The Rolling Stones‘ frontman Mick Jagger sings of this Southwest Florida city but maybe not in the way many would think.
Naples ― with its tony downtown Fifth Avenue South restaurants and exotic, six-figure cars roaring up and down the popular street ― receives a mention in the song “Never Wanna Lose You” on the Stones’ new album “Foreign Tongues” that dropped July 10.
It would be at least the second Southwest Florida connection for the Stones.
Here’s what to know.
‘We could move to Naples’
In the upbeat song “Never Wanna Lose You,” Jagger sings about Naples but doesn’t mention Florida or Naples, Italy.
However, he once owned a home for about three years at Lakewood Ranch in Sarasota (which he sold in 2023). So it’s likely the connection is more Florida than Italia. The lyrics comes in the second verse:
Don’t worry over money/What if they took the cars?/And all the banks went bustedI’d have to sell off fifty old, fancy guitars/We could move to Naples/Living in a run-down trailer park/Would we be like boxers facing up and shaping up and going/Eyeball to eyeball to eyeball?
And a Rolling Stone magazine review of “Foreign Tongues” touches on the songs, including “Never Wanna Lose You”:
On “Never Wanna Lose You,” a pop-rock song with funky bass and the Cure’s Robert Smith on synths, Jagger shows life’s other side when he tells his lover that he’d even live with her in Naples — though he may mean Naples, Florida, since he describes “a rundown trailer park.”
Trailer parks and rock ‘n’ roll
Florida is filled with thousands of trailer park communities, and Naples is no exception.
Maybe Mick and Melanie Hamrick headed south on Interstate 75 and visited Naples about 120 miles away. And Jagger possibly observed a trailer park or two and that could’ve been in his head while writing the lyrics.
It’s just interesting that Jagger would choose that he’d choose that to mention Naples, annually ranked among the top retirement destinations in the US, along with some of the best beaches and restaurants.
Other Stones connections to SW Florida
The Rolling Stones traveled to Sanibel in early 1976 to shoot the cover of their 12th album at the time, “Black and Blue.” The News-Press covered it, including photos of Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger and other band members when they arrived and later departed Fort Myers-Lee County Airport.
The band booked five suites (for $95 a night) “overlooking the Gulf of Mexico at the Sundial Beach Hotel and Tennis Club.” Some Stones’ fans kept a vigil outside the band’s rooms, and a few interacted and met with a few band members.
While “Black and Blue” isn’t among the more well-known Rolling Stones albums, purists enjoy the record that sounds different than others.
Jagger, Richards and Wyman are on the front cover, with other Wood and Watts on the back with the Gulf in the background. The News-Press reported that it was shot on the beach behind the Sundial.
During the Stones’ visit, one fan told The News-Press in 1976 that he yelled to Jagger who was on a balcony, telling the rock star he wanted to show him something.
“Well bring it on up,” Jagger told him. The man went up the stairs to meet with Jagger and show him a necklace he made from Sanibel shells. He said it was lovely and asked me to tie it on his wrist. He said he didn’t like things around his neck.”
Dave Osborn is the regional features editor of the Naples Daily News and The News-Press.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.naplesnews.com ’
