Tumbling Dice - Structure

Structure

"Tumbling Dice" is known for its "groove", with Aerosmith's Joe Perry saying the song is, "so laid-back, it really sucks you in..." The song's tempo has often been credited with creating that groove. In concert, Jagger and Richards have been known to argue over the speed of the song, with Jagger trying to push the song's tempo a bit faster.

The song's lyrical structure is irregular. While many songs have the same number of lines for the verse or chorus, the first verse has eight lines, the second verse has six lines, and the last verse has two lines. The song's first chorus has two lines, the second chorus has three, and the third chorus has twelve lines.

At the beginning of every chorus, the piano, bass and drums drop out and the backing vocals sing "you got to roll me" as the guitar plays the song's signature guitar figure. The third chorus leads into the song's coda. Slowly, the band's rhythm section works its way back into the song. The coda includes a call and response with the backing vocals singing "you got to roll me" as Jagger and Richards respond by singing "keep on rolling." This happens over a pounding beat laid down by Charlie Watts. After a few measures, Watts resumes playing his regular drum pattern. The coda continues for another minute as Jagger ad-libs lyrics until the fade out. It has now been acknowledged after more than 40 years, Jimmy Miller played the last part of the song right as the coda begins. Rumors state that Watts had trouble with the timing of the song, and Miller substituted the final recording.