In his autobiography, Keith Richards described “As Tears Go By,” a disarmingly simple ballad that he and Mick Jagger composed under duress, as “a terrible piece of tripe.” You can see why, given the potential for treacly overkill in its lullaby-style melody and lyrics about children playing and tears falling. But it’s all in the delivery, and as originally recorded by a then 17-year-old Marianne Faithfull , sentimentality turns to stark, trembling sorrow. Her voice had that effect, of deepening and distressing ordinary words, whether in its pure, flutey teenage form or the sandy, addiction-ravaged rasp it became as she aged. And it has it still — both candidly speaking and finally, magnificently, singing mere months before her death — in “ Broken English ,” Iain Forsyth and Jane Pol

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