"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song recorded by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it features a guitar riff by Richards that opens and drives the song. The riff by Richards is widely considered one of the greatest hooks of all time. The song lyrics refer to sexual frustration and

commercialism Commercialism is the application of both manufacturing and consumption towards personal usage, or the practices, methods, aims, and distribution of products in a free market geared toward generating a profit. Commercialism can also refer, positivel ...

. The song was first released as a single in the United States in June 1965 and was also featured on the American version of the Rolling Stones' fourth studio album, '' Out of Our Heads'', released that July. "Satisfaction" was a hit, giving the Stones their first number one in the US. In the UK, the song initially was played only on

pirate radio stations Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially w ...

, because its lyrics were considered too sexually suggestive. It later became the Rolling Stones' fourth number one in the United Kingdom. It is one of the world's most popular songs, and was No. 31 on '' Rolling Stone'' magazine's

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

list in 2021. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, and it is the 10th ranked song on critics' all-time lists according to

Acclaimed Music Acclaimed Music is a website created by Henrik Franzon, a statistician from Stockholm, Sweden in September 2001. Franzon has statistically aggregated hundreds of published lists that rank songs and albums into aggregated rankings by year, deca ...

. The song was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2006.

Recording

Keith Richards wrote "Satisfaction" in his sleep and recorded a rough version of the riff on a Philips cassette player. He had no idea he had written it. He said when he listened to the recording in the morning, there was about two minutes of

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

before you could hear him drop the pick and "then me snoring for the next forty minutes". Sources vary as to where this story happened. While they make reference to a hotel room at the Fort Harrison Hotel in

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

, a house in Chelsea, and the London Hilton, Richards wrote in his most recent autobiography that 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, hence the confusion. The Rolling Stones first recorded the track on 10 May 1965 at Chess Studios in Chicago, Illinois, which included Brian Jones on harmonica. The Stones lip-synched to a dub of this version the first time they debuted the song on the American music variety television programme '' Shindig!'' The group re-recorded it two days later at RCA Studios in Hollywood, California, with a different beat and the Maestro fuzzbox adding sustain to the sound of the guitar riff. Richards envisioned redoing the track later with a horn section playing the riff: "this was just a little sketch, because, to my mind, the fuzz tone was really there to denote what the horns would be doing." The other Rolling Stones (Jones, Watts, and Wyman), as well as producer and manager Andrew Loog Oldham and sound engineer

David Hassinger Walter David "Dave" Hassinger (March 31, 1927 – August 15, 2007) was an American Grammy award-winning recording engineer and record producer. Biography Early years Born in Los Angeles, California, he joined the U.S. Navy aged 17, and was o ...

eventually outvoted Richards and Jagger so the track was selected for release as a single. The song's success boosted sales of the Gibson fuzzbox so that the entire available stock sold out by the end of 1965.Sold on Song: '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'
. BBC. Retrieved 18 December 2008. Like most of the Stones' pre-1966 recordings, "Satisfaction" was originally released in mono only. In the mid-1980s, a true stereo version of the song was released on German and Japanese editions of the CD reissue of '' Hot Rocks 1964–1971''. The stereo mix features a piano (played by session player Jack Nitzsche, who also provides the song's iconic tambourine) and acoustic guitar that are barely audible in the original mono release (both instruments are also audible on a

bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...

of the instrumental track). This stereo mix of "Satisfaction" also appeared on a radio-promo CD of rare stereo tracks provided to US radio stations in the mid-1980s, but has not yet been featured on a worldwide commercial CD; even later pressings of the German and Japanese ''Hot Rocks'' CDs feature the mono mix, making the earlier releases with the stereo mix collectors' items. For the worldwide 2002 reissue of ''Hot Rocks'', an alternative quasi-stereo mix was used featuring the lead guitar, bass, drums, and vocals in the center channel and the acoustic guitar and piano "split" left and right via a

delay Delay (from Latin: dilatio) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Delay 1968'', a 1981 album by German experimental rock band Can * ''The Delay'', a 2012 Uruguayan film People * B. H. DeLay (1891–1923), American aviator and acto ...

effect.

Lyrics and melody

The song opens with the guitar riff, which is joined by the bass halfway through. It is repeated three times with the drums and acoustic guitar before the vocal enters with the line: "I can't get no satisfaction." The key is E major, but with the 3rd and 7th

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

occasionally lowered, creating – in the first part of the verses ("I can't get no ...") – a distinctive mellow sound. The accompanying chords (i.e. E major, D major and A major) are borrowed from the E mixolydian scale, which is often used in

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

. The title line is an example of a

negative concord A double negative is a construction occurring when two forms of grammatical negation are used in the same sentence. Multiple negation is the more general term referring to the occurrence of more than one negative in a clause. In some languages, ...

. Jagger sings the verses in a tone hovering between cynical commentary and frustrated protest, and then leaps half singing and half yelling into the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

, where the guitar riff reappears. The lyrics outline the singer's irritation and confusion with the increasing commercialism of the modern world, where the radio broadcasts "useless information" and a man on television tells him "how white my shirts can be – but he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke the same cigarettes as me", a reference to the then ubiquitous Marlboro Cowboy style advertisement. Jagger also describes the stress of being a celebrity, and the tensions of touring. The reference in the verse to not getting any "girl reaction" was fairly controversial in its day, interpreted by some listeners (and radio programmers) as meaning a girl willing to have sex. Jagger commented that they "didn't understand the dirtiest line", as afterwards the girl asks him to return the following week as she is "on a losing streak", an apparent reference to

menstruation Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of hor ...

. The song closes with a fairly subdued repetition of the song's title, followed suddenly by a full shout of the line, with the final words repeated into the fade-out. In its day the song was perceived as disturbing because of both its sexual connotations and the negative view of commercialism and other aspects of modern culture; critic Paul Gambaccini stated: "The lyrics to this were truly threatening to an older audience. This song was perceived as an attack on the status quo." When the Rolling Stones performed the song on ''Shindig!'' in 1965, the line "trying to make some girl" was censored, although a performance on '' The Ed Sullivan Show'' on 13 February 1966 was uncensored. Forty years later, when the band performed three songs during the February 2006 Super Bowl XL halftime show, "Satisfaction" was the only one of the three songs not censored as it was broadcast.

Release and success

"Satisfaction" was released as a single in the US by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

on 5 June 1965, with "The Under-Assistant West Coast Promotion Man" as its

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. The single entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts in America in the week ending 12 June 1965, remaining there for 14 weeks, reaching the top on 10 July by displacing the

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the ...

' " I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)". "Satisfaction" held the number one spot for four weeks, being knocked off on 7 August by "

I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am" (also "I'm Henery the VIII, I Am" or "I'm Henry VIII, I Am"; spelled "Henery" but pronounced " 'Enery" in the Cockney style normally used to sing it) is a 1910 British music hall song by Fred Murray and R. P. West ...

" by

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English beat, rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester, originally called Herman and His Hermits and featuring lead singer Peter Noone. Produced by Mickie Most, the Hermits charted with number ones in the UK a ...

."No. 1 UK Hit Singles of 1965"
Retrieved 15 January 2011. While in its eighth week on the American charts, the single was

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

a gold record award by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for shipping over a million copies across the United States, giving the band their first of many gold disc awards in America. Later the song was also released by London Records on '' Out of Our Heads'' in America. ''Billboard'' ranked the record as the No. 3 song of 1965. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' said of the single that a "hard-driving blues dance beat backs up a strong vocal performance." "Satisfaction" was not immediately released by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

in Great Britain. Decca was already in the process of preparing a live Rolling Stones EP for release, so the new single did not come out in Britain until 20 August, with "The Spider and the Fly" on the B-side. The song peaked at number one for two weeks, replacing Sonny & Cher's " I Got You Babe", between 11 and 25 September, before being toppled by the Walker Brothers' "

Make It Easy on Yourself "Make It Easy on Yourself" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which was first a hit for Jerry Butler in 1962. The best known version is the 1965 recording by the Walker Brothers for whom it was a No. 1 UK hit. Dionne Wa ...

". In the decades since its release, "Satisfaction" has repeatedly been acclaimed by the music industry. In 1976, Britain's ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' listed "Satisfaction" 7th among the top 100 singles of all time. There was a resurgence of interest in the song after it was prominently featured in the 1979 movie '' Apocalypse Now.'' In 1991, Vox listed "Satisfaction" among "100 records that shook the world". In 1999, BMI named "Satisfaction" as the 91st-most performed song of the 20th century. In 2000,

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

listed "Satisfaction" first among its "Top 100 Greatest Rock Songs"; the same year, "Satisfaction" also finished runner-up to "Yesterday" in a list jointly compiled by '' Rolling Stone'' and MTV. In 2003, '' Q'' placed the song 68th out of its "1001 Best Songs Ever". '' Newsweek'' magazine has called the opening riff "five notes that shook the world". The song and its opening riff are widely considered both iconic and one of the greatest musical hooks of all time. "Satisfaction" was ranked number 2 on both

Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

list in 2004, and the magazine's list of the band's best songs. A 2021 update ranked the song number 31. According to

, it is the 10th most celebrated song in popular music history. In 1998, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" in 2006. Jagger commented on the song's appeal: The song has become a staple at Rolling Stones shows. They have performed it on nearly every tour since its release, and concert renditions have been included on the albums '' Got Live If You Want It!'', ''

Still Life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

'', '' Flashpoint'', '' Live Licks'', '' Shine a Light'', '' Hyde Park Live'', and ''

Havana Moon ''Havana Moon'' is a 1983 album by Carlos Santana released as a solo project. It features covers of Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry songs and performances by Booker T & the MGs, Willie Nelson and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and also Carlos' father J ...

''. One unusual rendition is included in Robert Frank's film '' Cocksucker Blues'' from the 1972 tour, when the song was performed by both the Rolling Stones and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

's band as the second half of a medley with Wonder's "Uptight".

Personnel

According to authors

Andy Babiuk Andy Babiuk ( ; born November 27, 1963) is an American musician, author, consultant, and owner of Andy Babiuk's Fab Gear in Fairport, New York. He is a founding member and bassist of the supergroup The Empty Hearts and was also a member of The C ...

and Greg Prevost: The Rolling Stones * Mick Jagger vocals, blues harp * Keith Richards backing vocals, fuzz guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar * Brian Jones electric rhythm guitars, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, blues harp, piano,

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

Bill Wyman William George Wyman (né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who achieved international fame as the bassist for the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member ...

bass *

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an i ...

drums Additional personnel * Jack Nitzsche piano, organ, tambourine * Ian Stewart piano, organ, marimba

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Other versions

Otis Redding

Otis Redding recorded a rendition of "Satisfaction" for his album ''

Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul ''Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul'' (often referred to simply as ''Otis Blue'') is the third studio album by American soul singer and songwriter Otis Redding. It was first released on September 15, 1965, as an LP record through the Stax Record ...

'', released in 1965. Redding claimed that he did not know the lyrics of the song. "I use a lot of words different than the Stones' version," he noted. "That's because I made them up." Of that session,

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Ot ...

said, "...if you ever listened to the record you can hardly understand the lyrics, right? I set down to a record player and copied down what I thought the lyrics were and I handed Otis a piece of paper and before we got through with the cut, he threw the paper on the floor and that was it." Music writer

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

described it as an "anarchic reading" of the Stones' original. Redding's soul-style arrangement featured horns playing the main riff, as Keith Richards had originally intended. In 2003, Ronnie Wood noted that the Rolling Stones' later concert renditions of the number reflect Redding's interpretation.

Bubblerock / Jonathan King

English singer-songwriter Jonathan King released his version in 1974 under the name Bubblerock, reaching No. 29 on the UK Singles Chart.

The Residents

The American avant-garde/ experimental collective

the Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vi ...

recorded and released their own performance of "Satisfaction" as their debut single in 1976. Originally released in an edition of only 200 copies, the cover quickly became a cult sensation, thanks in part to the success of

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...

's cover the following year, necessitating a re-press in 1978 of 30,000 copies. Brad Laner, writing for ''Dangerous Minds'', stated the cover "is nearly everything the better known version by Devo from a year later is not: Loose, belligerent, violent, truly fucked-up. A real stick in the eye of everything conventionally tasteful in 1976 America."

Devo

American new wave band

released their rendition of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" as a single in 1977, initially in a self-produced version on their own label Booji Boy Records. The song was re-recorded with

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

as producer for their first album, and that version was also released as a single in 1978, this time by Warner Brothers Records, after it was played for Mick Jagger's approval. Decades after its release, Steve Huey of AllMusic would write that the cover version "reworks the original's alienation into a spastic freak-out that's nearly unrecognizable". This version of the song was featured prominently in the 1995 Martin Scorsese epic crime film '' Casino''. Devo's version also featured in Netflix's series '' Sex Education''. Devo's version arose from the group's jam sessions, starting with a guitar part from Bob Casale, joined by a drum beat by Alan Myers and a bass part by Gerald Casale. At first, the band tried the lyrics to " Paint it Black," switching to "Satisfaction" when it didn't fit the music. The quirky music video for the song and several others from this album received significant airplay on the upstart

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. A notable feature of the video was dancer Craig Allen Rothwell, known as Spazz Attack, whose signature dance move, a forward flip onto his back, drew him significant attention.

Britney Spears

American singer

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

recorded the song with producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins for her second studio album, '' Oops!... I Did It Again'', on 24–26 February 2000 at Pacifique Recording Studios in Hollywood. The song was remixed into a

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

and R&B style. Spears' version received mixed reviews from critics. While reviewing ''Oops!'',

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

of AllMusic selected the song as Track Pick, describing "the clenched-funk revision of the Stones' deathless 'Satisfaction'" as emblematic of a "bewildering magpie aesthetic" on Spears' early albums.

declared the song a 'choice cut,' meaning a good song on an otherwise lackluster album," while ''

'' gave the cover a negative review, saying, "the long-awaited .. pears'cover of the Stones' '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' is a letdown". Spears first performed the song on her 2000's Oops!... I Did It Again Tour. The performance ended with a dance sequence set to the familiar Richards guitar lick that was omitted from her recorded version (played here by her guitarist "Skip"). Spears also performed "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" on the

2000 MTV Video Music Awards The 2000 MTV Video Music Awards (stylized as MTV Video Music Awards vma.00) aired live on September 7, 2000, honoring the best music videos from June 12, 1999, to June 9, 2000. The show was hosted by Marlon and Shawn Wayans at Radio City Music Ha ...

Other notable versions

* American rock band

Bohemian Vendetta Bohemian Vendetta was an American garage rock and psychedelic band from Long Island, New York, who were active from 1966 to 1968. In addition to recording two officially released singles and several previously unissued demos, they cut a self ...

recorded their cover of the song and released it on their only one, self-titled album in 1968. * The Italian rock band Tritons recorded a single in 1973 with the cover of the song ( Fonit Cetra International, IS 20124) included in the album ''Satisfaction'' of the same year ( Polydor, 3172 022). * Frankie Ruiz recorded a 1999 salsa version that peaked at No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' Latin Tropical Airplay chart. *Canadian

band April Wine used the main riff in their 1980 song "

I Like to Rock ''I Like to Rock'' is a live album by the Canadian rock band April Wine, released in 2002. This disc is a compilation of previously released live recordings from the 1997 '' King Biscuit Flower Hour album'' (also known as '' April Wine Greatest ...

References

Citations

Sources

External links

* *
The Greatest Songs Ever! Satisfaction
at '' Blender'' * *
Origin of 'Satisfaction' (2020 article)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:I Can't Get No Satisfaction 1965 songs 1965 singles 1976 debut singles 1977 singles The Rolling Stones songs Aretha Franklin songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Britney Spears songs Cashbox number-one singles Decca Records singles Devo songs Eddie and the Hot Rods songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Jerry Lee Lewis songs Jonathan King songs London Records singles Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in South Africa Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in the Netherlands Number-one singles in Sweden Obscenity controversies in music Otis Redding songs Satirical songs Song recordings produced by Andrew Loog Oldham Song recordings produced by Brian Eno Songs about consumerism Songs written by Jagger–Richards The Newbeats songs The Residents songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles United States National Recording Registry recordings Warner Records singles