Written as a message of gratitude to their fans for the public support towards them during the drug arrests of Jagger and Richards, the recording features guest backing vocals by John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles.

[5][6] It is considered one of the Rolling Stones' most experimental songs, featuring sound effects, layers of vocal overdubs, and a prominent Mellotron part played by Brian Jones.

Critics at the time of its release praised the song for its production and vocal and instrumental performances, while also noting its significance to the band's current status.

Retrospective reviews have been positive, with some describing its sound as too similar to the Beatles, and emblematic of the band losing its identity over the Summer of Love in favor of following trends.

Although both Jagger and Richards were convicted following the raid, a publicity campaign by their colleagues in the music industry encouraged popular support and criticism of the decision to prosecute them.

Most notably, the traditionally conservatively oriented newspaper The Times published an op-ed by William Rees-Mogg asking Who Breaks a Butterfly on a Wheel?, in which he criticised the prosecutions as unfounded and unnecessary.

[7] "We Love You" was written in the aftermath of the drug arrest and the public outrage that followed it, and has traditionally been interpreted as a message to fans of the group thanking them for their support through the controversy.

Alternatively, as Lennon insisted was the case, in his 1970 Rolling Stone interview, the lyrics can be seen as echoing the message of the Beatles song, on which Jagger and Richards were among the many chorus singers.

Studio engineer George Chkiantz said that even though there was a delay between hitting the note and the sound coming out of the Mellotron, Jones managed to overcome this challenge and get "a tight rhythmic punch" out of the instrument for the track.

Musicologist Walter Everett identifies this feature as a response to the Beatles' use of a fade-out/fade-in ending to close their February 1967 single "Strawberry Fields Forever".

[17] Among contemporary reviews of the single, Chris Welch of Melody Maker described the song as "considerably too much", and said that "The Stones and their highly recognisable friends chant the message while what sounds like mellotron, piano, drums and cymbals move to a monstrous, majestic climax like a soul Ravel.

He also wrote: "'We Love You' sounded fabulous on the radio in high summer of '67 with its monster piano riff and Mellotron arabesques hanging in the air.

"[22] Author Stephen Davis describes the track as "sensational" and cites Jones' "panoramic Mellotron fanfare" as arguably his "last great contribution" to the Rolling Stones.

He said that the Stones' elevation to "hippie heroes", due to the drug busts, had an adverse effect on their music, since: "for a moment, Jagger and Richards' detached, selfish rock'n'roll commitment was shaken – 'We Love You' and the Satanic Majesties LP were too-obvious attempts to follow the Beatles' psychedelic trip.

It wasn't until 1968, when youth politics got rougher, that the Stones made 'Jumping Jack Flash' and became a rock group, translating drug culture back into rock'n'roll terms.

"[25] Author and critic Philip Norman diagnosed "We Love You" as the band's "artistic nadir" brought on by Jagger's obsession with copying the Beatles' flower power.

Its charms are legion: Nicky Hopkins' beautifully mesmeric piano, its opening chorus of sarcastic falsetto voices, mellotron passages … whose eeriness cannot help but evoke the idea of a conspiracy.

The hunted footsteps and slamming jail doors punctuating the record, and the Jagger-as-Wilde promo reel that completes it, shows the distorted scale of the year’s persecution which, for all the song’s sly bravado, helped kill Jones, and cripple the Stones.According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon:[1] The Rolling Stones Additional musicians Technical staff The Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto covered the song on his 1989 album Beauty, with vocals by Robert Wyatt[40] and Brian Wilson.