Meaning
The three verses (along with the varied theme in the fourth verse) address the major topics of the 1960s: love, politics, and drugs. Each verse captures the essence of the initial optimism and eventual disillusion, followed by the resigned pragmatism in the chorus.
Unterberger concludes of the song, "Much has been made of the lyrics reflecting the end of the overlong party that was the 1960s, as a snapshot of Swinging London burning out. That's a valid interpretation, but it should also be pointed out that there's also an uplifting and reassuring quality to the melody and performance. This is particularly true of the key lyrical hook, when we are reminded that we can't always get what we want, but we'll get what we need."
A man named Jimmy Hutmaker of Excelsior, Minnesota claimed that he was the "Mr. Jimmy" mentioned in the song and that he said the phrase "you can't always get what you want" to Jagger during a chance encounter at a drug store in Excelsior in 1964. David Dalton, a writer for Rolling Stone who witnessed the filming of The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus claims in his commentary track for the DVD of the concert that "Mr Jimmy" refers to Jimmy Miller, the producer of all of the Rolling Stones albums from Beggar's Banquet through Goat's Head Soup.
Read more about this topic: You Can't Always Get What You Want
Famous quotes containing the word meaning:
“Delusions that shrink to the size of a woman’s glove,
Then sicken inclusively outwards:
. . . the incessant recital
Intoned by reality, larded with technical terms,
Each one double-yolked with meaning and meaning’s rebuttal:
For the skirl of that bulletin unpicks the world like a knot....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“All my life I believed I knew something. But then one strange day came when I realized that I knew nothing, yes, I knew nothing. And so words became void of meaning ... I have arrived too late at ultimate uncertainty.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)