Like anyone else who has been around since 1964, I’ve heard ‘Satisfaction’ many dozens of times. But in a way I felt like I heard it for the first time today, when I came across the cover by Bjork and PJ Harvey. Whatever it is that the song states that it can’t get any of, I don’t really know, but I think those two women probably do. I always thought it was basically about not getting enough sex, with some fairly trite verses about consumer alienation thrown in. Well, according to these two it’s about not getting anything at all: it’s about an emptiness in life that is exactly captured by the monotone (not that far from Jagger’s voice in the verses, but far from the overall effect of the Stones’ version) that builds relentlessly through this three minute performance. So now it makes perfect sense, even the banalities about doing this and signing that. Amazing.
