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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coo2kachoo
04-12-2005

Rated 0 
Intro has already been praised, but it has to be one of my favorites all time. I get a mental image of a foggy grave yard, 48 degrees, wet air, autumn smell, iron cannon, civil war-like thing. Thing of beauty.

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dasquien!
04-22-2005

Rated 0 
i think this song represents the downfall of the \"flower children\"......when many of them got so messed up on drugs and were just wandering around after the altamont concert in \'69...jagger is singing about trying to escape from rape murder etc. and the altamont concert was conceived as an example where a massive amount of people were going to be able to be responsible for their own behaivor....definitely one of their best songs if not the best

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a_manda
05-04-2005

Rated 0 
f-ing good song.

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PGM
05-24-2005

Rated 0 
I think this is a song about the threat of war. It was written in 1969, so it was probably inspired by Vietnam.

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derekwm2001
06-10-2005

Rated 0 
Mick Jagger: "That song was written during the Vietnam War and so it's very much about the awareness that war is always present; it was very present in life at that point. Mary Clayton who did the backing vocals, was a background singer who was known to one of the producers. Suddenly, we wanted someone to sing in the middle of the night. And she was around. She came with her curlers in, straight from bed, and had to sing this really odd lyric. For her it was a little odd - for anyone, in the middle of the night, to sing this one verse I would have been odd. She was great."

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OpinionHead
06-30-2005

Rated 0 
dasquien!

You have that nail right on the head...

I was drinking with a friend of mine who is a freak for music from that era. He told that this song was written as a response to the events at Altamont. Moreover, I think that this was the Stone's response to the end of 1960's. War was occuring overseas and on the home front and drug use was rampant all the way around. That doesn't surprise me at all about how several users think of this song as being a drug anthem. I love this song and it will last forever.

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apotheosis23
07-17-2005

Rated 0 
Probably my favorite song of all time

(you had prepared yourself and i didnt go for it/you remember/moreover i had noticed after i left i had some nasty crud on the crease of my lip/ewww/i knew there was a reason/you noticed that too didnt you, you lil' strumpet/but seriously it was the way you shifted yourself around/you so wanted it/ha)

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JumpyJack
08-28-2005

Rated 0 
Well considering the song was written before Altamont took place, I'd have to say your friend was wrong.

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-fool-
09-18-2005

Rated 0 
this song rocks hardcore. such a good intro. and like 3 minutes in, you can hear the girl scream a line, her voice crack, and in the background you can hear someone yell

this song is used in the movie dear america letters home from the vietnam war when it shows a standard mission. with helicopters shooting villages torched and people killed. totally intense, perfect fitting song.

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Big Worm
12-20-2005

Rated 0 
If someone asks "whats the best song of all time in your opinion" It would be hard not to say this song.

The guitar... keith is underrated!

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heyjude55
04-28-2006

Rated 0 
i've loved this song since the beginning so powerful
my favourite part of the song is when the girl singer takes over and she screams (hey murder! 3:30) and you can barely hear some guy in the background shout woo! like he's getting all pumped up and stuff that's what I really like bout this song.

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heyjude55
04-28-2006

Rated 0 
actually not 3:30, 1:30 if anyone cares

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sandonhelm
05-09-2006

Rated 0 
has anyone in here ever seen the music video they did for this song, I cannot find info on it anywhere, all I remember is that it starts of with a tank being drawn on the wall, anyone know what I'm talking about?

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heyjude55
05-14-2006

Rated 0 
my credit goes to -fool- up there
radical song
so radical

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heyjude55
05-14-2006

Rated 0 
and it is 3:30 sorry

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The Lawlorator
06-09-2006

Rated 0 
The part where the Clayton's voice cracks gives me chills down my spine every time I hear it, it's like she just gave it her all, there is so much feeling and soul in it. Her solo is my favorite part.

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Pinten
07-15-2006

Rated 0 
I don’t know the exact thing that the writer of this song had in mind. Probably it's about the Vietnam War. To me it's a song about how close an edge can be. To war and death or to love, or anything. They warn about how easy war is to create, and finishes of with how close love can be. They also sing that 'If I don't get some shelter. Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away'. It's a cry for help, that line, pretty obvious.

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Pinten
07-15-2006

Rated 0 
Add: I listened to this song mostly when I was 17. There was a crazy junkie that was going to kill me. So I went to a friend, and borrowed a pistol. I was really scared over a long period of time. Was ready to have a shoot down anytime. I even had the gun when walking to school. I wanted to escape, but couldn’t. Then I wanted to be seen by someone, to give me some shelter, somehow, somewhere. Because that time the edge war near. The Stone's song is great, the intro and the intensity. Perfect for movies like Casino and so, showing people living on the edge.

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subterranean_summer
07-24-2006

Rated 0 
I think it's a good statement, how war is a shot away, and then it becomes more powerful when he mentions that love is just a kiss away. Two such powerful things, love and war, yet love is so much more simple, just a kiss. So the message I get is make love not war! And lyrics aside, what an amazing song. Love Clayton's singing in the background, just wow.

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T-CAP75
08-07-2006

Rated 0 
Wow, all my life, I always thought the chorus was "Hell, children, is our shelter today". If I'm not the biggest idiot in the world, I don't know who is...

Anyways, the music to the song has a dark bluesy feel, kind of like Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks". I always thought it was an anti-war song, because of my presumed chorus, but now I think it's about heroin. Clever little way of masking the meaning of the song, kind of like Pearl Jam's "Of a Girl".

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panicatd181
08-14-2006

Rated 0 
This is one of my all-time favorite songs. It's sad if you really think about the lyrics. This really makes you think, I mean it's based on the Vietnamese war.

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whiterabies
09-02-2006

Rated 0 
This is the song that made me a fan. I was never into The Rolling Stones - at all - before I heard this song. I love the gritty, speedy, hard rock to it, and all the vocals just kick ass.

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Stina88
09-02-2006

Rated 0 
This song makes me happy everytime i hear it. I just wanna rock out or something. It definately is a classic. I love it and Keith Richards is just a rock legend :)

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veitchy_88
10-18-2006

Rated 0 
i love the opening to this, gotta love that smooth Tele tone of Keiths, and that harp in the middle.

the song is so dark, almost satanic.

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nemt
10-31-2006

Rated 0 
This song is about someone who wants to be given shelter.

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