decadent image afforded them a pre-eminent role by capturing the meritocratic ideals of youth, looks and wealth over social class. Author Ian MacDonald says that, as on Between the Buttons, the Stones perform here as storytellers of the scene and produce a "subversive" kind of pop music comparable to their contemporaries the Kinks. As Greil Marcus observes, the songs' protagonists can be interpreted as London bohemians severely disdainful of bourgeois comfort, positing "a duel between the sexes" and weaponizing humour and derision. Courrier adds that, as the "evil twin" of Rubber Soul, Aftermath takes that album's "romantic scepticism" and reframes it into a narrative of "underclass revolt". Both "Mother's Little Helper" and "What to Do" connect modern society to feelings of unhappiness. The band's misgivings about their rock stardom are also touched on, including relentless concert tours in "Goin' Home" and fans who imitate them in "Doncha Bother Me", in which Jagger sings, "The lines around my eyes are protected by copyright law". Savage views the same lyric, preceded by the lines "All the clubs and the bars / And the little red cars / Not knowing why, but trying to get high", as the Stones' cynical take on Swinging London at a time when the phenomenon was receiving international attention and being presented as a tourist attraction. According to Perone, "I Am Waiting" suggests paranoia on the narrator's part and that societal forces are the cause, yet the song presents a degree of resignation in comparison to the album's other commentaries on class- and consumer-focused society. Title and packaging During the recording, Oldham wanted to title the album Could You Walk on the Water? In mid-January 1966, the British press announced that a new Rolling Stones LP carrying that title would be released on 10 March. In Rolling with the Stones, Wyman refers to the announcement as "audacity" on Oldham's part, although he supposes that Could You Walk on the Water? was their manager's proposed title for the band's March compilation album Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass), rather than for Aftermath. At the time, Richards complained that Oldham was continually trying to "[get] in on the act" and "the Stones have practically become a projection of his own ego." A Decca spokesman said the company would not issue an album with such a title "at any price"; Oldham's idea upset executives at the company's American distributor, London