"Take It So Hard" is the first single from Keith Richards' first solo record, Talk Is Cheap. The long-time Rolling Stones guitarist recorded the record after band mate Mick Jagger refused to tour in 1986 in support of the album Dirty Work. The second song of the eleven track record, it is a powerful example of vocal rock harmonies and rhythmic guitar, piano and percussion syncopation, with an overlay of vocal tracks that bury the lyrics within the push and pull of the music. It received heavy airplay on US rock radio, reaching #3 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks. Richards described writing and recording Talk is Cheap as a bit by bit accumulation of song threads and recording sessions. Except for "Make No Mistake", which he said came to him all at once, "Take It So Hard" like other songs was put together through several recording sessions in 1987 and 1988. The song was reviewed in Rolling Stone magazine positively, but Richards never explained the lyrics. The song was discussed in the Wall Street Journal's weekly music column, week of March 25th 2019, by Keith Richards and Steve Jordan. The song started with a guitar riff, as is usual for Keith Richards, and he quickly came up with the refrain. The rest of the lyrics developed from a vowel exercise that Keith Richards has also used on other songs, to see what fits the music, and once he had vowels he came up with words to go with the vowels.more »
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