Lyrics for Gimme Shelter as interpreted by spliphstar

Gimme Shelter Lyrics
Oh, a storm is threat'ning
My very life today.
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away.

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away.
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away.

Ooh, see the fire sweepin'
Our very street today.
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way.

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away.
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away.

The floods is threat'ning
My very life today.
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I'm gonna fade away.

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
I tell you love, sister, it's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away

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  • 84 Comments
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fallonyourKNEES
10-13-2002

Rated 0 
this song kicks ass ;o)

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happylittlditty
03-07-2003

Rated 0 
love the song....really love the very beginning, a sound all its' own, true classic.

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rampton
06-23-2003

Rated 0 
...it's just a shot away. dead pan delivery contrasting those high pitched harmonies that shoot through the vains. great track.

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camel690
05-05-2004

Rated +1 
It's a wicked stones song about heroin using a war metaphor. This was when the Stones really got into the hard stuff (drugs) and produced some of their best work.
Thoughts?

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Niam
09-30-2004

Rated 0 
the intro to this song is amazing! its my all time favorite. i cant begin to describe how much i love the the intro then it all starts.......

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Rollingstonesrock
10-07-2004

Rated 0 
I love this song!

Peace

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JoBloMe
10-14-2004

Rated 0 
Lyrics above forgot the verse (sung by Marcy Levy, I believe):

Rape, Murder, it's just a shot away
it's just a shot away
Rape, Murder, it's just a shot away
it's just a shot away
it's just a shot away, shot away, yeah yeah

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Niam
10-19-2004

Rated 0 
i can't believe that more people don't love this song it's amazing! its got to be thier best song

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ledskynyrd
11-02-2004

Rated 0 
I love this song. Especially the rcccccchhh ch ch rccccccchhh I can't ever get that out of my head. thank you

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isabellahelsing
11-11-2004

Rated 0 
the chick in the song is merry clayton, a soul singer that worked with many pop artists back in the day.

and you idiots...this song is about pizza delivery!! no im kidding.

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JumpyJack
11-12-2004

Rated +1 
What a great song this is. Written entirely by Keith Richards as were many Stones songs credited to "Jagger-Richards".

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Niam
12-11-2004

Rated 0 
i have a poster of keith richards with a smoke hanging out of his mouth wearing a t shirt that says "who the fuck is mick jagger"

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Niam
12-11-2004

Rated 0 
i hope they tour again there's word they might in 2005

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Stamphater
12-14-2004

Rated 0 
A couple of other notes about this song:

-Keith wrote the musical part in his car in TEN MINUTES, waiting for Mick, who he had just found out was sleeping with then-wife Anita Pallenburg. In fact, he knew that was what was probably going on at that moment.
-Mick did write the lyrics, and they are in fact about the chance that War is always around us, and he did have the Vietnam war in mind.
-Opening played on an Electric acoustic.
-Guitar tracks to this song are so amazing. The chugging sound never ceases and that is something that doesn't often happen.
-I did hear that Keith did write everything for Wild Horses.
-Rolling Stone called this the PERFECT SONG recently, and I tend to agree.

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JumpyJack
12-22-2004

Rated 0 
They must've passed that T-shirt around because I've seen the same poster but with Steven Tyler wearing it. One of these Stones books I have here states that Keith wrote the song entirely but I'm too lazy to look it up. Anyways your story about him writing the music in the car rings true(he refused to leave the car to sit and watch Mick and Anita getting it on during filming for 'Performance') so you're probably right that Jagger wrote the lyrics. they seem more his style anyway.

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urlostinspacelikeme
01-04-2005

Rated 0 
i can vividly remember hearing this song for the first time when i was like 12 in a movie... but i cannot figure out what movie it was... if anyone knows that would be great! it was about some kids in hick-vill and they fall into a water silo at the end... a comming of age story, you know... yeah... anyways... when i heard it i became obsessed and had to find all music by the stones. it never gets old to me... still get chills every time i hear it.

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Spaniard
01-06-2005

Rated 0 
I have seen the Stones twice live, and this song is definately the pick. The best part is, they tend to play it early in their sets. The movie is called The War. It has Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood. It is a very good movie, quite moving in parts. The song plays very well during the fight scene, and perhaps gives some insight into the ,eaning of the song itself. I think the song also featured in Goodfellas . A classic.

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JosephWolf
01-06-2005

Rated 0 
Yeah, It's in the Goodfellas. Great Song.

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OpinionHead
01-10-2005

Rated 0 
These guys are heroin-obsessed. These must have inspired Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell. This is a great tune because how many of us have had those really bad arguments.

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JumpyJack
01-10-2005

Rated 0 
What? Good lord here we go again. Not every song is about heroin. For one thing, Mick Jagger wasn't into heroin. Secondly, Keith Richards has always hated the fact that drug use became a celebrated thing and a topic for lyrics. He's always stated that heroin was a musicians thing--a behind closed doors thing. I can only assume you're being sarcastic mentioning Cantrell and Staley as they were 3 and 2 years old at the time this song was released. With all of the morons who post on here, you never can tell. By the way--Alice in Chains was a great f'n band!

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JumpyJack
01-23-2005

Rated 0 
Oh, I misread that. oh well, whatever.

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tpsully
01-27-2005

Rated 0 
my favorite stones song, has a mixture of kick ass rock and danger. Also don't forget the first 'movie' this song was in was the self titled 'Gimme Shelter' about Altamont, where the dude was killed by hells angels during Under my Thumb.

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OpinionHead
02-11-2005

Rated 0 
I retract my prior comments...it could be a song about the ominous tone before a war. The outbreak of war is usually a time of trepidation and loathing. Did this song come out before the Vietnam Conflict? I can see the heroin connection with the shot and fading away. Now I know why we fight about this kind of stuff.

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willia05
02-12-2005

Rated 0 
This is just a classic song - the intro just floors me every time as does the interplay bewteen the harmonica and Taylor's guitar licks in the solo.

The song's meaning? Well, it was written during Vietnam - 'nuff said.

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chrisb1
03-06-2005

Rated 0 
You may be interested to know that Keith Richards did the ENTIRE guitar bit hinself. He overdubbed differently guitar-tuning tracks in the studio between the time of Brian Jones' decreasing relevance to (and use by) the band prior to his death and Mick Taylor joining. A true classic guitar masterpiece with ominous lyrics, especially when you consider Altamont.

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