THE ROLLING STONES - “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
(#202, 11th September 1965)
That riff - we have to start with that riff - sounds like Morse code. A harsh nonsense message, transmitted on a loop. Too much information, too much communication. Ten thousand whisperin’, nobody listenin’. “Satisfaction” is a song where people jabber at Jagger and he’s too bored or too savvy to care, but then when he tries to speak it doesn’t work either. It has a plot. In fact it’s a sitcom, Jagger’s Bad Day. The Rolling Stones were often a very funny band - the “same cigarettes” gag is sharp, smart and spiteful. And you have to smile at the way Mick Jagger starts off sounding so very polite before the comedy of irritation gets going. The band plays straight man, making sure the timing is right (and it is - those delicious seconds before “Hey hey hey”).
The jokes still ring mostly true, and the situations linger, which (oh yeah plus the riff) is why “Satisfaction” 2005 is startling even if the venom in it has long since diffused throughout pop/culture/everything. The third verse punchline - stardom equals hucksterism - may or may not have been new in 1965, I’m siding with ‘not’, but it’s the way he tells it, short words chopped shorter, stresses heaped up, “can’tcha SEE-I’M-ON”, a vocal analogue of the riff, and then the exploding, “GET NO!” The partial solution to the satisfaction problem: make your own. 9
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Marcello on March 16th, 2005
That unending proscenium arch of a bassline does it for me, symbolic of an ambitious car grounded by a stuck wheel, spinning in some leftover mud. Easy to underestimate Wyman’s contributions, but this must have seemed the equivalent of, say, “TV Eye” by the Stooges getting to number one (and of course no Stooges/”TV Eye” without “Satisfaction” to inspire them/give them something to react against).
Alan Connor on March 16th, 2005
-2–2~~—2-4-5~~—-5-5^4-4^2—
It was just a riff. I didn’t think… I didn’t think of it as… I woke up in the middle of the night, put it down on a cassette. I thought it was great then. Went to sleep and when I woke up, it appeared to be as useful as another album track. It was the same with Mick too at the time, you know. It goes da-da, da-da-da… and the words I’d written for that riff were I can’t get no satisfaction. But it could just as well have been ‘Auntie Millie’s Caught Her Left Tit in the Mangle’.
I don’t have the Cat Power version to hand: does she omit that riff as well as the chorus?
Alan Connor on March 16th, 2005
Resurrection Watch:
Packed with peanuts
Marathon really satisfies
(The first time I really thought about the life of a session singer)
Then there’s these:
0. Otis Redding - (i can’t get no) Satisfaction
1. cat power - (i can’t get no) satisfaction
2. rolling stones - (i can’t get no) satisfaction
3. devo - (i can’t get no) satisfaction
4. bjork an pj harvey - (i can’t get no) satisfaction
5. guitar wolf - (i can’t get no) satisfaction
6. Britney Spears - (I can’t get no) Satisfaction
7. The Residents - (I can’t get no) Satisfaction
8. Television - (I can’t get no) Satisfaction
9. Fushitsusha: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
10. The Masked Marauders: (I Can’t Get No) Nookie
11. Samantha Fox: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
12. los apsons - satisfaccion (no soy nada)
13. blue cheer - satisfaction
14. trad, gras och stenar - satisfaction
15. Sandie Shaw-I can’t get no Satisfaction
16. Phyllis Diller-(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
17. Jonathan King: (I can’t get no) Satisfaction
18. Jimi Hendrix - (I can’t get no) Satisfaction
19. Rolf Harris - Satisfaction
20. The Vienna Symphony Orchestra - (I can’t get no) Satisfaction
21. Paul Revere & the Raiders - Satisfaction
22. Nicky Hopkins - (I can’t get no) Satisfaction
23. Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra & Chorus - (I can’t get no) Satisfaction
24. Sam & Dave - (I can’t get no) Satisfaction
25. Space Cowboys - Satisfaction
26. Eddie & the Hot Rods: (I can’t get no) Satisfaction
27. Alien Sex Fiend - Satisfaction
28. The Troggs - Satisfaction
29. Aretha Franklin: (I can’t get no) Satisfaction (live)
30. Manfred Mann - Satisfaction
31. The Grateful Dead - Satisfaction
32. Tight Fit - (I can’t get no) Satisfaction
33. The Thirteenth Floor Elevators - Satisfaction
34. ? & the Mysterians - (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
35 justine bateman [from the movie]
36 del rubio triplets
37 incredible bongo band
38 phyllis diller [from golden throats]
39 Vanilla Ice - (I can’t get no) Satisfaction
Not to mention (riff only) Buffalo Springfield’s “Mr. Soul” and Fatboy Slim’s “Satisfaction Skank”.
p^nk s on March 16th, 2005
haha alien sex fiend!!
Marcello on March 16th, 2005
Ah yes, Jonathan King’s Bubblerock project, which cruel souls might dismiss as the skint man’s version of Bryan Ferry’s These Foolish Things, but not me.
wwolfe on March 16th, 2005
Another sound-alike riff: “Valleri” by the Monkees, a U.S. #1.
Frank Kogan on March 16th, 2005
But it could just as well have been ‘Auntie Millie’s Caught Her Left Tit in the Mangle’.
But wouldn’t this just been a variation on a Muddy Waters title the Stones covered early on, “My Left Breast Mangled Millie’s Mom”?
Lena on March 17th, 2005
I forget where I read it, but isn’t there some kind of ‘reference’ to menstruation in the song? Or is that just some received wisdom about the ‘better come back/maybe next week’ lyric?
Also, “Couldn’t Get Ahead” by The Fall is the 80s version, for me anyway.
Anonymous on March 17th, 2005
There was a bit of a scandal when the Stones were on Ed Sullivan about the lyrics - or was it ” Let’s Spend Some Time Together “, whatever…..
Judged by Mick’s run of luck in this song ( “can’t you see I’m on a loosing streak”, ), I’d say , and I’ve always thought the lyric suggested his inability to perform in the Viagra sense of the word.
But, yea, either way it’s sexual missconnect.
Brian C
Alan Connor on March 18th, 2005
From what I understand it, Mick definitely mumbled “Let’s Spend The Night Together” on that show, and the understood re-title is “Let’s Spend Some Time Together”.
Which makes Mick reminiscent of Ned Flanders’ Valentines Day serenading of Maude in the music-tastic “I Love Lisa”:
“If you think I’m cuddly
And you want my company
Come on wifey, let me know.”
Anonymous on March 18th, 2005
I also recall that the shock value of ” Satisfaction” was increased when reports came out saying that the lyric was ” And I’m trying to make some girl” pause “pregnant” pause” maybe better come back maybe next week”
whereas I’ve always heard “pregnant” as ” tells me “.
I haven’t got big enough ears to confirm either.
Remember Whoopi Goldberg in ” Jumpin’ Jack Flash ” ? ” Mick, Mick, what the hell are you saying , Mick ?
Brian C
wwolfe on March 18th, 2005
Mick always says that he “mumbled” the title of “Let’s Spend the Night Together” on the Ed Sullivan Show, but I’ve got it on tape and he very clearly sings, “Let’s spend some time together.” Each time he does, it’s accompanied by an extremely fey rolling of his eyes, in an attempt to make light of the bowdlerizing, but it’s there without a doubt.
Frank Kogan on March 19th, 2005
That unending proscenium arch of a bassline
Which is a variation of Keef’s riff, except that Bill’s hitting the two-AND on the second note, whereas Keef’s hitting the TWO, which puts them into counterrhythm for the measure (Keef playing in three against Bill’s two).
Hope that makes sense; it’s one of the things that makes the song move (and made Stones better than Beatles).
Mr. Snrub on March 21st, 2005
What’s it take to get a 10 around here?
Anthony on March 21st, 2005
i prefer cat powers.
Alan Connor on September 20th, 2005
Another sound-alike riff: “Valleri” by the Monkees, a U.S. #1.
God, I’m listening to this for the first time now — pointless “quality” solos, and all. Alternative Title, Your Auntie Grizelda and I’m Gonna Buy Me A Dog are disgraced by being in the company of this tossed-off toss toss.