I was surprised to find that I haven’t yet played this song here on my music posts, in fact have played very few Rolling Stones — one, to be exact, Get Off Of My Cloud, which I played back in August 2019. Back in the day … and I do mean way back in the day, I was a fan of the Stones, but as I grew older I leaned toward more … mellow, for lack of a better word … music. At any rate, for no reason in particular, this one popped into my head today … it was later chased out by a song Clive played on his blog, which I shan’t divulge, for I am hoping that he will allow me to re-blog his post in the coming few days … but as I sat staring at the laptop tonight, wondering if there was any song to be had, this one returned to my consciousness.
There’s some interesting history regarding the writing of this song. According to one story, Keith Richards wrote this in his sleep on the night of May 6th after the Stones’ concert at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater, Florida. He claimed to have written it while sleeping in his hotel room and recording it on a cassette player, still sleeping, and then lapsing into snores which were heard on the recording when he took it to a studio a few days later. But, according to his latest autobiography, he was in his flat in Carlton Hill, St. John’s Wood. He specifies that Mick Jagger wrote the lyrics by the pool in Clearwater, four days before they went into the studio. So, who knows? It doesn’t really matter … just makes for an interesting tidbit of trivia.
The song was released in the U.S. on June 5th, 1965 and made it into the top 100 in the U.S. the following week. It was in the top 10 by July and ultimately hit #1. Interestingly, Satisfaction was not released in the UK until late August. Why? Well, I’ve heard two versions. One said they didn’t want to release it in the UK until they returned there from their U.S. tour, but another, I think the more credible explanation, is that it was initially was played only on pirate radio stations, because its lyrics were considered too sexually suggestive! Oh how times have changed, eh?
According to The Conversation …
The scandal surrounding the lyrics has to be understood in the context of two issues. First, Andrew Loog Oldham had worked hard to establish the Stones as the anti-Beatles. Already, the Stones had been promoted as the bad boys of pop in the UK, though in the US the worst anybody had been able to say is that they were shaggy and, perhaps, rude.
Second, just before the release of Satisfaction, the Kingsmen’s Louie, Louie had created a stir with lyrics that were purported to be obscene. The FBI was even called in to investigate the track (though a cursory listen to the Richard Berry 1957 original or the Rockin’ Robin Roberts 1961 cover makes it clear that the lyrics are far from obscene).
In the case of Louie, Louie, the seriousness of the charge significantly outweighed the validity of the evidence, at least in the popular imagination. The idea that a rock song could be dirty, after all, was not too far removed from the swiveling hips of Elvis Presley a few years earlier, or hokum blues tracks like Big Joe Turner’s Shake, Rattle, and Roll (1954). The Rolling Stones were simply the most recent example of the of rock music troublemakers.
Ultimately the scandal was forgotten and it later became the Rolling Stones’ fourth #1 hit in the United Kingdom.
It is one of the world’s most popular songs, and is second on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, and it is the 10th best ranked song on critics’ all-time lists according to Acclaimed Music. The song was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2006.
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
The Rolling Stones
I can’t get no satisfaction, I can’t get no satisfaction
‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try
I can’t get no, I can’t get no
When I’m drivin’ in my car, and the man come on the radio
He’s tellin’ me more and more about some useless information
Supposed to fire my imagination
I can’t get no, oh, no, no, no, hey, hey, hey
That’s what I say
I can’t get no satisfaction, I can’t get no satisfaction
‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try
I can’t get no, I can’t get no
When I’m watchin’ my TV and a man comes on and tells me
How white my shirts can be
But, he can’t be a man ’cause he doesn’t smoke
The same cigarettes as me
I can’t get no, oh, no, no, no, hey, hey, hey
That’s what I say
I can’t get no satisfaction, I can’t get no girl reaction
‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try
I can’t get no, I can’t get no
When I’m ridin’ ’round the world
And I’m doin’ this and I’m signin’ that
And I’m tryin’ to make some girl, who tells me
Baby, better come back maybe next week
Can’t you see I’m on a losing streak?
I can’t get no, oh, no, no, no, hey, hey, hey
That’s what I say, I can’t get no, I can’t get no
I can’t get no satisfaction, no satisfaction
No satisfaction, no satisfaction
I can’t get no
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Keith (gb) Richards / Mick Jagger / Gary Barlow / Author Unknown Composer
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction lyrics © Abkco Music, Inc, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
A total classic! Thx for the awesome share ❤
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Jill, thanks for the reference to “Pirate Radio.” A push back on one of the more prudish moves ever. It was kind of like telling people not to go see a movie, then more people flock to it because someone said not to. “Satisfaction” would be well served on the pirate radio ships. Keith
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Ah yes … the forbidden fruit, as it were. “You better NOT eat that spinach, young man!” But isn’t it funny how what was considered ‘taboo’ back then, isn’t even risque by today’s standards? Times change, don’t they my friend.
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Jill, I remember George Carlin’s routine of the “Seven words you could not say on television.” Boy, has that changed and not just on cable stations. Keith
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True … it seems that there are no taboos anymore.
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A very iconic song. Thank you, Jill! xx Michael
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I knew you would have heard this one! Glad you liked it! xx
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Thank you, Jill! Some songs they cant hide in Germany. Lol xx
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🤣
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Reblogged this on NEW OPENED BLOG > https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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Many thanks, Michael!!!
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You are welcome, Jill! Thank you so much for all the wonderful information. Sorry, yesterday i had overslept the whole evening. 😦 xx
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I’m glad you got some sleep!!! xx
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I hope that will be enough for the next week. 😉 xx
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Um … Michael? I think you need to do that again tonight, tomorrow night, and … well, you get the picture, right? 😴 xx
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😴
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Sleep well & happy, my friend. Nite-nite. xx
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Thank you, Jill! 😉 xx
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Always a great song. Thanks, Jill.
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My pleasure, John! I had a hunch you’d like this one.
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😁
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Most satisfying of the Stones songs for me. The opening guitar riff was a magic door opening when I first heard it as a child. That my mother and other adults shunned it only made me happier about it. Mom’s rendition, sung in her Doris Day-like voice, was appalling to me in those years, hilarious to me now. Still reach over to crank up the volume when this song comes on, ya’ know? Hugs and cheers, M
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I read, but didn’t include it in this post, that Keith Richards had always wanted to replace the guitar riff with horns, but was outvoted. I’m so glad you liked this one and yeah … I turn up the volume on this one, too!
Hugs ‘n cheers to you, dear friend!
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What I found fascinating is that he awoke to write the song. Cool, innit?
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In one story I read, he said he awoke to write it, and in another he claimed he didn’t even wake, but wrote it in his sleep and was amazed to hear what he had done the next morning. So, who knows? But yeah, definitely cool.
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A rock classic, and still one of my favourites after all this time.
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Whew! I was right about this one, for I thought you would definitely like it!
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But of course! Still a great band and a long time favourite of mine.
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Oh for the days when they were young and fresh, with a great bass back beat like that. Unlike now when they creak as they go on stage. Mick Jagger 78 this month and Keith Richards 78 in December.
Cwtch
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I didn’t realize until recently that they are still touring! I kind of admire them … geezers even older than you and I … still touring, playing for people, making music, doing what they do best.
Cwtch
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