Too bad I didn't get the idea for this until Halloween, otherwise if I had sooner it would have been up in October. Possibly the best song on the band's album, Goats Head Soup, other than "Angie" (another favorite of mine). The vinyl version I bought in 1973 was TERRIBLE ... I don't know if it was a bad album pressing or what. This digital version is utter magic and the way it should have sounded years ago.
Mr. D., of course, is Mr. Death, and in traditional form would be the Grim Reaper. But Americanized and especially from some of the southern states, the traditional Mr. D. becomes a skeleton with a top hat and tails. I unfortunately could not come up with that southern gentleman version and feel the Grim Reaper version has gotten overused. So, the other meaning of dancing with Mr. Death is engaging in risky and deadly behaviors and pastimes. That, along with ways of being murdered, make up one of the verses of the song. Thus, the Stones covered both possibilities in the song ... and so did I. The second meaning is a lot scarier, and so is the video ... but it makes a lot of sense.
