‘(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction’ is a song by the English rock 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 is widely considered one of the greatest hooks of all time. The song's lyrics refer to sexual frustration and commercialism.
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, because its lyrics were considered too sexually suggestive. It later became the Rolling Stones' fourth number one in the United Kingdom. The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart 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' ‘I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)’, and held the number one spot for four weeks.
It is one of the world's most popular songs, and was No. 31 on Rolling Stone magazine's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list in 2021. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. The song was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2006, the first and so far only Rolling Stones recording to be included in the Registry.
Keith Richards claims that he 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 before you could hear him drop the pick and "then me snoring for the next forty minutes".
Labels – London (US), Decca (UK)
Songwriters – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
Producers – Andrew Loog Oldham
SONG LYRICS
[Instrumental Intro]
[Chorus]
I can't get no satisfaction
I can't get no satisfaction
'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try
I can't get no, I can't get no
[Verse 1]
When I'm driving in my car
And that man comes on the radio
And he's telling me more and more
About some useless information
Supposed to fire my imagination
I can't get no, oh no, no, no!
Hey, hey, hey! That's what I'll say!
[Chorus]
I can't get no satisfaction
I can't get no satisfaction
'Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try
I can't get no, I can't get no
[Verse 2]
When I'm watching my TV
And a man comes on and tells me
How white my shirts can be
Well he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke
The same cigarettes as me
I can't get no, oh no, no, no
Hey, hey, hey, that's what I say
[Chorus]
I can't get no satisfaction
I can't get no girl reaction
'Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try
I can't get no, I can't get no
[Verse 3]
When I'm riding 'round the world
And I'm doing this and I'm signing that
And I'm trying to make some girl
Who tells me baby, better come back, maybe next week
'Cause you see, I'm on a losing streak
I can't get no, oh no, no, no
Hey, hey, hey! That's what I'll say!
[Outro]
I can't get no, I can't get no, I can't get no
I can't get no satisfaction
No satisfaction, no satisfaction, no satisfaction
I can't get no