Lyrics for You Can't Always Get What You Want as interpreted by oofus

You Can't Always Get What You Want Lyrics
I saw her today at the reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was a footloose man

No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

I saw her today at the reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she was gonna meet her connection
At her feet was a footloose man

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you might find
You get what you need

And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse
Singing, We're gonna vent our frustration
If we don't we're gonna blow a 50-amp fuse

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you just might find
You get what you need

I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was dead
I said to him

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You get what you need

You get what you need, yeah, oh baby

I saw her today at the reception
In her glass was a bleeding man
She was practiced at the art of deception
Well I could tell by her blood-stained hands
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need

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  • 58 Comments
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alnav89
02-23-2002

Rated 0 
awesome song.. stones at their best.. music and vocals with background vocals blend well together.. lyrics as usual have deep insight.. its true.. you cant always get what u want.. but u do get what u need... JUST ENUF!!!

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Rob_98443
04-24-2002

Rated 0 
I feel like telling people to stop nagging me, and I just reference them to this song.

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jaydw11
05-14-2002

Rated 0 
this song is NOT about not getting what you want. the song is about death. "She", the woman, is death. She's taking the lives of the people aruond him. she takes his friend mr jimmy and in the last verse he syas in her glass was a bleeding man, she was practiced in the art of deception, i could tell from bloodstained hands.

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1 Reply
Grimson
03-05-2003

Rated 0 
jaydw11, if that was ture, then what would be the connection to the title of the song. Would that mean death is what is needed?

I personally don't think it's all about death. I think it's probably deeper than that. Maybe it's more like a release from death, or the fear of death. I don't know, i just might be talking out me arse, but that's my .02

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s_curry52
03-06-2003

Rated 0 
one of my all time favorite songs, this song speaks volumes about life

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Muzzy
05-07-2003

Rated 0 
Such a great song, it is very under-rated as a whole.

I think the idea about it being about death is pretty cool, but sort of hard to beleive.

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HRslammR
06-15-2003

Rated 0 
from what i understand this song was supposed to be about the political climate at the time. don't ask me why but that's just what iheard.

and this song means to me when i'm bummin and it makes me wanna dance a jig of some sort. ya can't really listen to this entire song and still be sad after hearing it.

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ApollyonCrash
06-22-2003

Rated 0 
Ever since seeing "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank" on Mystery Science Theater 3000, I can't help but laugh out loud every time I hear this song. Great song, BTW.

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WhiteWolf
04-10-2004

Rated 0 
Just to let you all know: Mr. Jimmy is a man that lives in Excelsior, Minnesota. The Rolling Stones got some of the ideas for this song when they played at the Excelsior Fairgrounds in the early '60s. Jimmy is a mentally handicapped man who walks around town smoking a cigar and talking to random people, and is very much alive - I had a conversation with him just the other day.

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WhiteWolf
04-10-2004

Rated 0 
Just to let you all know: Mr. Jimmy is a man that lives in Excelsior, Minnesota. The Rolling Stones got some of the ideas for this song when they played at the Excelsior Fairgrounds in the early '60s. Jimmy is a mentally handicapped man who walks around town smoking a cigar and talking to random people, and is very much alive - I had a conversation with him just the other day.

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1 Reply
stevethegreat
05-08-2004

Rated 0 
oh ya i had a conversation with mr jimmy the other day too pal ;). anyways this song rules woo

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WhiteWolf
05-30-2004

Rated 0 
Haha, so the high and mighty "stevethegreat" doesn't believe me? For shame! Trust me, the Stones played there before they made it big time. You can come and see for yourself if you'd like. Excelsior is about 45 minutes south-west of MSP airport, take highway 5 West the whole way. Of course, it might just be easier to believe me. You do make a valid point though - this song rules WOO!

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ZidaneTribal
06-09-2004

Rated 0 
I live in Excelsior, so I should know! Ya Mr. Jimmy is still alive, and you won't find a single person in Excelsior that doesn't know; him Jimmy Hutmaker is his full name. He almost always has a cigar (though I don't know if he does so often now, he had a stroke a while back). He is always walking around town talking to himself or other people, you can always find him. And I in fact did see him just the other day, I was on the way to Minnetonka music. He's a nice guy (a little strange, but nice).

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WhiteWolf
09-19-2004

Rated 0 
Damn straight

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A_Page06
09-21-2004

Rated 0 
"I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was dead"

"I saw her today at the reception
In her glass was a bleeding man
She was practiced at the art of deception
Well I could tell by her blood-stained hands"

death is an issue, whether it be death of one's spirit, loss of fear or death, or something, it is referenced

the whole song to me really means what it says, you can't always get what you want, it's a lesson in human nature and our insatiability

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Rollingstonesrock
10-01-2004

Rated 0 
I think this song is about a women he meets who killed her husband because he cheated on her or something and he tells her that you can't always get what you want referring to her cheating husband. I don't know that's my opinion! I love this song tho!
Peace

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maverickdvo
11-19-2004

Rated 0 
wow, i can't believe nobody has mentioned the jimi hendrix connection yet... this song is about a girl named devon wilson, she was dating jimi hendrix at the time, but always had a "thing" for mick. devon threw a party one night for jimi and mick happened to be there. devon wound up going home with mick and that was the end of it with her and jimi. this is a song from mick hendrix basically saying: "sorry man, but you can't always get what you want... i got the girl and that sucks for you, ahha"
ps. if you haven't figured it out yet... mr. jimmy refers to jimi hendrix

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2 Replies
Abeer
11-23-2004

Rated 0 
OK...well, everyones got these crazy whacked out stories, but what this song has always meant to me:

Basically, this song is about how not achieving your goal isn't necessarily a loss – for maybe you saved yourself from something bad and/or learned a lesson. That’s the message he’s giving over and over again in the song.

Case in point: The woman. Mick paints a picture of a woman, and himself as a footloose man…someone kind of anxious and or nervous to meet her. Towards the end of the song, we revisit the woman and we see her as deceitful and villainous – how she kind of has this blood and this other man in her hands. Mick didn’t get the girl, but he got what he needed – a lesson that appearances can be deceiving.

The protest verse illustrates that even though the protestors may not achieve their goals…they sing, vent their frustrations. They may not get what they want, but they got what they needed – a platform to express their opinions.

The drugstore verse illustrates how this Jimmy guy is waiting to for pills to keep him alive (could also be a narcotic reference as well lol). Mick meets up with him and the boys share a sweet drink to pass the time. Mick “sang his song” about enjoying the moment, to Jimmy…to where Jimmy basically responds that he needs to get these pills to stay alive…to where Mick replies:

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You get what you need

Whew ;)

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montresor
11-25-2004

Rated 0 
Surely this song is about drugs and trying to stay off them so you don't die. The woman is some drug or high, like heroin or maybe shooting up cocaine.

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ablack8
11-30-2004

Rated 0 
I really have no idea what this song means. Y'all have added some good theories.

I would think the different verses are all episodes of the narrator's life when he's seen examples of this wisdom. I'm not sure if they're all that connected.

The chorus has some of the wisest words I've ever heard. "You can't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need." So true. So true!

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subterranean_summer
12-20-2004

Rated 0 
this song cheers me up.

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WhiteWolf
04-09-2005

Rated 0 
The Stones have said that they got the ideas for this song after playing at the Excelsior Fair grounds where they met Mr. Jimmy - a slightly deranged, cigar smoking man. Mr. Jimmy does not refer to Hendrix, that is merely a coincidence

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brentk182
04-10-2005

Rated 0 
WhiteWolf is absolutely correct. i live in the minneapolis area. just about everyone in the area can tell u that is the truth about mr. jimmy.

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coo2kachoo
04-14-2005

Rated 0 
You Minnesota injuns gotta stop messin wit whitey, messin wit dey head!

Jimmy wud a weh known brotha from Swampy Lousianna! True. He is alive today, but that brotha don talk to nobudda no moe!

Eva since Mick tole him he kint git whut he want, he jus 'sume talk to no bud day! Selsior Minnesota my black ass!

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dutch_angel_moi
05-25-2005

Rated 0 
i like abeers idea of the thing.

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