10 Best Rolling Stones Songs

By: Benedict S. Gombocz

#1. “Gimme Shelter” Released 5 December 1969; opening track on Let It

Bleed. Gimme was spelled Gimmie on Let It Bleed, but later

recordings by the Rolling Stones and other artists have made Gimme the ordinary spelling.

First played live in 1969 at Pop Go the Sixties. Was produced from merged efforts of singer and

guitarist. Keith Richards was working on the song’s distinctive

opening while Mick Jagger was working on the movie Performance.

Churning mid-tempo rocker; begins with rhythm guitar intro by Richards, with Jagger’s lead vocal following.

#2. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” Single on 1965’s Out of Our Heads; released 6 June 1965 in U.S. and

20 August 1965 in U.K. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Andrew

Loog Oldham. The song is opened and drived by Richards’ throwaway three-note

guitar riff – designed to be substituted by horns. Its lyrics allude to sexual disappointment and commercialism

particular to the United States. Became a hit, making it the Stones’ first number one in U.S. and fourth

number one in the U.K. In U.K., the song originally played only on pirate radio stations

because the lyrics were seen as too sexually suggestive. Regarded as one of the all-time greatest rock songs ever composed; in

2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked “Satisfaction” in second spot on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and subsequently was added to Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2006.

#3. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” Released as single 24 May1968 in U.S. and 1 June

1968 in U.K., with “Child of the Moon” as B-side; was not released on Beggars Banquet.

Hailed “supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London” by Rolling Stone; understood by some as the group’s return to blues roots after psychedelic of foregoing albums Between the Buttons and Their Satanic Majesties Request.

One of the band’s most well-known and identifiable songs; has been included in many movies and on the Rolling Stones’ compilation albums Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2), Hot Rocks, Singles Collection and Forty Licks.

Recording on “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” started during Beggars Banquet sessions.

#4. “Honky Tonk Women” Released as single 4 July 1969 in U.K. and a week later in U.S.;

surpassed charts in both countries. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards while on vacation in Brazil

in December 1968-January 1969. Influenced by Brazilian gauchos at ranch where Jagger and Richards

were staying in Matão, São Paulo, and released originally as acoustic country song.

The band composed two versions of the song: the better known hit which was released as 45 hit single and their late 1960s singles collection, Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2), and the country “honky-tonk” version entitled “Country Honk” with slightly different lyrics, which was released on Let It Bleed.

The song is unique for not opening with guitar riff, rather with a beat played on cowbell; then-producer Jimmy Miller, who worked with the Rolling Stones from 1968’s Beggars Banquet through 1973’s Goats Head Soup, played cowbell for the recording.

#5. “Ruby Tuesday” Released 13 January 1967, with preceding hit “Let’s Spend the Night Together” as A-

side. Was number-one hit in the United States and went to reach number three in the

United Kingdom. Multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones performed on recorder and piano; double bass was

jointly performed by bassist Bill Wyman (placing his hands against fingerboard) and Keith Richards (bowing strings).

In a 1971 Rolling Stone interview, Richards indicated he began writing the song in a Los Angeles hotel room early in 1966 concerning a groupie he knew; also mentioned it centered on his girlfriend in the mid-1960s Linda Keith, which Richards details in his autobiography Life.

The song’s subject speaks of an apparently unrestrained woman, with Jagger singing, “Who could hang a name on you? When you change with every new day. Still I’m gonna miss you”.

Was ranked #303 by Rolling Stone magazine on their list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time; the song name was the origin of the restaurant chain with same name.

Appears on two consecutively released U.S. albums: Between the Buttons and Flowers.

Live version of the song was captured from Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour and was released on the 1991 concert album Flashpoint.

#6. “Start Me Up” Released 14 August 1981; opening track and lead single on Tattoo You. Reached #2 on Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on U.K. Singles Chart. First recorded during 1975 sessions for 1976’s Black and Blue; was

originally recorded as reggae-rock track, but following dozens of unsatisfying takes, the band discontinued recording it and it was scrapped.

The group resumed recording during the sessions for 1978’s Some Girls and 1980’s Emotional Rescue, using working titles “Never Stop” and “Start It Up”, respectively; these recordings would be characterized by more visible rock sound, having been deprived of earlier reggae inspirations.

Opens with what has since been signature riff for Keith Richards, which makes up the majority of the song, accompanied by Charlie Watts’ firm backbeat and Bill Wyman’s repeating bass.

Lead guitarist Ron Wood can easily be heard performing layered variation of Richards’ chief riff (Concert performances of “Start Me Up” are extended by giving Wood solo close to the middle of the song).

In the chorus, Jagger breaks in with repetitive bridge of “You make a grown man cry”, with subsequent diverse declarations of his and his partner’s sexual character.

#7. “Paint It, Black” Released 13 May 1966; first single from American version of

fourth studio album Aftermath. Initially titled “Paint It Black” without a comma; Keith Richards

has said that the comma was added by record label Decca. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who, respectively,

wrote the words and the music. In spite of being credited to Jagger/Richards, Bill Wyman

claims in his writings that song was a band effort. Went on to number one in American and British charts in

1966. Ranked number 174 in 2004 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list

of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. First number one single to feature sitar on recording both in

U.S. and U.K.

#8. “Get Off of My Cloud” Released 25 September 1965 and 22 October 1965 in U.S. and U.K.,

respectively. Composed as follow-up single to successful “(I Can’t Get No)

Satisfaction”. Exceeded charts in United States and United Kingdom in subsequent

weeks of its release in November 1965. Is notable for drum intro by Charlie Watts and twin guitars by Brian

Jones and Keith Richards. Its lyrics are provocative and seditious, ordinary practice around

the time; they were starting to prepare their infamous “bad boy” representation in competing with the Beatles.

The band has said that “Get Off of My Cloud” was written in response to their unexpected popularity following the success of “Satisfaction”.

Is in E major and is an alteration on Louie Louie riff: I-IV-V-IV; E A B A in the case.

#9. “Sympathy for the Devil”

Released 6 December 1968 as opening track on Beggars Banquet. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, but largely work of Jagger. Place at #32 by Rolling Stone magazine in their list of The 500 Greatest Songs

of All Time. Working title was “The Devil Is My Name”; sung by Jagger in first-person

narrative from point of view of Lucifer. The lyrics examine several historical atrocities of mankind: trial and crucifixion

of Jesus Christ (“Made damn sure that Pilate washed his hands and sealed his fate”), European wars of religion (“I watched with glee while your kings and queens fought for decades. For the Gods they made”), violence of Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and 1918 slaughter of Romanov family (“Stuck around in St Petersburg when I saw it was a time for a change. Killed the Tsar and his ministers. Anastasia screamed in vain”), and World War II (“I rode a tank, held a general’s rank. When the Blitzkrieg raged, and the bodies stank”).

Its lyrics also mention the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy; the recording sessions for the song were in development when the latter was killed, changing the words from “Who killed Kennedy?” to “Who killed the Kennedys?”

Remix of “Sympathy for the Devil” was released 16 September 2003.

#10. “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” Released on 1969’s Let It Bleed as that album’s closing track, with “Honky Tonk

Women” released as A-side. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards; ranked as 100th greatest song of all

time by Rolling Stone in 2004 list of “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”. Recorded 16 and 17 November 1968 at Olympic Sound Studios in London;

features London Bach Choir opening the song, with the opening lines subsequently repeated by Jagger (the opening lines are sung only by Jagger after the song’s opening during concert performances, where it remains very popular, owing to sing-along chorus; it is performed at nearly every show, where it is common for Jagger to change the statement “my favorite flavour, cherry red” to the question “What’s your favorite flavour?”, with the fans responding “Cherry red!” ).

Jimmy Miller, the Rolling Stones’ producer since preceding album Beggars Banquet, plays drums in place of Charlie Watts.

Nanette Workman sings backup vocals; is credited as “Nanette Newman”. Concert recordings were released on 1977 live album Love You Live, 1991 live

album Flashpoint, 2004 live album Live Licks, and The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus recorded in 1968; also included in 1971 compilation Hot Rocks and 2002 compilation Forty Licks.