Why are so many songs about rolling stones? 

You forgot to mention the last line of Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven: “When all is one and one is all, to be a rock and not to roll.”

I was shocked when I learned rolling stones the band, the magazine and like a rolling stone had nothing in common

he's asking the real questions right here

The Temptations were a fantastic group; "and when he died, all he left me was alone" is a great line.

I'll never get tired of these intros. That beat is just so hard. I love this channel. He always goes so deep into his stories.

By its own, a stone can only roll downhill. One of my teachers told me that once

You could argue that the motif of a rolling stone resonates with the term "Rock n' Roll" itself, considering a rock is just a large stone. Of course the phrase is more with the physical act of rocking back and forth. I also want to mention the song 転がる岩、君に朝が降る (Korogaru Iwa, Kimi ni Asa ga Furu) by japanese rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation. The name is officially translated as "Rock'n Roll, Morning Light Falls on You", but the first part could be more directly translated as "Rolling Rock" or perhaps "Rolling Stone".

I love Music...I love History...therefore, I love Polyphonic!!!! Great content!!!!

This is why I love this channel. What other channel would make a video on this?

I'm from Liège ... Never thaught it would feature in one of your videos. Mind Blown

Roger Waters always loved stone metaphors ("Dogs" ends with a pretty epic line about being dragged down by the stone), but he used "Help me roll away the stone" as early as 1969 in "The Crying Song." His usage almost always seems to consider the stone as a burden.

This is what video essays are all about! Awesome piece.

Noah, you knocked another one out of the park. Excellent as always. 😁💙😁

Here in Mexico we have two good examples: -Las Piedras Rodantes (The Rolling Stones) by the rock and roll legendary band El Tri - El Rey (The King) by José Alfredo Jiménez one of the most important composers of our country. Lyrics: I have no throne or Queen nobody understands me but i still being the King One STONE on the way teach me that mi destiny was ROLL and ROLL

I have regularly thought of this topic and had never been satisfied with my research. Thanks for scratching that itch.

Best music/music history content on RU-vid. Love every second

Not sure if this its true but I like to think that the phrase "rock and roll" also comes from the phrase "a rolling stone gathers no moss" and that the rock itself means both rock music and also a literal rock.

Your videos are so good, it's always a pleasure. Soon the million subs for you, it's more than deserved

I didn’t know what cool was until I saw muddy waters invite The Rolling Stones on the checkers stage in 1981. See the performance of baby, please don’t go and see a nervous Keith Richard’s as a bonus.

A video on Labor music would be awesome, Joe Hill and others wrote some great songs

I think the development of how we perceived the phrase is because of how society has evolved. The main reason we’re as successful as a species as we are now is because of the community we shared and ability to fit in but the only way to move forward now is to be a rolling stone and celebrate our differences

This is a great video, great thesis, great research, great subject. Loved it.

I had never asked myself the question, but I definitely enjoyed the exploration of the topic.

Such an insightful video. Thank you!

Thank you for sharing my dude

You do amazing work sir, job well done, I love all your videos ❤💯

Can't overlook the great Robin Trower's proverb laden number "Too rolling stoned"

What an interesting video! Great work as always!

Best video from this channel in a while.

In a way it's like the phrase itself is a rolling stone, moving from meaning to meaning without ever getting completely attached to any one.

I am so thankful that you decided to voice your opinion about music, it’s down to Earth and comforting. You should do a video on SUBLIME. It’d be a fine edition to the expanse of videos.

Cool video as always, feels like I am the stone watching it from an inside the sphere

It's hard to pick a favorite video from this channel.

a rolling stone gathers no moss, hints at a rootless wandering existence, with echoes of kerouac and a sense of freedom that motivated the counter culture that adopted the phrase in many ways

I think about this so much thank you for making a video about this

I loved this video thank you!

I had actully thought about it many times being a Rock fan coupled with being from southern Europe. Great video!

Awesome! Thank you

8:45 Holy shit. Rock. Roll. My mind is blown.

One of my favourite rolling stone lyrics is on Sublime's Same in The End " Daddy was a rolling rolling stone, he rolled away one day and he never came home"

Polyphonic is an absolute wonderful channel

YOUR WORK IS SUBLIME !

Joe Hill inspiring music is a fact that I didn't know I needed. Don't mourn, organize!

Dude your videos are unparalleled. Never seen anybody pull of such a well edited and well captured aesthetic through editing and storytelling. Far out man! 4:3 supremacy

Please do a video on Sublime. I would love to see you cover such a fantastic band.

Um vídeo sobre os Temptations seria sensacional, ou ainda sobre Motown em geral eu também adoraria

i’d like a playlist to listen to that features all the songs you covered in the video and any other song that features the concept of a rolling stone

After all this time they're still here and still rocking

Another good vid, Noah. If you're a little "Out Of The Box", like me, you can see a little of this in the music title, "Rock & Roll".

In Mexico exist a band called "El Tri" which also has a song called "Las piedras rodantes" - "The rolling stones"

Can't forget the great icon Donnie Klang "I guess I'm just a rolling stone' 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Terrific to tie in joe hill and Dylan great vid!!!

great and unique video topic!

I was just talking to a coworker about this this morning, you are a wizard

Really interesting video! Also my dad plays Anubis in parts 2 and 3 of The Sandman :)

Any Brazilians around? In Brazil, we have one specific song that mentions a "rolling stone". It's Lupicínio Rodrigues' "Vingança" (revenge). The song says: she shall ramble like the stones that roll on highways without a place to call home. So, again, that confirms your thesis that it is an image used worldwide. I love your videos!!!! Thank you!

Thank you. Now I understand the reference in Joan Baez's son Joe Hill from Woodstock (1969) that I never bothered looking up myself.

Papa was a rolling stone Wherever he laid his hat was his home And when he died, all he left us was alone

Awesome Video

Asking the real questions

it even transcends the language barrier, arguably the biggest Mexican rock classic "Las Piedras Rodantes" (literally translates to "The Rolling Stones") handles very similar subjects

Great video.

Most most excellent. Next artists to explore : Neil Diamond (what's harder than rock..), Supertramp, Gerry Rafferty, Gorillaz, Arcade Fire, Beach Boys, Genesis, The Guess Who, Tool, and Queens of the Stone Age.... your list is unending my friend and your content perpetually great.

I would love to see you do a video on The Lonesome Crowded West By Modest Mouse

The Temptations were thinking, "y'all don't hear me, you just wanna dance," long before outkast.

Finally my questions have been answered.

Noah, while this video is, as all of your crafts, a very entertaining masterpiece of musical history, I feel it does a disservice to the metaphor by "trademarking" it to a specific timeline, so to speak, as opposed to pointing out how nature-inspired metaphors exist as an essence out there in the world, for humans to timelessly re-discover with their own abstraction. I'm not implying those artists didn't build up on each other, but there are other cultural upbringings apart from that of the USA culture... I'm a Mexican songwriter and write songs in Spanish, or should I say I improvise and capture them. A metaphor on one of them translates to "the heavy stones of old walked paths come rolling, the sky's pouring over the floor, they reach the sea... mean gravity" I never heard any of these songs on my developmental years leading up to that conception, but I grew up next to a Rapids river and rolling stones are a natural phenomenon too obvious to miss, you can hear them every waking moment. Still, I'm aware your line of work centers around your own language, heritage, geographic context and cultural upbringing, and at that, you're the best at what you do, and my favourite RU-vid channel without a doubt. Keep up the amazing content

You’re the first music RU-vidr I’ve watched with a cool sounding rock n roll voice ho ho

Very, very good.

There's a song from the Mexican band El Tri called "Las Piedras Rodantes", which literally means "The Rolling Stones". In this case, the song is more about how life can separate people, but in the end they find each other again. The chorus is "Las piedras rodando se encuentran, y tú y yo algún día unos habremos de encontrar" or "The rolling stones find each other, and one day we'll meet again".

Did you write your theme music? Is there a full length version. I really like it 👌

Great video! you should do one about “sticks and stones may break my bones”, I also heard it in many songs

ok. heard this phrase in a lyric today. had a momentary thought of another song by the same artist i was listening to (Passenger) also about a rolling stone, something about his girlfriend wanting him to come home, found it coincidental and thought no more of it ...they definitely chipped me yeah.

This idea was always around in my head and also found it funny that metal is just harder rock.

Everyperson who listens a ton of music has this question at some point, thanks for the answer!

You are right on with this! Just break down the term “Rock & Roll”.. that is literally all that you need to create a rolling stone 🤔

The video music fans needed.

Excellent. Just a thought. For us white Brits who catch only the odd clip, someone might want to do a history/breakdown of the 'Soul Train' show. I know little about it, but I know it was important. And I love anytime I see one of those clips. Like I said, just a thought. x

Nice of Big Joel to narrate this.

I think it's just going to become the common slang term for any musician over time

Are we ever going to any Stones content? I feel video on their famous four album run could be cool.

Muddy Waters' song is a significant reference point for the term "rolling stone" in the context of modern music, it's possible that earlier influences and references existed in literature, folk culture, and earlier songs. The term evolved and was adapted by different artists over time, contributing to its rich history in American music and culture.

Man should do a video dedicated to the expert song writing of hank williams

I mean, it's literally called "ROCK AND ROLL"

JMSN has my favorite rolling stone song currently

Thank you for introducing me to Joe Hill

Rolling a stone up a hill, only to see it roll back down, and forever be trapped in the repetition of the effort with no gain other than finishing it. It is that moment, according to Camus, that Sisyphus is happy. Robert Johnson was a travelling bluesman, and he called out the hellhounds on his trail. The travelling musician is by definition going to be absent from home and family; there is no way around it. But, one has bills to pay, and for the traveller, it is back to the road, to roll that stone one more time.

This man needs 1 million followers already 🤟

well... I thought it was self evident : Rock n' Roll

I got reminded of the end of stairway when it says "to be a rock and not to roll"

So Joe Hill pulled a Thanatos gambit with a single poem?

Because we live in the Age of Sisyphus.

Rolling Stone gathers no Moss. Never gets old

And here I thought the proverb was about someone continually doing something so they don’t get rusty and for consistency

"Las piedras rodando se encuentran" omg your fuckin right

Even the term “rock and roll” sound similar to “rolling stone”

Watched it on nebula 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

Sisyphus approves of this post.

"Rolling stones" means transporting your testicles by car

smooth rock make man go bango bongo