SONG OF THE DAY

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones (Let It Bleed, Decca Records/ ABKCO, 1969). Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)

– It was named as the 100th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in its 2010 list of “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”

– “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” was recorded on 16 and 17 November 1968 at London’s Olympic Sound Studios. It features the London Bach Choir opening the song under the stewardship of Javier Sanchez Broto.

– Jimmy Miller, the Rolling Stones’ producer at the time, plays drums on this song instead of Charlie Watts.

– Al Kooper plays piano, organ and horn while Rocky Dijon plays congas and maracas.

– Nanette Workman sings backup vocals, but she is credited as “Nanette Newman”.

– In his review of the song, Richie Unterberger says, “If you buy John Lennon’s observation that the Rolling Stones were apt to copy the Beatles’ innovations within a few months or so, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is the Rolling Stones’ counterpart to ‘Hey Jude.'” Jagger said in 1969, “I liked the way the Beatles did that with ‘Hey Jude’. The orchestra was not just to cover everything up – it was something extra. We may do something like that on the next album.”

– The three verses (along with the varied theme in the 4th verse) address the major topics of the 1960s: love, politics, and drugs. Each verse captures the essence of the initial optimism and eventual disillusion, followed by the resigned pragmatism in the chorus.

– Though popular on modern classic rock radio stations, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” was not released as a single along with a music video, but rather as the B-Side to “Honky Tonk Women”, albeit in an edited form (4:49) without the choral section.

– One of the Stones’ most popular recordings, it has since appeared on the compilations Hot Rocks, Singles Collection and Forty Licks.

– “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is very popular at Rolling Stones shows due to the sing-along chorus, and is played at almost every show (where it is custom for Jagger to change the lyrics from “my favourite flavour, cherry red” to the question “What’s your favourite flavour?” to which the audience replies “Cherry red”).

– Live recordings appear on the albums Love You Live, Flashpoint, Live Licks, and The Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus recorded in 1968.

– In 1971, jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi released a cover version of the song on his album Oaxaca.

– In 1981, an Aretha Franklin cover followed, released on her album Love All the Hurt Away.

– In 1990, George Michael used the song’s rhythm, chords and chorus in his single “Waiting For That Day”. Jagger and Richards received shared songwriting credit.

– In 1992, Def Leppard released an acoustic cover of the song as a B-side to their single “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad”. (This version has never been officially released in the United States.)

– In 1998, the jam band Rusted Root included a version on their self-titled fourth album.

– Perhaps the most unusual cover was also released in 2001, when the reggae band Steel Pulse recorded it for the Paint It Black: A Reggae Tribute to the Rolling Stones.

– Band from TV covered it for the soundtrack of House.

– The song is used during the opening funeral scene in the 1983 Academy Award-nominated film The Big Chill. The use of the song in the film has been copied and pastiched in several other dramas.

– The song is mentioned in the movie High Fidelity as part of a list of “Top 5” songs about death, but receives an immediate disqualification for its involvement with The Big Chill.

– The song was featured in the pilot episode of Showtime’s dramedy Californication in 2007. The song was used during the opening scene, in a manner parodying its use in The Big Chill.

– The song played an important role in the first fall finale of Glee, where the glee club perform it as their main song at the sectionals competition in the episode “Sectionals”.