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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SimonAK
08-04-2005

Rated 0 
this song is definitely about heroin. mick was a heroin addict, and they have methadone treatment centers in england. ive always hoped mr. jimmy was jimmy page from led zepplin, and they were standing in line together to get their stuff. i dunno about this guy in minnesota, but its not as deep as most of you people are trying to make it.

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SimonAK
08-04-2005

Rated 0 
also, he says he was in line at the chelsea drugstore when he met mr. jimmy. chelsea is in england, nowhere near minnesota.

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Rgilly
08-21-2005

Rated 0 
Dudes, this song is about Mick's girlfriend at the time (maggie or margo or something like that..) who happened to be suffering from intense drug addiction (she's spoken to this, saying the song is about her). "I knew she was gonna meet her connection"

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stoolhardy
08-30-2005

Rated 0 
So some people in Minnesota say that they know some crazy guy who walks around harassing random people and claims to be "Mr. Jimmy" from this song. Well Jimmy is a pretty common name. And in the verse he says he's in Chelsea. In Massachusetts there is a Chelsea, and Chelsea is also a section of New York City, but since the Stones are from England I venture that they are talking about Chelsea, England. There is no Chelsea in Minnesota. Stop talking to crazy people in the street! :-)

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ZidaneTribal
10-01-2005

Rated 0 
He's not "crazy" he's just a bit mentally disabled. And he certainly doesn't harass people.

Here, I took a picture (of a picture) of him; framed in Licks, an icecream shop in Excelsior (if you're in the area, you can visit it). http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y276/Agivith/MrJimmy.jpg

I apologize for the low quality, I took it with my cell phone.

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Crimsonicity
10-09-2005

Rated 0 
This is a comment from Dolly Dagger by Jimi Hendrix, I think it makes sense:

by jersey73 on 10-01-2004 @ 07:12:33 PM
This song is about Mick Jagger and Jimi's girlfriend Devon Wilson. Devon threw a birthday party for Jimi...but Devon always had a thing for Mick Jagger too. The story goes that a glass Mick was holding broke and cut his finger. Devon went over and started sucking on Mick bloody finger.

Devon and Jimi had a love/hate relationship.

Incidently, when that party ended, Devon ended up going home with Mick Jagger. Mick in turn wrote the song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" for Jimi Hendrix. Think of those lyrics:
"I saw her today at a reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man

I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standin' in line with Mr. Jimmy
A-man, did he look pretty ill"

Ah...semi-rock and roll fueds!!!

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cmw000
12-16-2005

Rated 0 
I think it's funny there's this much discussion about what this song means. It's could scarcely be more straightforward.

WHAT YOU WANT AND WHAT YOU NEED AREN'T THE SAME THING

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Thedon45
12-29-2005

Rated 0 
mic jaggers wife wanted a yaht for her bday and she was bitching at him for not buying it for her and he responded

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etrigan
01-09-2006

Rated 0 
Its worth it to note that Devon Wilson died by falling from the Chelsea Hotel in 1971. Of course thats a bit after the song was written. She was most def. linked to Jimi and Mick...pretty much a supergroupie.

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underoath_55
01-23-2006

Rated 0 
yeah you people talking about some retarded guy are a little off ..."jimmy" refers to hendrix, who was good friends with mick jagger. Hendrixs favorite soda was Cherry flavored. all he said to me was "dead". sorry to ruin your guys guessing game.

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chevellefan11
02-20-2006

Rated 0 
A great song

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heyjude55
04-02-2006

Rated 0 
i think this has a relation between an incident with jimi hendrix. see my comment on Fire by Hendrix

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heyjude55
05-25-2006

Rated 0 
Oh shit I dig this song. I dig the bongos, the opera, the music, drums, jagger, everay thing

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despondent
06-03-2006

Rated 0 
The Excelsior, Minnesota story is an urban legend, and nothing more.

This song is most likely about the difficulties of scoring good drugs. Sorry to suck the mystery and life out of it for you.

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Occams_Harmony
06-30-2006

Rated 0 
Yeah. It's about trying to get what you need to say alive. Also, it might not be so bad after all, even if you can't get what you want. After all, do you really need it? All you can ask for in life is what you need. If you get what you need, that's a good life. Anything more is a bonus.

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Ludey
08-21-2006

Rated 0 
So far, in my life, I've usually gotten what I've needed to get by. The things I've wanted are usually the things that have caused the most trouble for me.

This song, to me, says something along the lines of: You're not always going to get what you desire, but, hey, most of the time those things bring more trouble than they're worth. If you try to get what you truly need, you'll get by just fine, and maybe one day one of the things you want will come to you.

This song also reminds me of a close friend of mine. He was griping one day because he didn't get what he wanted, and his dad instantly started singing this song to him.

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sportsism
10-05-2006

Rated 0 
Personally, this is ony of my favorite songs. The boy's choir at the beginning followed by the acoustic song, and the way the song brings in more instruments as the song goes on is fantastic. The lyrics are really interesting as well.

I listen to this song whenever I'm depressed, and it's jokingly become my mantra for the football team I root for - I listen to this song after a loss.

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shantastic
03-16-2007

Rated 0 
this song pretty much speaks for itself. Trying your best doesn't always work out. This is a great song to sing to people who get whatev. they want.

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Bennn
05-03-2007

Rated 0 
Hi Folks,
I always thought the first verse is about Janis Joplin, who drank herself to death. She meets her (Drug)-connection. her ''footloose'' man is Bobby Mc Gee, from her most famous Song...(and lost Love)
Jimmy obviously is Jimmy Hendrix, who also died because of excessive Drug use.
Of course you can't always get what you want, and surely those two guys didn't.
-Like many of this Generation...whose Spirit died also..

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everybodylies
05-26-2007

Rated 0 
One of the most played songs on House (despite Teardrop)

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RiversideGuitarist
08-18-2007

Rated 0 
Whitewolf, that guy must be crazy and lying to you, because Mick Jagger himself said that Mr. Jimmy was the producer "Jimmy Miller". He produced this song with him and they were friends at the time. I dont have the article, but heres a link that has a little info on it. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6595945/you_cant_always_get_what_you_want

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Lord_Fletcher
10-07-2007

Rated 0 
Mr. Jimmy has died at age 75. I live in the Lake Minnetonka area and my dad was at that Stones show in '64 at the Excelsior amusement park. It was not big a big show by any means. Jim Hutmaker is the real thing. Rest in peace, Mr. Jimmy.

http://www.startribune.com/466/story/1465889.html

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HonkyFire
04-22-2008

Rated 0 
Think about the first and last verse. At the beginning she has a glass of wine in her hand. At the end it turns into a bleeding man in the glass. Pretty negative, as if she "drinks the blood of men" after deceiving them. That's why I think this song is all about our wants having potentially negative consequences most of the time, and that good luck prevails and prevents us from obtaining what we want, only allowing us to have what we need. Something we truly need is something that can't kill us.

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JesseRussell
07-29-2008

Rated 0 
I'm from Minnesota and I knew Mr. Jimmy too

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crxbart
08-18-2008

Rated 0 
I too think it is about the our wants and needs, and how our wants probably will cause harm to us. Possibly the want being a relationship with someone who is not right for you, or is just going to cause you trouble and hurt you.

This song hit home to me the other day. I went to lunch and it came on my ipod in my car when I left. It was right after realizing things wouldn't work with this girl. I've dated her in the past, and always wanted ever since. I realized she would always take me for granted, and treat me badly and only think of herself, and her own agenda. I realized at that point, I didn't need her, and life would go on despite losing her. I tried with her time and time again. This was the point when I quit trying, and realized everything for what it really was.

She hurt me, and I was the "bleeding man in the glass"

I realized I didn't need her, she was always just a want, and will always be a want. I got what I needed from her. I'll get nothing more. As much as I wanted her, I'll have to move on. That's what it means to me.

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