My friend Mike and I were talking music the other day as we often do and he mentioned one of his favorite groups, Faces (not The Faces, just like it is not the Led Zeppelin or the AC/DC.) Remember them? Formed in 1969 and lasting until 1975, Faces were a group that grew from two former members of the Jeff Beck Group (Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart) and three former members of the Small Faces (Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane and Kenney Jones). Rod Stewart had already signed a separate solo recording contract with Mercury Records so there were going to be tensions from the outset.
While working with Faces, Rod Stewart hit it big with his mega hit Maggie May but the song never appeared on any Faces albums since Mercury wanted it as an exclusive on Stewart’s solo album Every Picture Tells a Story. Instead the song was performed in concert and eventually, many fans and some critics viewed Faces as Rod’s backing band. Uh oh.
The song Ooh La La was written by Ronnie Wood and Ronnie Lane and the lead vocal was released with the Ronnie Wood version since Rod Stewart was not happy with the song or his performance (he later released a solo version on his 1998 album When We Were the New Boys).
Faces lasted until 1975 when Rod’s solo career demanded his full-time commitment and Ronnie Wood began working with the Rolling Stones when Mick Taylor left that group; Keith Richards invited him to join them on a temporary basis and Wood became an official member of the Rolling Stones in 1976. The other three members of Faces drifted in other musical directions too.
But the song Ooh La La has intrigued me as I have grown older. Here’s the 1973 studio version remastered in 2004 via YouTube: Ooh La La
Poor old granddad
I laughed at all his words
I thought he was a bitter man
He spoke of woman’s ways
They’ll trap you, then they use you
Before you even know
For love is blind and you’re far too kind
Don’t ever let it show
I wish that I knew what I know now
When I was younger
I wish that I knew what I know now
When I was stronger
The can can’s such a pretty show
They’ll steal your heart away
But backstage, back on earth again
The dressing rooms are gray
They come on strong and it ain’t too long
Before they make you feel a man
But love is blind and you soon will find
You’re just a boy again
When you want her lips, you get a cheek
Makes you wonder where you are
If you want some more and she’s fast asleep
Then she’s twinkling with the stars
Poor young grandson, there’s nothing I can say
You’ll have to learn, just like me
And that’s the hardest way
Ooh la la, ooh la la la la yeh yeh
I wish that I knew what I know now
When I was younger
I wish that I knew what I know now
When I was stronger
Songwriters: Ron Lane, Ronnie Wood
I love the song and the music is so uplifting. But when you read the words, they were written by Lane and Wood as a conversation between a grandfather and his grandson. They were only in their 20s and you can hear the joy in the music and the band’s performance – but really delve into the words, and whoa!
It’s almost two songs: the refrain (I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger) makes everyone smile. We all go through that feeling, especially as we grow older (“Youth is wasted on the young”). But there is such a bitter and at the same time, bittersweet feeling to the lyrics in the body of the song (Poor old Granddad, I laughed at all his words).
We go from feeling anxious about the song’s story arc to nostalgic by the time the refrain repeats. That Ooh La La is perfect. But I have actually taken a few days to process the song before finishing this piece. Is it misogynistic? Is it an old person’s outdated warning to his children’s children? They’ll trap you, then they use you. Before you even know. I know I wasn’t telling my son anything like that when he was a lad.
It’s s song of heartbreak, at least for the grandfather. He is bitter but since he has a grandson, he obviously once had someone he cared for. We don’t know what happened to make him feel this way but they made him “feel a man.” It’s a tough one but everyone who hears it, loves the song. But maybe not the dichotomy.
Is it a call to arms in the battle of the sexes or an admission of defeat? For the grandfather, something sure happened but as the young grandkid, now grown up, recounts in singing the song, “I thought he was a bitter man.” And the grandfather later sings, “Poor young grandson, there’s nothing I can say. You’ll have to learn, just like me. And that’s the hardest way.”
The grandfather keeps coming back to his refrain, “I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger.” What kind of impression did he expect to leave on his grandchild? I think it’s the grandson who feels the Ooh la la. He’s figured it out, perhaps. After all, the singer is the grandson and he sings with a lot of warmth and joy, not bitterness.
And maybe that’s good enough. Because, no matter the circumstances or misogyny or “all’s fair in love and war,” relationships always evolve through the generations. Maybe love does not conquer all, but we still struggle to figure out the other sex and after all, as the book title said, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.
So it’s mixed emotions and that’s the great thing about interpreting songs. Songwriters love when their fans or listeners come away with their own fresh interpretations. I still like the song, even more now that I’ve studied it and thought about it. There’s just something about it and sometimes that is the best thing you can say about a song, a movie or book.
When Rolling Stone magazine asked Ronnie Wood in 2021 what he wished he knew when he was younger, his reply: “I wish I knew that all the promoters were ripping me off.”
Chris Ebel
4/22/22
Image credit: Faces, Ooh La La, cover art designed by Jim Ladwig