Both are killer songs and has any album ever been better bookended?
BUT... suppose for some reason you could only keep one of them, which would it be and why?
I'd plump for "You Can't...". I love the structure of the song and the way it builds (the choir is a masterstroke) and I think it's Jagger's best vocal. He really seems to be enjoying himself.
I also think the song is more in keeping with the Stone's ambivalent place in 60s counterculture than the more "revolutionary" "Gimme..."
Posts: 2075 | Location: Australia | Registered: 24 September 2006
I put "You Can't Always Get What You Want" on my Time Capsule Mix (anybody remember those?), but I'm thinking that yes, "you can't have one without the other." "Gimme Shelter" sounds like the Apocalypse approaching. I can't really remember a song more in your face about the end of the world (although a few of CCR's may qualify.) Then again, "You Can't..." wraps up the album, beginning in a matter-of-fact way, but then reenforces the End-of-the-World theme, complete with the Gospel Singers launching you to wherever you're goin'. The in-between songs ("Let It Bleed", "Midnight Rambler", "Monkey Man") flesh out the idea that the End is Nigh, so either prepare or party, whichever is your bag...
"Naked Woman, Naked Man Where did you get that nice sun tan?"
Posts: 12926 | Location: Behind the Orange Curtain | Registered: 14 May 2004
Gimme Shelter all the way. For some reason, You can't Always Get...reminds me of Hey Jude.
Gimme Shelter was used very well in the Departed. I just love that song. It's very intense. The female vocalist reminds of the chick who sings on the Great Gig in the Sky.
Posts: 751 | Location: Nova Scotia | Registered: 31 May 2006
"Gimme Shelter" is the shit... I like it much better than the also extremely good "You Can't Always Get What You Want" but that's coming from someone who thinks the Best Stones Song is on Beggars Banquet. Sympathy for the Devil anyone. Gimme Shelter Sympathy For the Devil You Can Always Get What You Want
"Violence, she solved everything"
Posts: 1243 | Location: Nowhere | Registered: 31 July 2006
It's a tough call. They're both great songs, and It'd be tough to imagine a world without either. Like Bob said, they're probably the best opening and closing tracks on an album, ever. Depending on my mood, either could win this contest.
The Rolling Stones recorded so many great tracks, though. These are mearly two among dozens of the finest songs in rock history. Picking the best Stones song is like trying to decide which Playboy Playmate is the most attractive.
----- We were wasps with new wings, now we're bugs in the jar.
Posts: 5483 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 19 June 2005
Gimme Shelter was used very well in the Departed. I just love that song. It's very intense. The female vocalist reminds of the chick who sings on the Great Gig in the Sky.
Yeah, Merry Clayton gives one of the best guest vocalist performances ever.
Posts: 2075 | Location: Australia | Registered: 24 September 2006
Originally posted by Everyoneanindividual: "Gimme Shelter" is the shit... I like it much better than the also extremely good "You Can't Always Get What You Want" but that's coming from someone who thinks the Best Stones Song is on Beggars Banquet. Sympathy for the Devil anyone. Gimme Shelter Sympathy For the Devil You Can Always Get What You Want
Yep, gimme shelter is an awesome song but I totally agree that sympathy for the devil is the real competition - tho I can't decide which is better. The latter is a groove masterpiece and the former has more bite and danger than a pitbull...call it a tie!
Trust in God but remember to tie up your camel
Posts: 145 | Location: Sydney, Australia | Registered: 07 January 2007
I pick "You Can't Always Get What You Want", which has some fun memories attached to it for me (but at a much much later time than when it was released).
I was never a fan of "Gimme Shelter", I don't like Jagger's vocals in that one, why, I don't know. The song might appeal to me more as an instrumental.
Posts: 8895 | Location: State of Insanity | Registered: 22 September 2005
Gimme Shelter was used very well in the Departed. I just love that song. It's very intense. The female vocalist reminds of the chick who sings on the Great Gig in the Sky.
Yeah, Merry Clayton gives one of the best guest vocalist performances ever.
it's probably the best moment of all time when her voice cracks and you can hear mick or someone shout "woo!" in the background.
Hardcore Stones fans would probably prefer "Gimme Shelter". However, "You can't always Get" has a wider appeal due to it's brilliantly simple melody and chorus.
'gimme shelter' in a heartbeat. it's my favourite stones track, and i don't even know if 'you can't always get what you want is even top 5 material for me.
Posts: 109 | Location: uwo | Registered: 09 January 2007
Interesting discussion. I was never all that fond of the boys choir on "Can't always Get". I prefer the rawer version they did on the "rock and roll circus" soundtrack, which (I think) predates the "Let it Bleed" version, although most folks didn't get to hear it until years later.
So I vote for "Gimme".
Regarding Bob's comment: I also think ("Can't always") is more in keeping with the Stone's ambivalent place in 60s counterculture than the more "revolutionary" "Gimme..." ...
...I don't know if it was such a revolutionary song in terms of the Stones taking any real political stand. But I think the song does an amazing job of capturing the paranoid, scary side of the 1960s. I'd say they did a similar thing with "Undercover of the Night" ... that song really encapsulated the scary, dark side of the 1980s. I know a lot of y'all might not consider "Undercover" to be a "classic", but I think its a pretty great song, and definitely stands out in contrast to the mostly mediocre stuff the band was doing at the time.
Hope this post isn't too long. I do go on sometimes. Thanks, daveB.
Originally posted by Oakland daveB: I'd say they did a similar thing with "Undercover of the Night" ... that song really encapsulated the scary, dark side of the 1980s. I know a lot of y'all might not consider "Undercover" to be a "classic", but I think its a pretty great song, and definitely stands out in contrast to the mostly mediocre stuff the band was doing at the time.
I think "Undercover of the Night" is a great tune, although you're right that it often gets overlooked due to the decline in the quality of their albums at that point. I won't say it's as good as their best 60s and early 70s stuff, but it beats some of their better known latter-day "classics".
The Stones' post-Some Girls work really takes a beating from most music geeks, but they've got a few gems buried in there.
----- We were wasps with new wings, now we're bugs in the jar.
Posts: 5483 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 19 June 2005
The in-between songs ("Let It Bleed", "Midnight Rambler", "Monkey Man") flesh out the idea that the End is Nigh, so either prepare or party, whichever is your bag...
