The number of “lockdown songs” inspired by COVID continues to climb. “Living in a Ghost Town” – the first new original music from the Stones since 2012 – was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards last year but “adjusted,” including the addition of new lyrics, to reflect the current times before being released last week. It is already the No. 1 song on iTunes.

The reggae-infused song features the band playing together in a studio with Jagger providing vocals in isolation interspersed with “fish-eye” lens images of empty streets in cities around the world, including Toronto.

Jagger sings: “I’m a ghost, livin’ in a ghost town/ You can look for me, but I can’t be found/ You can search for me, I had to go underground/ Life was so beautiful, then we all got locked down.”

He adds, “If I want a party/ it’s a party of one.”

Lyrics

“Living In A Ghost Town”

I’m a ghost
Living in a ghost town
I’m a ghost
Living in a ghost town

You can look for me
But I can’t be found
You can search for me
I had to go underground
Life was so beautiful
Then we all got locked down
Feel like a ghost
Living in a ghost town

Once this place was humming
And the air was full of drumming
The sound of cymbals crashing
Glasses were all smashing
Trumpets were all screaming
Saxophones were blaring
Nobody was caring if it’s day or night

I’m a ghost
Living in a ghost town
I’m going nowhere
Shut up all alone

So much time to lose
Just staring at my phone

Every night I am dreaming
That you’ll come and creep in my bed
Please let this be over
Not stuck in a world without end

Preachers were all preaching
Charities beseeching
Politicians dealing
Thieves were happy stealing
Widows were all weeping
There’s no beds for us to sleep in
Always had the feeling
It will all come tumbling down

I’m a ghost
Living in a ghost town
You can look for me
But I can’t be found

We’re all living in a ghost town
Living in a ghost town
We were so beautiful
I was your man about town
Living in this ghost town
Ain’t having any fun
If I want a party
It’s a party of one