Thursday, March 14, 2024

So you can always get what you want?

Jimmy Cliff’s “You Can Get It If You Really Want” (July 1970) sounds as though it may have been meant — or must have been meant — as a reply to the Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (July 1969). And Cliff’s repeated try sounds like a reply to “Satisfaction.”

Or am I just hearing things?

[Why might this song be in a (very) young singer’s repertoire? There’s a Little Mermaid connection.]

comments: 2

Stefan said...

I love the comparison but it seems like both songs end up in about the same place. How much space is there between what you “really want” and what you “need”?

Michael Leddy said...

Aah, that's a good question. When I'm in certain aisles of the supermarket though, there is a difference.