We were the generation that the school bell sounded and we were instructed to get under our desk because a nuclear bomb was headed our way , for the first time in history people sat in their homes and watched war on our televisions , bombs dropping and body bags and death. All of this as we cried and begged for shelter. Peace - it’s just a kiss away.
Yes, SPRINKLE53, that is the way we were. I grew up near Washington DC and a strong sensory memory for me is the smell of the unfinished wood on the underside of my school desk as I huddled from what our teacher was telling us was the threat of annihilation. I was in the 4th grade when we heard the school announcement that our president had been shot and killed, and I can see the sorrow on my teacher’s face even now. This song is the encapsulation of dread.
It's a dark song because it was a dark time. War overseas and war at home. Leaders who tried to help the people being gunned down before our eyes. (I still remember my mom crying the night RFK was murdered.) Chaos and madness seemed like they might overwhelm everything. The Stones embodied that chaos for a while. (They were joined by The Doors, who also embodied darkness and madness.)
I don't much like the word "zeitgeist," but there really is such a thing as "spirit of the age" or "pulse of the times." This song viscerally captures the menace and social chaos of 1969 like few others of the time. Maybe CCR's "Run Through the Jungle" or Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" do as well.
This song was written and produced drive about the time the Vietnam war the height of the Vietnam war The protests were just starting young people are being attacked by police a just a little while after this song came out they can't stay event happened so there was a lot of unrest in a darkness going on in the country and I think the song captured really well. It is one of my favourite by the stones not my favourite though I was a stone fan when everybody else was a Beatles fan I like that rob in your face sound. Street fighting man is a good stone song Show is Dancing with Mr. D and Heartbreaker off of goats head soup I think that album came out early 70s
@@ginaarendtson9478 OK, fine, no problem. It's just that to my generation (old fart - remembers this song coming out in '69) her name, and her vocals on this track, are so iconic.
Truth. Mick recently said something similar. He also said that The Beatles were the greatest songwriting band of all time and The Rolling Stones were the greatest touring band.
I was 12 in 1968 and lead a pretty sheltered life. I remember watching the news and thinking that the world must blow up. Too much was going on. My brother was 5 years older had a bad drug habit in high school. I think it was because in his mind you turn 18. You go to Vietnam. You get killed. Why not take drugs? It was a dark time to be a teenager
Back in the day which I remember because I am 67 so I grew up with this music and there were two camps. One were Beatles fan and the other was the Stones. I think this is one of the Stones best songs. It was actually an antiwar song. The Vietnam War was occurring at that time. You are right when you say the Beatles had a more polished look and sound whereas the Stones were more rough in look and sound. I was in the Beatles camp but I also listened to the Stones as well. It was the best time to grow up in! ✌🇨🇦
When listening to the songs of this era you have to have the whole picture of the times n the surroundings. As someone who grew up as a teenager in the sixties it was a crazy time in the world.
It was a dark time for so many of us, at home, at school, in the streets, on the battlefield...a generation in the midst of a great deal of societal growing pangs and pain....an anthem of a generation seeking, demanding change and knowing there was no safety in doing so; but the hope of positive growth.
My introduction to this song was the cover recorded by The Sisters of Mercy. That led me to the Stones original. I love both versions. Merry Clayton's vocals are a highlight of the Stones' recording.
Well, I've got to say that you have given me a new thought after all these years with your "Beatles sounds were clean, almost perfect". So now I am thinking that it was George Martin, who may not have known rock & roll, but he knew he had two musical geniuses and he wanted to make sure to capture a sound that would go down through the ages like a Beethoven or Bach. And he succeeded.
My favorite Stone’s song!!! I’m going down the hole with you, catching up on your reactions. Loving this, thank you! Greetings from the States, North Carolina. Whenever my daughters or I hear this come on, we text “Turn it up!” to each other ☮️❤️👏👏👏
Stones sound raw as they do because they’re a blue-based band. There was something bad going on! The VIETNAM WAR! The song contrasts how a shot can cause war. A kiss can cause love. Brian Jones didn’t write much. This is a Jagger-Richards product. They’re the best. All songs on the Sticky Fingers album is tough to top.
As I mentioned on your Sympathy for the Devil reaction, it's what was going on in society at the time. The Vietnam war, the civil rights struggle, and other upheaval in society.
It was written as an anti war song, which was a big thing in the '60's. It reflects its time, so it's more than just a "dark" song, and it does have a positive message at the end... peace as an alternative to war. Also, why only focus on the lyrics? That's just one piece of what's going on in a song.
OK, a little history. Gimme Shelter was released in 1969. Vietnam War was at full roll. The Tet surprise offensive had just occurred Jan. 1968. Walter Cronkite had Feb. 1968 declare the Vietnam War unwinnable. Watts Riots had happened in 1965, Detroit riots was in 1969. Also, remember the average age of the Combat Infantryman during Vietnam was 19 versus in World War II it was 35. So, 19 is a child. As for reference ... Societal injustice, sad 50+ years nothing has changed. Dark song for Dark Times.
Merry Clayton was a Christian raised on church music and said she was shocked when she had to sing the words Rape, Murder. Good thing she went along with it.
Just as relevant today as when it came out during the Viet Nam war in the 60's. Merry Clayton made this song. Done in 1 take about 3am. Mick loved the crack in her voice. So much unrest during the war then.
If you want to understand this song, if you want to understand this era of music, you need to understand what was going on in the US at the time. The conflict in Viet Nam (the "war" in the song) had a huge impact on the youth of America and sparked ongoing protests all over the country. Murders in the south over civil rights. The assasinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. Insurrections in the cities and at the Democratic National Convention of 1968. The cold war between the US and the USSR. Music gave voice to the anger and fear of a generation. Young people today have just as much cause for alarm but they have no music to express themselves with. No one even sings "We Shall Overcome" anymore.
I was 9 in 1968 but I paid a lot of attention to news, tv, politics, etc etc. There were major tragedies in the assassinations of MLK and RFK and there was much violence and rioting around the US and the world. Vietnam had become an ongoing disaster. It seemed like a very dangerous and threatening time. In my lifetime the only single year to approach it in ominous feelings has been 2020. Of course there were moments in 2008, 2001, 1980 and 1963 that were very disturbing.
63, cuban missile crisis? 1980 dont know what went wrong then (apart from me being born and john bonham dying lol) 2001 twin towers 2008 banks crashed the worlds economy then rode off into the sunset with our money! that 1 hit me HARD!
This song is from the late 60’s the anti vietnam war era when there were huge demonstrations against the war and quite a bit of rioting and street fighting. More than today but the message can still be a cautionary tale for today’s civil unrest. In other words” be careful, war is only a shot away”
I was born in 1956...kids my age learned that when grown-ups covered their faces when they were listening to the News, something bad was going on. It seemed to happen a lot in the 1960's.
If you think this song is dark, check out the Rolling Stones movie by same name, Gimme Shelter. Biggest part of the movie takes place at outdoor concert at Altamont Speedway with Hell's Angels providing 'security'. Mob violence breaks out and the band is rushed out on a helicopter as a sea of violence proceeds below them. It's one of those must see movies that documents a part of the 60s. The organizers of Woodstock concert, which took place later the same year as the Altamont, were determined not to repeat the mistakes of Altamont and generally produced a peaceful gathering.
Keith wrote it sitting in a window sill with a rainstorm going on outside. He was in a dark place because his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg was on the set of the movie "Performance" filming an explicit sex scene with Mick Jagger. Many have said it was real. In response, Keith had a fling with Marianne Faithfull. The song grew into this. I have an early version with Keith singing it.
I just checked and this song wa played at Alamont but it perfectly sums up the situation at that concert. But maybe The Stones had a presentment as it succinctly sums up the darkening mood after Woodstock et al. The 60s ethos ended at that notorious event Harri
You need to watch the Dcoumentary 20 feet from Stardom. Mick talks about Mary Clayton singing her part in here. Also it delves into the background singers that make Rock what it is today especially the black back ground singers. The British just repackaged soul music and sent it back to us but still need the bakcground singers to give it that spice!
In the early days of British rock most bands wore suits or those Teddy Boy suits like the Beatles or Animals. I think the Stones were one of the first bands to ditch that look and develop their own image.
OMG you're going down the Stone's rabbit hole. TURN BACK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE! LOL It's dark because life is not always la la la and bright and cheery. This was from a time when artists wrote and painted the realities of their world. You can plainly see this from the music, art, literary works, many of the films, etc. Thank goodness there were balances from movie studios like Disney, TV sitcoms and light literature from authors like PG Wodehouse. Personally, I appreciate the honesty and rawness which the Stones gave us. On a side note...I also like la la la Variety, my friend...is the spice of life. Cheers
By the time this song was released in the late sixties, the Beatles no longer dressed in nice suits and careful haircuts but had switched to the freer, more casual, hippie styles that had come into fashion, as had the Stones, who likewise had looked a bit more clean-cut in the mid-sixties. You might have gotten the impression that the Beatles always looked clean-cut from seeing fan-made videos to Beatles songs consisting of montages of photos of them from multiple points in their career, giving no sense of when the different styles were worn nor of which photos actually went chronologically with which songs.
It's funny that you mention a van, Harri, because the Rolling Stones famously invested in a mobile recording trailer that enabled them to record even while they were on tour somewhere in the world. When they weren't using it, they loaned it out to friends, and many artistes have used the Rolling Stones Mobile Studios over the years. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stones_Mobile_Studio
@@Happyheretic2308 ...and famously, Deep Purple, who namechecked the mobile studio in "Smoke on the Water" (that's another song that you must listen to, Harri).
YESSSS!!! I’m a big Stones fan- I’ve been to many of their concerts and they are great live!! It used to be a question people would ask you - are you a Stones or Beatles fan- I would of course say, STONES!
Street Fighting Man is another song of theirs from this point in time. It was a time, it was a time..... This song ends with the realization that while war/turmoil are just a shot away, love is just a kiss away - and remove the war/turmoil.
Back in the day, you were either a Beatles fan or a Stones fan, and the two rarely met. However, after The Beatles broke up in 1970, the Stones hit their stride. There was competition between the two groups, but did you know The four Beatles portraits were on the cover of Their Satanic Majesties Request? Listen to 10,000 Light Years From Home. An early psychedelic masterpiece. There is also Mick Jagger & David Bowie together doing Dancing in the Street. Definately worth a view with two icons.
You are too young to remember when the Stones first appeared they too had neat little matching uniforms. Perhaps they were a bit scruffier than the Beatles, but the two bands were trying to project pretty much the same image in the early sixties, as did all of the early British bands - Gerry and the Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits, Eric Burton and the Animals, etc. Supposedly, it was after seeing James Brown for the first time that the Stones decided to change their image.
@@wfredhump What do you think the "red coal carpet" means? I am pretty sure I know where it came from. I hate the fact that the video screws up this important line.
If you look at the Beatles in Germany to when they signed their first record deal they were the real ruff and ready group who loved RnRoll, Blue and Jazz( Harrison guitar for Jazz). The Stones were London Boys into the same music but loved blues more, the Jazz influence came from Charlie Watts. The Beatles had the outer clean image but were party animals before they were famous and influenced the Stones as they were very conservative off stage. As the Beatles had the clean image the Stones took the bad boy image. Only after being exposed to touring did the Stones become like many Bands of the 60's. Gimme Shelter and The Beatles white Album came out in 68 when Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated and there was a lot of riots and rebellion especially against the Vietnam War. All kinds of bands were doing songs about the upheaval going on in the USA.
The Rolling Stones are a blues influenced group unlike the Beatles. That’s why they are so rough and raw but that’s also why their songs are often three or four chord songs which at the root are often similar and for the same reason there are few hidden gems in the Stones catalogue. The Stones are also less musically ambitious .
Kelly Stith unlike The Rolling Stones they were not listening to the blues in their youth. In his book Stone alone Bill Woman recalls that John Lennon made fun of them listening to Jimmy Reed. For the Beatles the influence of blues came later .There is blues obviously in their music but through many indirect channels: Motown , big band English jazz....
I come from those days as well. It was mainly a part of the antiwar movement, which I include with riots that happened in those days as well. If you look at the colors, they all represent the feeling of the song. There were flowers for peace, but explosions of war. If you watch the reds, you can see what looks like blood spilling and spatters of blood as well. The colors also show the explosions of war. This song might be hard to place because it represents our time as well with wars around the world. I especially think of Russia and the Ukraine at the moment.
I think this was slightly before the concert in the US but both are 1o69 and I am sorry to come in with such a horrible story where a young black fan was stabbed to death only inches away from the stage whole Mick Jagger was performing Hells Angel's ran amok at the open air festival at Alamont. t I think it was called. Either way there is a DVD documentary called Gimme Shelter as a film crew picked up the incident. An ashen faced Jagger looks on appalled as the not very clear incident in a crowded audience was played out in slow mo.to him. One of the most griisly incidents is Rock history.. it was the antirhaist of Woodstock thr festival that had been staged a little while before Alamont
Hi Harri. Yet again I'm commenting not on this video. Got another notification that you tried again to post a reaction to Nowhere Man. And pardon the awful pun, but it's nowhere to be seen. UA-cam apparently really, really doesn't want you to post that video! I hope you find the magic workaround (or whatever is required) to get it out to us! Love that song and really want to see your reaction.
I really dont know whats going on..i have been trying to post Beatles songs for the last four days..and when i do,they are not visible to viewers. Maybe they are telling me i am.posting too many Beatles songs..i am not happy at all
The Rolling stones were brought up in middle class neighborhoods of the London area. The Beatles were rough port kids from Liverpool. The Beatles were dressed up to clean up their image, and the stones were trying to portray a poor southern blues man image. They were the opposite of what they portrayed. Not that the stones were rich, but the Beatles considered them "posh".
The Beatles were NOT 'rough port kids', as you put it. John Lennon lived on Menlove Avenue, which is the road of the top of the road where I used to live - Hillside Road, check it out on a map. Menlove Avenue was afffluent, and nowhere near the docks. Ditto for Paul Mc. and George H. Ringo was the only one who lived neat the docks, in the district of 'Dingle'. Try to get your facts right...
Mick and Brian were middle class, maybe even a little posh, but the rest of the Stones came from working class backgrounds. While on The Beatles, John Lennon had a pretty middle class upbringing because of his aunt. But even though the rest of The Beatles were working class, Paul and George had it better than Ringo who came from a really poor background.
@@ednicholson7839 I know, compared to one another, The stones came from slightly better upbringings. Even Paul said John's aunt was one step up in class from where he and George's family were, but Liverpool was a very poor city. Londoners were just a little better off by location. A well off Liverpudlian was still a lower Londoner.
THE ROLLING STONES, "GIVE ME SHELTER"... I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN ABOUT THIS GROUP. THOUGH I LIKED MANY OF THOSE HITS THEY HAD. I COULD NEVER GET MYSELF TO PURCHASE THEIR ALBUMS. "SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL", "YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT", "HONKY TONK WOMAN"...."CAN YOU HEAR ME KNOCKING"...
Don't you Reactors ever do any research? During the 60's the Stones were the Countercultures premier band who carried the zeitgeist of the age. With Gimme Shelter - rocks greatest song of dread - they foreshadowed the death of 60's utopianism - insurrectionary Paris 68/Grosvenor Square Riots/Mai Li Massacre/Vietnam war/Manson Murders/Black civil rights movement/Race War/Mass Civil Disturbance/Nixon/Kent State Killings/Nuclear war. At the height of their powers the Stones pre-empted the coming dissolution and retreat into the decadence and cynicism of the 70's by the 60's generation and my!! How we danced!! Not on the grave of Western Civilisation as we imagined but on our own sense of communalism. For too short a while The Rolling Stones were sensual/sinister/iconic/political/ironic/camp. "This is the Stones as they ought to be remembered; emperors while they still had the clothes, hollow men before the tappers' hammer, princes of darkness before the lights came up". The Stones are like a spine that runs down the back of rock 'n' roll history, unimpeachable bohemian rhythm kings. They are the spirit of rock 'n' roll, its death and one of its greatest beginnings. They are to rock 'n' roll what Wilde, Muddy Waters, Beardsley, Chuck Berry, Byron, Jimmy Reed, Rimbaud, John Lee Hooker are to the art of a life lived. After all these years of let downs, disappointments/flawed albums perceived betrayals - outlaw millionaires - they have become the greatest rock 'n' roll circus and most beloved jukebox in the world. And yet they still represent that old Dylan trope that "To live outside the law you must be honest". They are the greatest rock 'n' roll band of all time and Gimme Shelter their greatest testament.
Maybe one day you will realise a reactors gig is to react to a song,video or performance,and not to study or write tbe biography of a band. If you have any info or knowledge you wanna share,you can do so without a condescending attitude.
@@HarriBestReactions What you fail to understand is, to react to a song like Gimme Shelter you need to understand the social/cultural/political context of the turbulent late 60's that created it. Without "context" your "reaction?!!" Is rendered meaningless.
@@daubreyjaneweirdsley What you fail to grasp is,you can react to a song in so many ways.Everyone has their own style and theme. You could be reacting to a song on many levels,vocals,message,music,video etc.There are no rules,you make your own rules.Thats why you have your favourite reactors.What is meaningless to you may not be so to others. Personally,i dont like reading up on things before i react for two reasons.It might influence my reaction and i like the unknown.I also like the idea of throwing questions up in the air so that the audience can participate in the comment section.Thats why you were able to contribute.Thats what i like. If i have info on a song or a band before i hand,fine.I may use it.But i wont specifically go searching before i react.It takes the fun awayfor me. But i don't even mind if you think there are things i should do that i don't.Cos you have everyy right to have an opinion.What i didn't like was the tone of your comment.Your opening line.
@@HarriBestReactions Okay, but you can read up on it now, can't you? It's not just a matter of understanding the music. I agree that a good piece of music doesn't need a historical context to be appreciated. But the sixties have a lot to teach us about what we're dealing with right now. The more we understand the lessons of history the less need there is to waste time trying to reinvent the wheel.
Beatles vs Stones image? The funny thing is The Beatles were actually the working class ones with the rough and tumble history in Hamburg etc, while the Stones were relatively well-to-do with more social pedigree, education and an easier path to stardom following in The Beatles’ wake.
I believe the Beatles became more "polished" is because they stopped touring. They made songs that they didn't have to perform live. If they'd continued to tour, most of their later songs would have been much different and I would suggest more raw except for George Martin's influence.
merrys fine vocals. deep song, writen in vietnam war time, mick said it was v best song vey ever wrote. were only ever 1 step away frm chaos is my interpretation n we have a choice which way 2 go.
The real story of this song is interesting it came about after an incident at a concert in 1969 altmont the hells angels were hired as security for the show and a concert goer made one of them angry and was killed in front of the stones they wrote this song after
While your characterization of the difference between The Stones and The Beatles is generally true, The Beatles also have their "dark", rough songs. You should listen to "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" and "Yer Blues", from the While Album. "I Want You" is another badass song from The Beatles that shows more of their "edge" and roughness. Check it out! The Stones are great too!
1969. Vietnam. The Cold War. RKF murdered. MLK murdered. Race riots. Anti war riots . Kent State. Drugs. Cultural upheaval. I recall it first hand and this song captures it perfectly.
I think this song was made by Keith after he saw Mick with his girlfriend and he was contemplating suicide, I may be mistaken but I'm pretty sure that was the background of this song.
I think I heard a few notes of the song in between the hundreds of adverts, but it was difficult to pick out over the background din of people trying to sell me things that I have no interest in.
Same here. I’m appreciating them more as I get older. Although I do believe they have earned the honor of the greatest rock band. They’re still together after 55 years. Holy shit. They have my respect.
Dark song that ends with a positive message.
it is basically saying, we have a choice.
War or love.
We were the generation that the school bell sounded and we were instructed to get under our desk because a nuclear bomb was headed our way , for the first time in history people sat in their homes and watched war on our televisions , bombs dropping and body bags and death. All of this as we cried and begged for shelter. Peace - it’s just a kiss away.
Yes, SPRINKLE53, that is the way we were. I grew up near Washington DC and a strong sensory memory for me is the smell of the unfinished wood on the underside of my school desk as I huddled from what our teacher was telling us was the threat of annihilation. I was in the 4th grade when we heard the school announcement that our president had been shot and killed, and I can see the sorrow on my teacher’s face even now.
This song is the encapsulation of dread.
Thank you.
We,the people.from the past,we dont want to seek shelter.
Bin there,done that!
Merry Clayton is amazing, and her passion in this song is unmatched.
Just so sad she lost her baby soon after doing the vocals for this..
It's a dark song because it was a dark time. War overseas and war at home. Leaders who tried to help the people being gunned down before our eyes. (I still remember my mom crying the night RFK was murdered.) Chaos and madness seemed like they might overwhelm everything. The Stones embodied that chaos for a while. (They were joined by The Doors, who also embodied darkness and madness.)
The Velvet Underground effectively mined the same dark underbelly of the sixties
well said
Isn’t this our current situation as well?
I remember our boys coming home in body bags, on the news, every night.
I'm not sure we've made any progress!
The Stones longevity never ceases to astound me.
I don't much like the word "zeitgeist," but there really is such a thing as "spirit of the age" or "pulse of the times." This song viscerally captures the menace and social chaos of 1969 like few others of the time. Maybe CCR's "Run Through the Jungle" or Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" do as well.
This song was written and produced drive about the time the Vietnam war the height of the Vietnam war The protests were just starting young people are being attacked by police a just a little while after this song came out they can't stay event happened so there was a lot of unrest in a darkness going on in the country and I think the song captured really well. It is one of my favourite by the stones not my favourite though I was a stone fan when everybody else was a Beatles fan I like that rob in your face sound. Street fighting man is a good stone song Show is Dancing with Mr. D and Heartbreaker off of goats head soup I think that album came out early 70s
"For What It's Worth".
You picked Two additional songs which perfectly present the Z-word.
Nice job!
When you hear Mary Claytons voice crack you can hear mick in the background saying “yeah”! I believe she makes this song the great song that it is
Her first name is 'Merry', not 'Mary'.
@@Pokafalva
Yes, that was an auto correct
@@ginaarendtson9478 OK, fine, no problem. It's just that to my generation (old fart - remembers this song coming out in '69) her name, and her vocals on this track, are so iconic.
Keith’s riffs, Mick’s singing and harp playing and Merry’s performance all make it the great song it is.
Here we go- pretending to know who Mary Clayton was before you watched this. I see you.
The Beatles sang about how the world should be,The Stones sang about how the world really is.................
I like this so much 👍🏿💯
Truth. Mick recently said something similar. He also said that The Beatles were the greatest songwriting band of all time and The Rolling Stones were the greatest touring band.
Nice. You put that very well.
Bingo
Wow. Very well put. 🍻
I was 12 in 1968 and lead a pretty sheltered life. I remember watching the news and thinking that the world must blow up. Too much was going on. My brother was 5 years older had a bad drug habit in high school. I think it was because in his mind you turn 18. You go to Vietnam. You get killed. Why not take drugs? It was a dark time to be a teenager
Back in the day which I remember because I am 67 so I grew up with this music and there were two camps. One were Beatles fan and the other was the Stones. I think this is one of the Stones best songs. It was actually an antiwar song. The Vietnam War was occurring at that time. You are right when you say the Beatles had a more polished look and sound whereas the Stones were more rough in look and sound. I was in the Beatles camp but I also listened to the Stones as well. It was the best time to grow up in! ✌🇨🇦
Excuse me... are you me? LOL I am the same age and in the same camp.
@@akahina LOL
I was always a Beatles fan and I was always a Rolling Stones fan. Loved them both in different ways.
"The Beatles and The stones.
Sucked the marrow out of bones.
Put the V in Vietnam,
Made it good to be alone
To be alone"
The House of Love.
When listening to the songs of this era you have to have the whole picture of the times n the surroundings. As someone who grew up as a teenager in the sixties it was a crazy time in the world.
It was a dark time for so many of us, at home, at school, in the streets, on the battlefield...a generation in the midst of a great deal of societal growing pangs and pain....an anthem of a generation seeking, demanding change and knowing there was no safety in doing so; but the hope of positive growth.
Their best song probably.
My introduction to this song was the cover recorded by The Sisters of Mercy. That led me to the Stones original. I love both versions. Merry Clayton's vocals are a highlight of the Stones' recording.
This song is a brilliant reflection of its time.
Well, I've got to say that you have given me a new thought after all these years with your "Beatles sounds were clean, almost perfect". So now I am thinking that it was George Martin, who may not have known rock & roll, but he knew he had two musical geniuses and he wanted to make sure to capture a sound that would go down through the ages like a Beethoven or Bach. And he succeeded.
My favorite Stone’s song!!! I’m going down the hole with you, catching up on your reactions. Loving this, thank you! Greetings from the States, North Carolina. Whenever my daughters or I hear this come on, we text “Turn it up!” to each other ☮️❤️👏👏👏
Stones sound raw as they do because they’re a blue-based band.
There was something bad going on! The VIETNAM WAR!
The song contrasts how a shot can cause war. A kiss can cause love. Brian Jones didn’t write much. This is a Jagger-Richards product.
They’re the best. All songs on the Sticky Fingers album is tough to top.
Fav Stones Song! That female singer. Just wicked!
Vietnam war footage is behind one version of "Gimme Shelter" and that really brings home the meaning of this song.
As I mentioned on your Sympathy for the Devil reaction, it's what was going on in society at the time. The Vietnam war, the civil rights struggle, and other upheaval in society.
Hi Harri.
The song is dark because the times were very very dark.
Similar to now in someways, but, ultimately, worse!
Merry Clayton is the icing on this cake.
Merry not Mary. I love the emotional crack in her voice. This is my favourite Stones song.
Love is just a KISS away, not a shot away.
It was written as an anti war song, which was a big thing in the '60's. It reflects its time, so it's more than just a "dark" song, and it does have a positive message at the end... peace as an alternative to war. Also, why only focus on the lyrics? That's just one piece of what's going on in a song.
OK, a little history. Gimme Shelter was released in 1969. Vietnam War was at full roll. The Tet surprise offensive had just occurred Jan. 1968. Walter Cronkite had Feb. 1968 declare the Vietnam War unwinnable. Watts Riots had happened in 1965, Detroit riots was in 1969. Also, remember the average age of the Combat Infantryman during Vietnam was 19 versus in World War II it was 35. So, 19 is a child. As for reference ... Societal injustice, sad 50+ years nothing has changed. Dark song for Dark Times.
Merry Clayton was a Christian raised on church music and said she was shocked when she had to sing the words Rape, Murder. Good thing she went along with it.
Good call on Gimme Shelter having the same rhythmic pulse and feel as Under My Thumb.
The Beatles have always had my heart ♥️, but that said, I love the Stones too!
They were speaking truth to power about a very unpopular war..
Just as relevant today as when it came out during the Viet Nam war in the 60's. Merry Clayton made this song. Done in 1 take about 3am. Mick loved the crack in her voice. So much unrest during the war then.
If you want to understand this song, if you want to understand this era of music, you need to understand what was going on in the US at the time. The conflict in Viet Nam (the "war" in the song) had a huge impact on the youth of America and sparked ongoing protests all over the country. Murders in the south over civil rights. The assasinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. Insurrections in the cities and at the Democratic National Convention of 1968. The cold war between the US and the USSR.
Music gave voice to the anger and fear of a generation. Young people today have just as much cause for alarm but they have no music to express themselves with. No one even sings "We Shall Overcome" anymore.
Just in case no-one else says it, Meri Clayton's isolated vocal (and whoops from an overawed 'Stones) is here on UA-cam too.
I was 9 in 1968 but I paid a lot of attention to news, tv, politics, etc etc. There were major tragedies in the assassinations of MLK and RFK and there was much violence and rioting around the US and the world. Vietnam had become an ongoing disaster.
It seemed like a very dangerous and threatening time. In my lifetime the only single year to approach it in ominous feelings has been 2020.
Of course there were moments in 2008, 2001, 1980 and 1963 that were very disturbing.
63, cuban missile crisis?
1980 dont know what went wrong then (apart from me being born and john bonham dying lol)
2001 twin towers
2008 banks crashed the worlds economy then rode off into the sunset with our money! that 1 hit me HARD!
@@Scoobydcs
63 - JFK
80 - Lennon, Iran hostage crisis, Reagan elected
Those times were dark; songs like this were relevant to the times.
This song is from the late 60’s the anti vietnam war era when there were huge demonstrations against the war and quite a bit of rioting and street fighting. More than today but the message can still be a cautionary tale for today’s civil unrest. In other words” be careful, war is only a shot away”
Harri, Vietnam was going on and all the turmoil of the 1960's..
Merry Clayton's voice is the whole song!!
I was born in 1956...kids my age learned that when grown-ups covered their faces when they were listening to the News, something bad was going on.
It seemed to happen a lot in the 1960's.
If you think this song is dark, check out the Rolling Stones movie by same name, Gimme Shelter. Biggest part of the movie takes place at outdoor concert at Altamont Speedway with Hell's Angels providing 'security'. Mob violence breaks out and the band is rushed out on a helicopter as a sea of violence proceeds below them. It's one of those must see movies that documents a part of the 60s. The organizers of Woodstock concert, which took place later the same year as the Altamont, were determined not to repeat the mistakes of Altamont and generally produced a peaceful gathering.
Keith wrote it sitting in a window sill with a rainstorm going on outside. He was in a dark place because his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg was on the set of the movie "Performance" filming an explicit sex scene with Mick Jagger. Many have said it was real. In response, Keith had a fling with Marianne Faithfull.
The song grew into this. I have an early version with Keith singing it.
I just checked and this song wa played at Alamont but it perfectly sums up the situation at that concert. But maybe The Stones had a presentment as it succinctly sums up the darkening mood after Woodstock et al. The 60s ethos ended at that notorious event Harri
my fav stones track
That's Jagger himself with the iconic two-note harmonica theme.
Also, this song appeared on their ‘Let it Bleed’ album in response to the Beatles ‘Let it Be’.
You need to watch the Dcoumentary 20 feet from Stardom. Mick talks about Mary Clayton singing her part in here. Also it delves into the background singers that make Rock what it is today especially the black back ground singers. The British just repackaged soul music and sent it back to us but still need the bakcground singers to give it that spice!
In the early days of British rock most bands wore suits or those Teddy Boy suits like the Beatles or Animals. I think the Stones were one of the first bands to ditch that look and develop their own image.
It reminds you of Under my Thumb, the harmonica reminds me a lot of Midnight Rambler, you should try that track. Merry Clayton, just fantastic.
Love or hate? War or peace? Life or death? Darkness or light? The choice is ours to make.
OMG you're going down the Stone's rabbit hole.
TURN BACK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE! LOL
It's dark because life is not always la la la and bright and cheery.
This was from a time when artists wrote and painted the realities of their world.
You can plainly see this from the music, art, literary works, many of the films, etc.
Thank goodness there were balances from movie studios like Disney, TV sitcoms and light literature from authors like PG Wodehouse.
Personally, I appreciate the honesty and rawness which the Stones gave us.
On a side note...I also like la la la
Variety, my friend...is the spice of life.
Cheers
By the time this song was released in the late sixties, the Beatles no longer dressed in nice suits and careful haircuts but had switched to the freer, more casual, hippie styles that had come into fashion, as had the Stones, who likewise had looked a bit more clean-cut in the mid-sixties. You might have gotten the impression that the Beatles always looked clean-cut from seeing fan-made videos to Beatles songs consisting of montages of photos of them from multiple points in their career, giving no sense of when the different styles were worn nor of which photos actually went chronologically with which songs.
It's funny that you mention a van, Harri, because the Rolling Stones famously invested in a mobile recording trailer that enabled them to record even while they were on tour somewhere in the world. When they weren't using it, they loaned it out to friends, and many artistes have used the Rolling Stones Mobile Studios over the years. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stones_Mobile_Studio
Including Zep
@@Happyheretic2308 ...and famously, Deep Purple, who namechecked the mobile studio in "Smoke on the Water" (that's another song that you must listen to, Harri).
Well at least he provided us with the antidote in the last verse.
YESSSS!!! I’m a big Stones fan- I’ve been to many of their concerts and they are great live!! It used to be a question people would ask you - are you a Stones or Beatles fan- I would of course say, STONES!
this and fortunate son ARE vietnam for me
Street Fighting Man is another song of theirs from this point in time. It was a time, it was a time..... This song ends with the realization that while war/turmoil are just a shot away, love is just a kiss away - and remove the war/turmoil.
Back in the day, you were either a Beatles fan or a Stones fan, and the two rarely met. However, after The Beatles broke up in 1970, the Stones hit their stride.
There was competition between the two groups, but did you know The four Beatles portraits were on the cover of Their Satanic Majesties Request?
Listen to 10,000 Light Years From Home. An early psychedelic masterpiece.
There is also Mick Jagger & David Bowie together doing Dancing in the Street. Definately worth a view with two icons.
and dont forget the rolling stones name was written on the sgt peppers album. around the child
Zep...!
Merry Clayton takes this song to another level.
Grand Funk Railroad does a good cover version.
Also: ALTAMONT!! A response from the Glimmer Twins?
It was released the day after altamont. Also check out Grateful Dead’s new speedway boogie about Altamont
You are too young to remember when the Stones first appeared they too had neat little matching uniforms. Perhaps they were a bit scruffier than the Beatles, but the two bands were trying to project pretty much the same image in the early sixties, as did all of the early British bands - Gerry and the Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits, Eric Burton and the Animals, etc. Supposedly, it was after seeing James Brown for the first time that the Stones decided to change their image.
It was inspired from watching news reports from the Vietnam war
There a video of the back up singer Merry Clayton who was added onto the sound track , because it needed something.
Ooh, see the fire is sweeping, our very streets today. Burns like a red *coal* carpet, mad bull lost his way.
I was wondering when someone would point that out
@@wfredhump What do you think the "red coal carpet" means? I am pretty sure I know where it came from. I hate the fact that the video screws up this important line.
If you look at the Beatles in Germany to when they signed their first record deal they were the real ruff and ready group who loved RnRoll, Blue and Jazz( Harrison guitar for Jazz). The Stones were London Boys into the same music but loved blues more, the Jazz influence came from Charlie Watts. The Beatles had the outer clean image but were party animals before they were famous and influenced the Stones as they were very conservative off stage. As the Beatles had the clean image the Stones took the bad boy image. Only after being exposed to touring did the Stones become like many Bands of the 60's. Gimme Shelter and The Beatles white Album came out in 68 when Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated and there was a lot of riots and rebellion especially against the Vietnam War. All kinds of bands were doing songs about the upheaval going on in the USA.
“Street Fighting Man” is the other classic Stones tune from ‘68 that really captured the mood of the time.
Listen to the part when Miss Merry Clayton gets to the third “rape, murder”, you can hear Mick yell out WOO!
The Rolling Stones are a blues influenced group unlike the Beatles. That’s why they are so rough and raw but that’s also why their songs are often three or four chord songs which at the root are often similar and for the same reason there are few hidden gems in the Stones catalogue. The Stones are also less musically ambitious .
The Beatles were influenced by the blues and everything they'd ever heard. Let it be had lots of blues that they decided to Get Back to playing.
Kelly Stith unlike The Rolling Stones they were not listening to the blues in their youth. In his book Stone alone Bill Woman recalls that John Lennon made fun of them listening to Jimmy Reed. For the Beatles the influence of blues came later .There is blues obviously in their music but through many indirect channels: Motown , big band English jazz....
I come from those days as well. It was mainly a part of the antiwar movement, which I include with riots that happened in those days as well. If you look at the colors, they all represent the feeling of the song. There were flowers for peace, but explosions of war. If you watch the reds, you can see what looks like blood spilling and spatters of blood as well. The colors also show the explosions of war. This song might be hard to place because it represents our time as well with wars around the world. I especially think of Russia and the Ukraine at the moment.
Harri ,this song came out during the Vietnam War. Body bags and body bags.Play SKY PILOT by the Animals ! stop.........Vietnam War ! ! !
I wish someone would react to "Sky Pilot".
I think this was slightly before the concert in the US but both are 1o69 and I am sorry to come in with such a horrible story where a young black fan was stabbed to death only inches away from the stage whole Mick Jagger was performing
Hells Angel's ran amok at the open air festival at Alamont. t I think it was called. Either way there is a DVD documentary called Gimme Shelter as a film crew picked up the incident. An ashen faced Jagger looks on appalled as the not very clear incident in a crowded audience was played out in slow mo.to him. One of the most griisly incidents is Rock history.. it was the antirhaist of Woodstock thr festival that had been staged a little while before Alamont
Hi Harri. Yet again I'm commenting not on this video. Got another notification that you tried again to post a reaction to Nowhere Man. And pardon the awful pun, but it's nowhere to be seen. UA-cam apparently really, really doesn't want you to post that video! I hope you find the magic workaround (or whatever is required) to get it out to us! Love that song and really want to see your reaction.
I really dont know whats going on..i have been trying to post Beatles songs for the last four days..and when i do,they are not visible to viewers.
Maybe they are telling me i am.posting too many Beatles songs..i am not happy at all
Listen to their "live" LP, Get Your Ya' Ya's Out!
About the rehearsal thing. I read on a site the other day that the Beatles were fairly famous for never rehearsing. Don't know if it's true.
The Rolling stones were brought up in middle class neighborhoods of the London area. The Beatles were rough port kids from Liverpool. The Beatles were dressed up to clean up their image, and the stones were trying to portray a poor southern blues man image. They were the opposite of what they portrayed. Not that the stones were rich, but the Beatles considered them "posh".
The Beatles were NOT 'rough port kids', as you put it. John Lennon lived on Menlove Avenue, which is the road of the top of the road where I used to live - Hillside Road, check it out on a map. Menlove Avenue was afffluent, and nowhere near the docks. Ditto for Paul Mc. and George H. Ringo was the only one who lived neat the docks, in the district of 'Dingle'. Try to get your facts right...
Mick and Brian were middle class, maybe even a little posh, but the rest of the Stones came from working class backgrounds. While on The Beatles, John Lennon had a pretty middle class upbringing because of his aunt. But even though the rest of The Beatles were working class, Paul and George had it better than Ringo who came from a really poor background.
@@ednicholson7839 I know, compared to one another, The stones came from slightly better upbringings. Even Paul said John's aunt was one step up in class from where he and George's family were, but Liverpool was a very poor city. Londoners were just a little better off by location. A well off Liverpudlian was still a lower Londoner.
So one step out of the mud is not much, but still not as good as Keith and Charlie, and the lot.
@@Pokafalva Just repeating the many interviews out of the mouths of George and Paul. Thought I could trust them.
THE ROLLING STONES, "GIVE ME SHELTER"... I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN ABOUT THIS GROUP. THOUGH I LIKED MANY OF THOSE HITS THEY HAD. I COULD NEVER GET MYSELF TO PURCHASE THEIR ALBUMS. "SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL", "YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT", "HONKY TONK WOMAN"...."CAN YOU HEAR ME KNOCKING"...
Don't you Reactors ever do any research? During the 60's the Stones were the Countercultures premier band who carried the zeitgeist of the age. With Gimme Shelter - rocks greatest song of dread - they foreshadowed the death of 60's utopianism - insurrectionary Paris 68/Grosvenor Square Riots/Mai Li Massacre/Vietnam war/Manson Murders/Black civil rights movement/Race War/Mass Civil Disturbance/Nixon/Kent State Killings/Nuclear war.
At the height of their powers the Stones pre-empted the coming dissolution and retreat into the decadence and cynicism of the 70's by the 60's generation and my!! How we danced!! Not on the grave of Western Civilisation as we imagined but on our own sense of communalism.
For too short a while The Rolling Stones were sensual/sinister/iconic/political/ironic/camp. "This is the Stones as they ought to be remembered; emperors while they still had the clothes, hollow men before the tappers' hammer, princes of darkness before the lights came up".
The Stones are like a spine that runs down the back of rock 'n' roll history, unimpeachable bohemian rhythm kings. They are the spirit of rock 'n' roll, its death and one of its greatest beginnings. They are to rock 'n' roll what Wilde, Muddy Waters, Beardsley, Chuck Berry, Byron, Jimmy Reed, Rimbaud, John Lee Hooker are to the art of a life lived.
After all these years of let downs, disappointments/flawed albums perceived betrayals - outlaw millionaires - they have become the greatest rock 'n' roll circus and most beloved jukebox in the world. And yet they still represent that old Dylan trope that "To live outside the law you must be honest".
They are the greatest rock 'n' roll band of all time and Gimme Shelter their greatest testament.
Maybe one day you will realise a reactors gig is to react to a song,video or performance,and not to study or write tbe biography of a band.
If you have any info or knowledge you wanna share,you can do so without a condescending attitude.
@@HarriBestReactions What you fail to understand is, to react to a song like Gimme Shelter you need to understand the social/cultural/political context of the turbulent late 60's that created it. Without "context" your "reaction?!!" Is rendered meaningless.
@@daubreyjaneweirdsley What you fail to grasp is,you can react to a song in so many ways.Everyone has their own style and theme.
You could be reacting to a song on many levels,vocals,message,music,video etc.There are no rules,you make your own rules.Thats why you have your favourite reactors.What is meaningless to you may not be so to others.
Personally,i dont like reading up on things before i react for two reasons.It might influence my reaction and i like the unknown.I also like the idea of throwing questions up in the air so that the audience can participate in the comment section.Thats why you were able to contribute.Thats what i like.
If i have info on a song or a band before i hand,fine.I may use it.But i wont specifically go searching before i react.It takes the fun awayfor me.
But i don't even mind if you think there are things i should do that i don't.Cos you have everyy right to have an opinion.What i didn't like was the tone of your comment.Your opening line.
@@HarriBestReactions Okay, but you can read up on it now, can't you?
It's not just a matter of understanding the music. I agree that a good piece of music doesn't need a historical context to be appreciated. But the sixties have a lot to teach us about what we're dealing with right now. The more we understand the lessons of history the less need there is to waste time trying to reinvent the wheel.
Beatles vs Stones image? The funny thing is The Beatles were actually the working class ones with the rough and tumble history in Hamburg etc, while the Stones were relatively well-to-do with more social pedigree, education and an easier path to stardom following in The Beatles’ wake.
Good review. Check put their album, Sticky Fingers. Best period of their history.
I believe the Beatles became more "polished" is because they stopped touring. They made songs that they didn't have to perform live.
If they'd continued to tour, most of their later songs would have been much different and I would suggest more raw except for George Martin's influence.
merrys fine vocals. deep song, writen in vietnam war time, mick said it was v best song vey ever wrote. were only ever 1 step away frm chaos is my interpretation n we have a choice which way 2 go.
IMO the Stones singles were light years ahead of the Beatles,but there were many other great bands around then & before them
Of you like percussion, check out CONTINENTAL DRIFT, on Steel Wheels !
dig deep they go very very deep harri
The real story of this song is interesting it came about after an incident at a concert in 1969 altmont the hells angels were hired as security for the show and a concert goer made one of them angry and was killed in front of the stones they wrote this song after
While your characterization of the difference between The Stones and The Beatles is generally true, The Beatles also have their "dark", rough songs. You should listen to "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" and "Yer Blues", from the While Album. "I Want You" is another badass song from The Beatles that shows more of their "edge" and roughness. Check it out! The Stones are great too!
Not to mention “Helter Skelter”!
1969. Vietnam. The Cold War. RKF murdered. MLK murdered. Race riots. Anti war riots . Kent State. Drugs. Cultural upheaval. I recall it first hand and this song captures it perfectly.
It was demonstrating against the Vietnam war but says love is just a kiss away
PS....Charlie Watts is the man, hands down.
Check out their song, Momkey Man.
I think this song was made by Keith after he saw Mick with his girlfriend and he was contemplating suicide, I may be mistaken but I'm pretty sure that was the background of this song.
cool
And you can compare those two bands and then oops you throw in the who then what do you got you got to dig them all man
I think I heard a few notes of the song in between the hundreds of adverts, but it was difficult to pick out over the background din of people trying to sell me things that I have no interest in.
When you click on a video first fast forward from beginning to end, then go back and watch. No ads.
Try the rolling stones till the next time we say goodbye, the official video version
It’s dark, because it’s about war....yikes! Not that hard to figure out!🤨
This song based on the Vietnam War protests violence 1969
Hi Harri, hope you are having a great day friend.
Thanx Ray..i am and i was 😀
My absolute favorite by them. In my top 10! Not a huge fan overall of them though.
This and Sympathy For The Devil....
Same here. I’m appreciating them more as I get older. Although I do believe they have earned the honor of the greatest rock band. They’re still together after 55 years. Holy shit. They have my respect.
If you didn't hear it yet, please react to Animals -"We Gotta Get Out Of This Place"