Was Mick Jagger Mocking Hippie Culture in 'Out of Time' (1966)?

The line “baby better come back, maybe next week” is a textbook sarcastic brush-off, but Jagger wasn’t targeting the hippie counterculture—that scene hadn’t even peaked yet. “Out of Time” appeared on Aftermath in April 1966, a full year before the Summer of Love. The song is aimed at a specific kind of woman: someone who thinks she’s too sophisticated, too ahead of the curve, yet is actually clueless and passé. Jagger later said it’s about a girl “who thought she was so up to date that she was out of date.”

If anything, the mocking tone foreshadows the Stones’ later suspicion of peace-and-love idealism. But in 1966, Jagger and Richards were still writing in the tradition of Dylan-style put-downs—sharp, witty, and personal. The “maybe next week” is just a casual dismissal, the verbal equivalent of not even bothering to schedule a proper breakup. The song’s real hidden meaning is less political than psychological: it’s about the arrogance of people who mistake trendiness for depth.