I am normally resistant to writing about this kind of overexposed Boomer anthem, but it occurred to me that it would be an interesting tune to analyze on the first day of pop aural skills class, because it’s both simple and harmonically interesting.
For background on the song and on the Stones generally, I recommend this episode of Andrew Hickey’s brilliant 500 Songs podcast. Andrew describes “Satisfaction” as “a record that took the social protest of the folk-rock movement, aligned it with the misogyny its singer had found in many blues songs, and turned it into the most powerful expression of male adolescent frustration ever recorded to that point.” He also neatly puts his fingers on the thing that bothers me most about the song, and about the Stones’ whole vibe:
[W]hen Bo Diddley sang “I’m a Man”, the subtext was “so don’t call me ‘boy’, cracker”. Meanwhile, when some British white teenagers from Essex sang the same words, in complete ignorance of the world in which Diddley lived, what they were singing was “I’m a man now, mummy, so you can’t make me tidy my room if I don’t want to”.
But the thing is, there are a lot of teenagers out there who don’t want to tidy their rooms, and that kind of message does resonate.
According to Secondhand Songs, “Satisfaction” is the ninth most covered song of 1965. My favorite of those covers is the one performed by PJ Harvey and Björk at the 1994 Brit Awards.
This recording is the real reason I wanted to talk about the song in class. The Stones’ tempo is about 135 beats per minute, but PJ and Björk take it at more like 90. One student described it as sounding like an impending murder. The feeling of menace is compounded by the odd meter and the incongruously quiet power chords.
Anyway, like I said, while the Stones’ original is not a complicated song, it is a musically intriguing one. Here’s my transcription. First of all, what even is the structure? There’s no chorus, or maybe the whole thing is one long chorus. I ended up labeling the sections A, B, C, and so on, and I’m not even sure where those should begin and end.
Let’s start with the intro, the iconic Keith Richards fuzz guitar riff that also runs under much of the main song. The riff begins with the notes B, C-sharp and D. This immediately suggests B minor, but no, once the bass enters, the key turns out to be E. But is it E major or minor or what? It’s not clear; the acoustic rhythm guitar is mixed quietly and is probably just playing power chords anyway. (There’s some debate about whether Brian Jones or Keith Richards is playing it.) And then what is that other chord? The guitar riff suggests D or Bm, but the bass is playing A. So is it a D chord with its fifth in the bass, or an Asus4 chord? Some online sources say it’s just D, others say that the D is preceded and followed by A. I wrote it the way I hear it.
There’s some interesting rhythmic and harmonic friction between the guitar riff and Bill Wyman’s bassline. While the guitar riff is entirely between the notes B and D, the bass is entirely between E and A. The second note of the guitar riff is on beat two, but the second note of the bassline is half a beat later. The guitar anticipates the downbeat of the second bar, while the bassline lands right on it. The bass walks up from E to A via G-natural, suggesting Dorian or blues, but it walks from A back down to E via G-sharp, suggesting Mixolydian or major. This might all be sloppiness or indecision, except that Bill Wyman plays it exactly the same way every time. Why? I have no idea, but it adds tension that keeps the riff from being too boring.
The A section (“I can’t get no-o, sa-tis-fac-tio-ion”) alternates E and A chords. Mick’s vocal melody outlines the third, fifth and seventh of E7, and the third, fifth and seventh of A7. That puts us in the key of “E blues”. The B section (“but I try, and I try”) is E, B, E, A. That B chord could be Bm or just a B power chord, it’s not remotely clear from the recording. After that, all other sections are sung over the intro riff.
The PJ Harvey and Björk version is harmonically simpler. It starts on an ominous E power chord, and mostly alternates E5 and G5. PJ starts out speak-singing, then sings G-naturals to suggest E minor, but towards the end she hits some big G-sharps to change the feel to E Mixolydian. Except she’s still playing that G5 that still evokes minor. And yet she and Björk end the song harmonizing on an E major chord! It’s so cool.
Here some other noteworthy covers:
Otis Redding (1965) – Keith Richards originally wanted the fuzz guitar riff to be a horn part, and the song he was imagining in his head probably sounded more like Otis’ version.
Quincy Jones (1965) – It sounds more like Count Basie than Count Basie does.
Aretha Franklin (1967) – When does she not destroy on a song like this?
Herbie Mann (1972) – Funky jazz flute!
Devo (1977) – I feel obligated to include this, and it’s funny in theory, but it’s stressful to actually listen to.
Britney Spears (2000) – So much better than I was expecting. Great production.
Asako Toki (2004) – Backed by a really hip string quartet arrangement.
When I was young, the Stones were the epitome of coolness, definitely better regarded than their 1960s peers. I was always more of a Beatles guy than a Stones guy, but to my ears, the Beatles remain fresh, while the Stones have aged like milk. My students are definitely more interested in the Beatles. I do love Keith Richards’ guitar style, and he and Mick have written some undeniably great songs. But the attitude, the posture, the studied sloppiness and the misogyny all get on my nerves. Also, Brian Jones is one of rock history’s most repulsive characters. So I’m happy to learn and teach Stones songs, and to recognize their place in popular music history, but I will do so from a skeptical place.