My favorite summer song of all time is "California Girls".\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s not the best.<\/p>\n
Memorable summer songs include "A Hard Day’s Night" and "Summer In The City".\u00c2\u00a0 But one track towers above them all.\u00c2\u00a0 For not only its ubiquity but its raw power.\u00c2\u00a0 That song is the Rolling Stones’ "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction".<\/p>\n
Oh the Stones had hits before "Satisfaction".\u00c2\u00a0 Whether it be the original "Tell Me" or the late ’64 "Time Is On My Side".\u00c2\u00a0 But they were not in the league of the Beatles.\u00c2\u00a0 Just another British Invasion band, albeit of a higher profile and caliber than most.\u00c2\u00a0 Then came "Satisfaction".<\/p>\n
I don’t know why the Stones can’t get "Satisfaction" right in concert anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 Especially since Keith Richards wrote the riff.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe it’s the absence of Bill Wyman.\u00c2\u00a0 Listen to the original.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s almost as if Bill is dancing around the track in his own space.\u00c2\u00a0 Like a classic bass player, he’s in his own world.\u00c2\u00a0 Silent, but his playing is deadly.\u00c2\u00a0 If you isolate the distorted guitar riff, it seems that Keith can replicate this.\u00c2\u00a0 But the whole sauce, with all the elements, that’s what made the record great.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, some tracks are not meant to be played live, the records are just TOO PERFECT!<\/p>\n
It WAS that guitar sound.\u00c2\u00a0 This wasn’t our parents’ music.\u00c2\u00a0 This wasn’t even the Beatles.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 It was as if you drank kool-aid and it went all electric inside you.\u00c2\u00a0 The buzz was not only aural, it penetrated you, drove you wild.\u00c2\u00a0 It was so simple, yet so right.<\/p>\n
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.\u00c2\u00a0 This song was GOING somewhere.\u00c2\u00a0 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".\u00c2\u00a0 Just enough\u00c2\u00a0 percussion to drive you WILD!<\/p>\n
Then there was the Mick.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
Everyone always quotes the verses.\u00c2\u00a0 But what puts the song over the top is the extras!\u00c2\u00a0 Like the precious "Hey, hey, hey, that’s what I say".<\/p>\n
Mick Jagger was sticking it in the eye of the establishment.\u00c2\u00a0 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!<\/p>\n
One day, "Satisfaction" appeared on the radio and we were changed forever.\u00c2\u00a0 We found our leader.\u00c2\u00a0 The Beatles were safe, even our parents were enthralled.\u00c2\u00a0 They appealed to our hearts and minds.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas the Stones appealed to our genitalia.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
This is what the modern music business was built upon.\u00c2\u00a0 Movies and television couldn’t compete.\u00c2\u00a0 In the 3:43 of this record was embodied LIFE!\u00c2\u00a0 Unfiltered.\u00c2\u00a0 Directed not at the mainstream, but a target audience of youth.<\/p>\n
We can’t have a summer song like "Satisfaction" again.\u00c2\u00a0 Because it’s impossible to have this kind of ubiquity.\u00c2\u00a0 There was nothing but classical music on FM.\u00c2\u00a0 Every kid had a transistor.\u00c2\u00a0 And every car an AM radio.\u00c2\u00a0 Everywhere you went in the summer of ’65, pouring out of a speaker you heard "Satisfaction".<\/p>\n
They say Mariah Carey had the song of the summer last year.\u00c2\u00a0 With "We Belong Together".\u00c2\u00a0 But despite her histrionic performance, the essence didn’t ring true.\u00c2\u00a0 Mariah was imploring us to love her, she was trying to CONVINCE US!\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas the Stones didn’t give a shit.\u00c2\u00a0 They could take or leave us.\u00c2\u00a0 And it was this lack of neediness that ENTHRALLED US!<\/p>\n
This year the rags are writing about Christina Aguilera’s "Ain’t No Other Man".\u00c2\u00a0 But Christina’s not a musician, she’s a CELEBRITY!\u00c2\u00a0 Albeit one with a voice.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s not living the life of her music.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s all fodder for the cash register.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas "Satisfaction" was cut essentially instantly, lightning in a bottle, as the pure expression of an inner feeling.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s nothing contemplated about it.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s like a stolen glance, frozen in time forever.<\/p>\n
Perfection leaves no loose ends, no areas for criticism.\u00c2\u00a0 "Satisfaction" is so perfect, you can only marvel at its excellence.\u00c2\u00a0 And we did, all summer.\u00c2\u00a0 We never really got tired of the track.\u00c2\u00a0 Because that would be like getting tired of Princess Grace.\u00c2\u00a0 Or God.\u00c2\u00a0 Something so right, you can only genuflect.<\/p>\n
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".\u00c2\u00a0 They didn’t seem to give a fuck, and for this we LOVED THEM!\u00c2\u00a0 And still do.<\/p>\n
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My favorite summer song of all time is "California Girls".\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s not the best. Memorable summer songs include "A Hard Day’s Night" and "Summer In The City".\u00c2\u00a0 But one track towers above them all.\u00c2\u00a0 For not only its ubiquity but its raw power.\u00c2\u00a0 That song is the Rolling Stones’ "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction". […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-7g","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}