Waiting on a Friend closes the Rolling Stones’ 1981 album Tattoo You, and it features Sonny Rollins on saxophone. The video was shot on St. Mark’s Place in New York City, with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards meeting up on the stoop of the building from Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti cover.
At its heart, this song makes room for an ordinary, enduring kind of love: friendship. Jagger isn’t waiting for romance; he’s waiting for a friend. The easy warmth of the music reminds us how much it matters simply to show up for one another. Proverbs describes a friend who loves through every season. For Christians, that faithfulness also calls to mind the friendship Jesus offers and asks us to extend.
“A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” — Proverbs 17:17 (KJV)
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