Why the Rolling Stones’ ‘Some Girls’ Drew Racism and Misogyny Accusations

The big controversy around Some Girls starts with the title track’s line “Black girls just want to get fucked all night” and the couplet about Chinese girls being “so gentle” and don’t “mess with ‘round.” Jagger claimed it was a parody of the racist chatter he’d hear in New York clubs, but a lot of people just heard the band repeating—and amplifying—those stereotypes. The NAACP and other groups protested, and the Stones eventually tweaked the lyrics on later pressings, swapping “Black girls” for “Some girls” in some versions.

Then there’s the cover: a pastiche of ticket-stub-style cutouts featuring the band alongside famous women like Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, and Brigitte Bardot—none of whom gave permission. The label had to settle lawsuits with several actresses and redesign later editions with a more abstract look. Between the song’s casually cruel racial lines and the cover’s objectifying gimmick (placing real women as dehumanized props), the album became a flashpoint for whether the Stones were being edgy satirists or just punching down. Sales were huge, but the criticisms never fully washed off.