# You Can't Always Get What You Want
**"You Can't Always Get What You Want"** is a song by the Rolling Stones, written by [Mick Jagger](https://www.edgepedia.org/mick-jagger) and [Keith Richards](https://www.edgepedia.org/keith-richards) and produced by Jimmy Miller, that closes the band's 1969 album *Let It Bleed*.[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv9sDn_2XkI) Built around an a cappella opening by the [London Bach Choir](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-bach-choir) and a slow-building gospel-inflected groove, it became one of the band's most recognized songs and a widely cited summary of the end of the 1960s.[2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Writers / producer | Mick Jagger and Keith Richards; produced by Jimmy Miller[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv9sDn_2XkI) |
| First release | B-side to "Honky Tonk Women", 4 July 1969, in a five-minute edit that reached No. 42 in the US[2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/) |
| Album version | Closing track of *Let It Bleed* (Decca), released 5 December 1969, at about seven and a half minutes[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv9sDn_2XkI) • [2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/) |
| Choir | London Bach Choir, about 60 voices double-tracked in the mix, arranged by Jack Nitzsche[2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/) • [3](https://rollingstonesdata.com/songs/you-cant-always-get-what-you-want/) |
| Notable personnel | Jimmy Miller on drums (Charlie Watts was uneasy with the tempo); Al Kooper on organ and French horn[2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/) |
| Recognition | Ranked No. 101 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rolling-stone-500-top-rolling-stones-songs/) |
| Live use | First performed with a live choir on the 2013 50 & Counting tour, with a local choir at each stop[5](https://www.bu.edu/articles/2013/marsh-choir-to-sing-backup-for-rolling-stones-tonight/) |
## Recording
Jagger devised the song on acoustic guitar; he later described it as "one of those bedroom songs".[6](https://www.timeisonourside.com/SOYouCantAlways.html) Recording began at Olympic Sound Studios in London in November 1968, before *Beggars Banquet* had been released, with the main sessions running from February to March 1969.[6](https://www.timeisonourside.com/SOYouCantAlways.html) • [7](https://rollingstonesmusic.co.uk/let-it-bleed/)
**The choir.** When the choral arranger [Jack Nitzsche](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-nitzsche) suggested the London Bach Choir as backing vocalists, Jagger replied, "That will be a laugh." The choir's roughly 60 voices were double-tracked in the mix to sound like a larger ensemble, and Jagger was pleased with the final blend.[2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/) The choice had a practical origin: Jagger had first wanted a gospel choir, and the London Bach Choir's appearance began as a compromise for an absent gospel choir, giving the song a distinctly British sound in place of an American gospel one.[8](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03007766.2024.2442208) There was a sting in the arrangement: after learning that the album would be called *Let It Bleed* and would contain "Midnight Rambler", a song about a serial killer, the Bach Choir asked for its name to be removed from the album.[2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/)
**The band.** [Al Kooper](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-kooper), late of Blood, Sweat and Tears, played organ and [French horn](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-horn), the horn part being his suggestion during the initial sessions.[2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/) • [9](https://pmbsites.com/2020/05/31/you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-the-rolling-stones/) Kooper recalled that Jagger worked closely with producer Jimmy Miller and exercised a lot of artistic control: "Mick knew what he wanted, and he was doing just about everything." Miller also played drums on the recording because [Charlie Watts](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlie-watts) was uneasy with the song's quirky tempo.[2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/) Bill Wyman played bass, Rocky Dijon played congas, maracas, and tambourine, and Madeline Bell, Doris Troy, and Nanette Newman contributed backing vocals.[2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/)
## Release
The song first reached the public in edited form. A five-minute version was released on 4 July 1969 as the B-side to "Honky Tonk Women", a date marked by [Brian Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-jones)'s death that same day, and reached No. 42 in the US charts.[2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/) • [3](https://rollingstonesdata.com/songs/you-cant-always-get-what-you-want/) The full seven-and-a-half-minute version appeared as the closing track of *Let It Bleed*, released by [Decca Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/decca-records) on 5 December 1969.[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv9sDn_2XkI) • [2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/)
The first filmed performance came earlier, in December 1968, on the BBC television special *The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus*, where the band was joined by pianist [Nicky Hopkins](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicky-hopkins) and percussionist Rocky Dzidzornu. The film was shelved, reportedly because Jagger felt the band, drained after a long day of filming, had given a sub-par performance, and it was not seen in full until its DVD release in 1996.[10](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-debut-10052/)
## Structure and meaning
The song opens with the choir singing the first verse and chorus a cappella, then drops to a single acoustic guitar and a lonely French horn before Jagger's first sung verse.[11](https://medialoper.com/certain-songs-2054-the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want/) A scholarly analysis describes it as beginning as a folk-rock song that quickly becomes full-on gospel, with the group apparently choosing to undercut the gospel feel with some irony; the final structure centers on repetition, with minor changes from the original longform jam, including an extra opening bar, an extra verse, and conga drums plus a bridge.[8](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03007766.2024.2442208)
The chorus states the song's thesis directly: "You can't always get what you want / But if you try sometimes, well, you might just find / You get what you need."[12](https://www.ymusicvideos.com/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want/) Jagger said the song resonated with the public because it was a message everyone could identify with.[2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/) The verses draw on specific references: the "Mr. Jimmy" of the lyric is producer Jimmy Miller, and the Chelsea Drugstore on London's King's Road, a pharmacy later used by [Stanley Kubrick](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-kubrick) to film part of *A Clockwork Orange*, also appears.[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rolling-stone-500-top-rolling-stones-songs/) • [2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/) Commentators have read the song as summing up the collapse of the decade's peace-and-love idealism, and it is often described as a farewell to the 1960s.[2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/) • [13](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/rolling-stones-albums-ranked)
## Live history and later use
For decades the band performed the song without a choir. On the 2013 50 & Counting tour of ten North American cities, the Stones performed it with a live choir for the first time, teaming with a local choir at each stop; [Boston University](https://www.edgepedia.org/boston-university)'s Marsh Chapel Choir, directed by Scott Jarrett, sang at the [TD Garden](https://www.edgepedia.org/td-garden) stop, providing 24 singers on three weeks' notice for a part that begins a cappella and is punctuated with high Cs.[5](https://www.bu.edu/articles/2013/marsh-choir-to-sing-backup-for-rolling-stones-tonight/) By the mid-2010s the band had played the song more than 750 times in concert, more than any song in their catalog except a handful of singles.[10](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-debut-10052/)
The song has been borrowed repeatedly. [George Michael](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-michael)'s "Waiting For That Day" takes the song under its wing, turning the Stones' sardonic track into words of comfort.[14](https://time.com/4618141/george-michael-dead-wham-remembrance/) A Soulwax remix of the 1968 recording was issued as a promotional single in 2008.[15](https://aeppli.ch/Stones/TUG2005-2009Up.pdf) In 2016 Donald Trump began using the song at campaign events; the Rolling Stones asked him to stop, and he continued.[2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/) • [16](https://time.com/4318122/donald-trump-rolling-stones-music-playlist-rally/) A charity cover by Friends of Jo Cox, released in December 2016 with proceeds going to the Jo Cox Foundation, reached the UK Christmas Number 1 race.[17](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/christmas-number-1-2016-the-contenders-revealed__17110/)
## Standing
[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time](https://www.edgepedia.org/rolling-stones-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time) placed the song at No. 101.[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rolling-stone-500-top-rolling-stones-songs/) In a German Rolling Stone reader vote on the band's best songs, it finished seventh with 687 points.[18](https://www.rollingstone.de/rolling-stones-100-beste-songs-leser-voting-1987547/) Album rankings consistently treat it as the keystone of *Let It Bleed*'s closing sequence, an "epic, if bittersweet, fin de siecle choral crescendo" on an album placed among the band's very best.[13](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/rolling-stones-albums-ranked)
## References
1. [The Rolling Stones – You Can't Always Get What You Want (Official Audio), YouTube/Universal Music Group](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv9sDn_2XkI)
2. [Martin Chilton, "'You Can't Always Get What You Want': How The Rolling Stones Summed Up The 60s", uDiscover Music](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-song/)
3. ["You Can't Always Get What You Want: The Rolling Stones Classic", Rolling Stones Data](https://rollingstonesdata.com/songs/you-cant-always-get-what-you-want/)
4. ["Rolling Stone 500: Top Rolling Stones Songs", CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rolling-stone-500-top-rolling-stones-songs/)
5. [Susan Seligson, "Marsh Choir to Sing Backup for Rolling Stones Tonight", BU Today](https://www.bu.edu/articles/2013/marsh-choir-to-sing-backup-for-rolling-stones-tonight/)
6. ["You Can't Always Get What You Want", Time Is On Our Side](https://www.timeisonourside.com/SOYouCantAlways.html)
7. ["Let It Bleed", rollingstonesmusic.co.uk](https://rollingstonesmusic.co.uk/let-it-bleed/)
8. ["Stylistic Contrasts and Social Implications in 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'", Popular Music History (Taylor & Francis)](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03007766.2024.2442208)
9. ["'You Can't Always Get What You Want' – The Rolling Stones", PMB Broadcasting](https://pmbsites.com/2020/05/31/you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-the-rolling-stones/)
10. ["Flashback: Rolling Stones Debut 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' in 1968", Rolling Stone Australia](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-debut-10052/)
11. ["Certain Songs #2054: The Rolling Stones – 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'", Medialoper](https://medialoper.com/certain-songs-2054-the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want/)
12. ["The Rolling Stones – You Can't Always Get What You Want: Lyrics and Music Video", ymusicvideos.com](https://www.ymusicvideos.com/the-rolling-stones-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want/)
13. ["Every Rolling Stones album ranked from worst to best", Louder Sound](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/rolling-stones-albums-ranked)
14. ["How George Michael Transformed Pop Music", TIME](https://time.com/4618141/george-michael-dead-wham-remembrance/)
15. [The Rolling Stones Complete Recording Sessions, 2005–2009 appendix](https://aeppli.ch/Stones/TUG2005-2009Up.pdf)
16. ["Rolling Stones Ask Donald Trump to Stop Using Their Music", TIME](https://time.com/4318122/donald-trump-rolling-stones-music-playlist-rally/)
17. ["Christmas Number 1 2016: The contenders revealed", Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/christmas-number-1-2016-the-contenders-revealed__17110/)
18. ["ROLLING-STONE-Voting: Die besten Songs der Rolling Stones", Rolling Stone Deutschland](https://www.rollingstone.de/rolling-stones-100-beste-songs-leser-voting-1987547/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license