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"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
Original U.S. single cover
Single by The Rolling Stones
B-side	"The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man" (USA) (Nanker/Phelge) "The Spider and the Fly" (UK)
Released	6 June 1965 (USA) 20 August 1965 (UK)
Format	7", 12"
Recorded	12 May 1965, RCA Studios, Hollywood
Genre	Rock and roll
Length	3:44
Label	London 45-LON 9766 (USA) Decca F12220 (UK)
Writer	Jagger/Richards
Producer	Andrew Loog Oldham; Engineer: Dave Hassinger
The Rolling Stones singles chronology
"The Last Time" (1965) "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1965) "Get off of My Cloud" (1965)
Music sample
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" Problems? See media help.

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
Japanese 7" single
Single by Devo from the album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
Released	1977
Format	12", 7"
Recorded	Unknown
Genre	Classic Rock
Length	2:40
Label	Warner Bros. Records
Writer	Mick Jagger Keith Richards
Producer	Brian Eno Chuck Statler
Devo singles chronology
"Mongoloid" (1976) "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1977) "Jocko Homo" (1978)

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a hit riff driven rock song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for The Rolling Stones and produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. Rolling Stone magazine ranks the song as #2 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It also made #1 on VH1's 100 Greatest Rock and Roll Songs of All Time. The song was first released as a single in the United States in June 6, 1965 and was also featured on the American version of the Rolling Stones album Out of Our Heads, released in July of the same year. "Satisfaction" was a smash hit, giving the Stones their first number one in the United States. In Europe, the song initially played only on pirate radio stations because its lyrics were considered too sexually suggestive. The British version of Out of Our Heads did not feature "Satisfaction", as the song was released as a single there in August 1965 — it was not standard practice in the United Kingdom at that time to include songs from singles on albums. The single shot to number one in the United Kingdom as well; it was the Rolling Stones' fourth UK number one.

Jagger later credited "Satisfaction" with popularising The Rolling Stones, and suggested that its success was due to its reflection of the "spirit of the times". The song's themes included sexual intercourse and anti-commercialism, causing it to be "perceived as an attack on the status quo".

During the Rolling Stones' fourth tour of the United States in 1965, Keith Richards came up with the guitar riff for the song. The Stones were staying at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida for part of their tour, and one night Richards suddenly woke up, turned on a tape recorder, and promptly played on his guitar the riff that opened "Satisfaction" before returning to bed. He would later describe the tape as: "…2 minutes of 'Satisfaction' and 40 minutes of me snoring."^[1]

Later, Richards brought it to the studio where the Rolling Stones were recording. Mick Jagger took an immediate liking to the riff, but Richards was concerned that it sounded too much like Martha and the Vandellas' "Dancing in the Street" (coincidentally, Jagger would cover "Dancing in the Street" with David Bowie in 1985 as a charity single). In an interview, Jagger later said that "I think Keith thought it was a bit basic. He was too close to it and just felt it was a silly kind of riff." Jagger proceeded to write up lyrics for the tune, trying to make a statement about the rampant commercialism that the British Stones had seen in America.^[2] Richards said of the songwriting process for "Satisfaction": "Mick wrote all of the words that say anything and I wrote the hook. I woke up in bed with this riff and I thought 'I've gotta put that down.'"^[3]

Richards later described his first opinion of the song: "It was just a riff. … I woke up in the middle of the night, put it down on a cassette. I thought it was great then. Went to sleep and when I woke up, it appeared to be as useful as another album track. It was the same when it was with Mick too at the time, you know. It goes da-da, da-da-da… and the words I'd written for that riff were "I can't get no satisfaction". But it could just as well have been 'Auntie Millie's Caught Her Left Tit in the Mangle'." It has been suggested that they obtained the title lyric from Chuck Berry's "30 Days", but they have not confirmed this. Indeed, Berry's lyric is "I don't get no satisfaction from the judge".^[2][4]

The Stones soon set about recording the song, commencing just five days after Jagger had finished the song's lyrics, on May 10, 1965 at Chess Studios in Chicago. This was an all-acoustic version, and featured Brian Jones on harmonica. It was attempted again on May 11 and 12 at RCA Studios in Hollywood. This time the track gelled as Richards added the Gibson Maestro fuzzbox which he had just received. He thought it would sustain the sound of the guitar to assist a horn section he had planned for "Satisfaction", but the effect was not the one desired. Reluctant to include it on the release, he suggested avoiding further use of the fuzzbox. The other Stones thought the distortion effect created was great, and eventually outvoted Richards.^[2] The later success of the song so boosted sales of the Gibson fuzzbox that all available sets had been sold out by the end of 1965.^[3] There exists as a bootleg the instrumental track, in which one can hear a piano part which was buried in the final mix. Accounts differ as to whether the piano is being played by Ian Stewart or sessions player Jack Nitzsche.

Ironically, despite his having dreamt up the riff that created the hit (much like Paul McCartney dreamt up the tune for "Yesterday"), much of Richards' ideas for "Satisfaction" were eventually dropped, including the horn section he had wanted.^[2]

After recording "Satisfaction", the song was put to a band vote. The band voted to release it as their next big single — the only two people voting 'no' were Jagger and Richards. It was released by London Records on May 27, 1965, with "The Under-Assistant West Coast Promotion Man" as its B-side. The single made its way through the American charts, reaching the top on July 10, displacing The Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)". "Satisfaction" held on for a full four weeks, being knocked off on August 7 by "I'm Henry VIII, I Am" from Herman's Hermits.^[5] The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 charts in America on the week ending June 12, 1965, and remained for 14 weeks and peaked at # 1 where it stayed for four straight weeks. While in it's eighth week on the American charts, the single was certified a gold record award by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for selling more than a million copies in 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.^[2] Despite the song's rock n' roll sound, according to "Joel Whitburn Presents, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004", the song reached #19 on the Top Selling Rhythm and Blues Singles.

Oddly enough, "Satisfaction" was not immediately released by Decca Records in Great Britain. Decca was already in the process of preparing a live EP, and ended up not releasing until late July, featuring "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 September 11 and September 25, before being toppled by The Walker Brothers' "Make It Easy on Yourself".^[5]

Despite enthusiastic sales, it took a few years for any significant acclaim for "Satisfaction" from members of the musical establishment to roll in. Newsweek called the opening riff "five notes that shook the world".^[6] In 1976, Britain's New Musical Express named "Satisfaction" as 7th among the top 100 singles of all time. Eleven years later, "Satisfaction" dropped to 82nd when the magazine recompiled the list into the top 150 singles of all time. 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. The following year, VH1 listed "Satisfaction" first among its "Top 100 Greatest Rock Songs".^[7] That 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". In 2004, Rolling Stone's panel of judges which included Art Garfunkel (formerly half of the duo Simon and Garfunkel) and former Beach Boy Brian Wilson named "Satisfaction" as the second-greatest song of all time, coming in second only to Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone".^[8]

It has frequently been argued that "Satisfaction" had a great impact on the success of The Rolling Stones and on their music. Jagger once said "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 very catchy 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."^[2] Richards claimed that the song's riff could be heard in half of the songs that The Rolling Stones had produced, saying that "there is only one song — it's just the variations you come up with."^[3]

The song has since become a live staple at Rolling Stones live shows, and has been included on the live albums Got Live if You Want It!, Still Life (American Concert 1981), Flashpoint, and Live Licks. It has been performed on nearly every tour. The most unusual versions, only available on bootlegs, are from the 1972 tour, in which the song is performed as the second half of a medley with opening act Stevie Wonder's "Uptight" (both the Rolling Stones and Wonder's band performed the song together).

There was renewed interest in the song after it was featured in the Francis Ford Coppola movie Apocalypse Now.

Guitar riff from "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"

The song opens with a guitar riff, launching straight into Jagger's "I can't get no… satisfaction". The title line is an example of a double negative resolving to a negative, a common usage in colloquial English. With the tambourine's beat, Jagger sings in a difficult-to-identify tone, hovering between hushed whispering commentary and a cynical protest. The verse is approached with more urgent and desperate repetitions of the phrase "and I try", and then leaps into the chorus, where the opening chords from the guitar make another appearance as Jagger half sings and half yells "I can't get no", conspicuously omitting the last word of the song's title. The song's course is then steered to a monologue in which Jagger describes his irritation with the increasing commercialism of the modern world — where the radio broadcasts "useless information", and where a man goes on television to tell him "how white my shirts can be". But, "he can't be a man 'cause he does not smoke the same cigarettes as me." Jagger also briefly describes the stress of being a celebrity, and the tensions with his girlfriend caused by his touring. The reference in the verse to not getting a "girl reaction" was fairly controversial in its day, interpreted by some listeners (and radio programmers) as a symbol for a girl willing to have sex. Particularly shocking to some people was that he had to return "... later next week" for sexual favors because the girl was having her period ("'Cause you see I'm on a losing streak").^[9] The song closes with a fairly low-key whisper of the song's title, whereupon Jagger suddenly leaps into a full shout of "I can't get no… satisfaction", repeating the final word into the fade-out.^[10]

The song's lyrics were extremely controversial in their day; one critic stated that "the lyrics to this were truly threatening to an older audience. This song was perceived as an attack on the status quo". Although the song's sexual connotations were perceived as troubling, "Satisfaction" also contained negative references to aspects of commercialism and other aspects of modern culture.^[3] The part where Jagger addressed his romantic troubles was particularly perceived to be overtly sexually suggestive; when the Rolling Stones performed the song on Shindig! in 1965, the line "trying to make some girl" was censored.^[2] Forty years later, when the band performed three songs during the Super Bowl XL halftime show, "Satisfaction" was the only one of the three songs not censored as it was delay broadcast.^[11]

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