My favorite summer song of all time is "California Girls".  But it’s not the best.

Memorable summer songs include "A Hard Day’s Night" and "Summer In The City".  But one track towers above them all.  For not only its ubiquity but its raw power.  That song is the Rolling Stones’ "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction".

Oh the Stones had hits before "Satisfaction".  Whether it be the original "Tell Me" or the late ’64 "Time Is On My Side".  But they were not in the league of the Beatles.  Just another British Invasion band, albeit of a higher profile and caliber than most.  Then came "Satisfaction".

I don’t know why the Stones can’t get "Satisfaction" right in concert anymore.  Especially since Keith Richards wrote the riff.  Maybe it’s the absence of Bill Wyman.  Listen to the original.  It’s almost as if Bill is dancing around the track in his own space.  Like a classic bass player, he’s in his own world.  Silent, but his playing is deadly.  If you isolate the distorted guitar riff, it seems that Keith can replicate this.  But the whole sauce, with all the elements, that’s what made the record great.  Hell, some tracks are not meant to be played live, the records are just TOO PERFECT!

It WAS that guitar sound.  This wasn’t our parents’ music.  This wasn’t even the Beatles.  This was something from a carnival on the edge of town, where the employees had their own subculture, where they didn’t abide by the laws of society.  It was as if you drank kool-aid and it went all electric inside you.  The buzz was not only aural, it penetrated you, drove you wild.  It was so simple, yet so right.

But it wasn’t only Bill’s bass playing that added flavor, that made the song so right, Charlie Watts’ drum underpinnings gave the song its locomotive flavor.  This song was GOING somewhere.  Most of the time the pounding didn’t stick out, but in the little breaks there was the same feel of the Dave Clark Five’s "Bits And Pieces".  Just enough  percussion to drive you WILD!

Then there was the Mick.  Not our hero Mickey Mantle, but a skinny lad who looked like he was assembled a la Mr. Potato Head, who despite his frail body, emoted via his big lips an attitude large enough to conquer the world.

Everyone always quotes the verses.  But what puts the song over the top is the extras!  Like the precious "Hey, hey, hey, that’s what I say".

Mick Jagger was sticking it in the eye of the establishment.  What he said was as important, MORE important, than what was in the paper, what happened in the seat of government, it was the unbridled power of YOUTH!

One day, "Satisfaction" appeared on the radio and we were changed forever.  We found our leader.  The Beatles were safe, even our parents were enthralled.  They appealed to our hearts and minds.  Whereas the Stones appealed to our genitalia.  And in a notably puritanical country, wherein parents don’t want to even DISCUSS sex, we had lads, YOUNG MEN, who were FLAUNTING their attitude.

This is what the modern music business was built upon.  Movies and television couldn’t compete.  In the 3:43 of this record was embodied LIFE!  Unfiltered.  Directed not at the mainstream, but a target audience of youth.

We can’t have a summer song like "Satisfaction" again.  Because it’s impossible to have this kind of ubiquity.  There was nothing but classical music on FM.  Every kid had a transistor.  And every car an AM radio.  Everywhere you went in the summer of ’65, pouring out of a speaker you heard "Satisfaction".

They say Mariah Carey had the song of the summer last year.  With "We Belong Together".  But despite her histrionic performance, the essence didn’t ring true.  Mariah was imploring us to love her, she was trying to CONVINCE US!  Whereas the Stones didn’t give a shit.  They could take or leave us.  And it was this lack of neediness that ENTHRALLED US!

This year the rags are writing about Christina Aguilera’s "Ain’t No Other Man".  But Christina’s not a musician, she’s a CELEBRITY!  Albeit one with a voice.  She’s not living the life of her music.  It’s all fodder for the cash register.  Whereas "Satisfaction" was cut essentially instantly, lightning in a bottle, as the pure expression of an inner feeling.  There’s nothing contemplated about it.  It’s like a stolen glance, frozen in time forever.

Perfection leaves no loose ends, no areas for criticism.  "Satisfaction" is so perfect, you can only marvel at its excellence.  And we did, all summer.  We never really got tired of the track.  Because that would be like getting tired of Princess Grace.  Or God.  Something so right, you can only genuflect.

That curious bunch of old men barnstorming the world via private aircraft may appear laughable on the surface, but the reason they can get away with it is "Satisfaction".  They didn’t seem to give a fuck, and for this we LOVED THEM!  And still do.