(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer down below)
The Rolling Stones - "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
Hit Number 1: July 10, 1965
Stay at Number 1: 4 Weeks
It was just a matter of time before these dudes showed up in this blog. The closest act to rival the Beatles, the Rolling Stones were a completely different wave of their own during the British Invasion in the mid-60s. The Beatles, though having been done with them in 1965, came to America as the smiling good guys that sang songs about wanting to hold girls' hands with cutesy lyrics. The Rolling Stones would vomit if you even said the word "cute" around them. My mom once said that the Beatles were the guys that a girl would take home to her dad, and he would be pleased to meet him. And the Stones, well, they were the guys that your dad would never want to see again. That's an accurate statement. The Rolling Stones were the "bad boys" of the British Invasion, and that's what was great about them. Or maybe I should say "is" great about them, cause even after 55 years, they're going strong, and still touring.
Perhaps no other song describes the Stones better than their first #1 hit in America, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". The song describes the narrator's frustration with his sexual satisfaction, and commercialism around him. Apparently, lead guitarist Keith Richards wrote "Satisfaction" in his sleep, and recorded a rough version of the guitar riff on a cassette player. When he woke up that morning, he had no idea he had written that part of the song, and he would say that when he listened to the recording, he could hear himself playing his acoustic guitar before he heard himself drop the pick and "then heard me snoring for the next forty minutes". Lead singer Mick Jagger is said to be responsible for writing the lyrics down. A deeper look at the lyrics proves just how dirty this song truly is.
The song goes into great detail about the singer's lack of sex, with the singer saying "I can't get no girl reaction." The "girl reaction" line was very controversial after the song was released, with some people, including radio programmers, interpreting that line to be about a girl who was willing to have sex. Instead of trying to defend the line or denying its intentions, Jagger responded simply with "they didn't understand the dirtiest line", as the girl in the song asks the singer to "return the next week" as she's "on a losing streak". This line points to menstruation.
The song was also controversial in its day due to the negative outlook on commercialism. The song was viewed as lashing out on modern culture, and was perceived by older people as "threatening". The singer talks about how a man comes on his car radio telling him "useless information', and when he's watching TV, a man comes on telling him "how white his shirts can be", but the singer claims he can't be a man cause he "doesn't smoke the same cigarettes as me". Those were the lines that really set some people off back in '65. It was viewed as an attack towards the older generation.
The Stones didn't care. Why should they care? "Satisfaction" was the song that skyrocketed them into super-stardom, and turned them into the "next big thing" in the mid-60s. Jagger commented "It was the song that really made the Rolling Stones, changed us from just another band into a huge, monster band. It has a very catchy title. It has a great guitar riff. It has a great guitar sound, which was original at that time. And it captures a spirit of the times, which is very important in those kinds of songs. Which was alienation". Jagger pretty much steals the words right out of my mouth with his statement, cause "Satisfaction' is about as great as it gets. Not only is it an awesome song, but it helps define a band that was so different from everything people had grown used to around this time. They stood out.
Don't get me wrong, the guitar riff in the song is insanely catchy and memorable, but to me, Jagger is who makes this song. He starts out with a slightly annoyed tone as he's singing "I can't get no satisfaction", before letting loose during his rants, almost like he can't bottle up his emotions anymore. He's pissed off and annoyed at the world, and he wants to make sure you know it. The people in '65 might have known that, but what they might not have known, was what was to come. You see, "Satisfaction" was what made the Stones a popular mainstream band. It was a sign for things to come. It was a sign that one of the most important bands of all time was just getting started.
GRADE: 10/10
MY INSPIRATION / MORE INFORMATION:
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