a Rainbow”), the song often ended up on a B-side or as a playful throwaway. Other times they just screamed at each other in the studio, then one of them would walk out and the other would finish the track alone. Richards later called it “creative friction” – necessary, but never elegant.