The Original, the Modernized, and the Absurd (my personal favorite)

I don’t think there could possibly be a better rock and roll song written than “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”.  As far as rock songs go, it has everything, Keith Richard’s famous guitar hook, driving drums that push the song along at a frantic pace, and daring lyrics. Give it a listen - it is a no holds barred attack on consumerism and concludes that things in our culture are simply not at they should be.  There isn’t resolution.  This might seem normal under modern standards, but this was released in 1965.  The second song on the billboard charts from that year was by the Four Tops and called I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch).  I take two things from this, 1. bands loved having parenthesis in their titles back then, and 2. just as now, it was probably highly abnormal to have a song railing against consumerism as a number one hit in 1965.

This song has been covered by hundreds of artists.  Two of which played the song better than the Stones did (in my humble opinion.)  The first of these is a relatively new artist (a category which contains probably 99% of all who have ever played rock and roll given the elderly age of the Stones J).  Her stage name is Cat Power.  Here is a clip of her playing the song.

Cat Power takes away the famous guitar riff, the drums, even the chorus – what is left is the haunting, but beautiful, core of the song.  It wasn't until I heard this version that I had any idea what the song was about.  This version of the songs reminds me of how much is missed when something is packaged for the masses.  Had this been what the Stones came to the record company with during the 60’s would it have ever seen the light of day? I doubt it – but it was what was there all along, murking beneath.  How often do we take things in our lives that are true, deep, and honestly felt – and temper those things with humor, false sincerity or any other defense mechanism in order to make them palatable to those around us?

The Stones did that in Satisfaction – they took a deep seated, honest criticism of culture, put a danceable rhythm on it, a sense of ecstasy, smiling faces, and they gloss over the meaningful lyrics to the point that they are clouded out of the song altogether.  I don’t blame them nor do I think it was a “wrong” way to approach it – I merely want to shine a light on the original approach Cat Power took.  I also wasnt to point you guys to my favorite version of the song - Otis Redding's.

A horn section has replaced Keith Richards and the drummer is no longer holding back (thank goodness).  I don’t have anything significant to say about it, I just think it is awesome.  If any of you would like to discuss other great covers I would love to read about them in the comments.  Happy Music Tuesday!