Authorial Prerogative

                  If we adhere to the structure of the song we can extrapolate meaning from the 'demonstration' stanza .   What the demonstrators WANT is supplanted by what they NEED which is to "vent" their "frustrations" hence, the refrain .  What is puzzling is Jagger's, "...to get my fair share of abuse."  The default position {aka "the EZ way out"} is to attribute this puzzle to authtorial prerogative meaning author's secret .  I do so now .

             It is imperative to remember this line :  "...to get your prescription filled" .   This indicates that the entire song is Jagger relating his observations to his friend which I consider to be female although there is NO evidence of this .   This Song is for his friend, much more than a recounting,  a SLEDGE-HAMMERING* to impress upon his friend the words of the refrain .   It MAY be that his friend his akin to the wine drinking blood dealer, an addict perhaps or one under the influence of some other addiction .

             The final line is :  "Ah yeah, do that" which is set case for "TRY" {to get straight ?}.... and so we have come "full circle".  

          

Miss Spent

                  In any analysis there's always speculation and conjecture, mostly based upon the reader's experiences.   My English Lit. Professor, Dr. Moynihan, use to discourage both speculation and conjecture by impressing upon us this :  "What did the AUTHOR write ?"   

          Certainly some time has elapsed in between Jagger's first observation = "A glass of wine in her hand" and the second = "In her glass was a bleeding man" .  He wrote that he went to a demonstration and after that to a drugstore ---- more than enough time for our 'heroine' to get her heroin .  

          Of troubling measure is Mr. Jimmy himself, who appears to Jagger to be SERIOUSLY ill -----After Jagger sings a song to him, Mr. Jimmy utters "...dead" ; at which point Jagger activates the refrain . What's THAT 'all about' ?

           And then there's the "demonstration" ... .

          

Miss Creant

                  It is the final stanza of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" that is the most difficult to address .  Jagger supplements his primary observation with, "In her glass was a bleeding man /  She was practiced at the art of deception / Well, I could tell by her blood stained hands ."  I mean, what happened to her "footloose man" ?   

           Seeing her "blood-stained hands" is the same as seeing a "bleeding man in her glass" --- here now, symbolism ONLY .   Evidently it was SHE who is responsible for the bleeding man in her glass --- his blood now visible [only to those that can See] on her hands .  I am hard-pressed to deem her accomplished, because if she were TRULY "practiced" would she then leave her hands unwashed ?  

            Is her "footloose man" a symbol for Heroin ?  From first stanza to last, has she gotten what she wanted, a "fix"  and has THAT been represented by "blood-stained hands" ???   Is her "art of deception" a one of self-delusion ( ? )  ---  getting HY and thinking no one can see ?   I'm GUESSING Jagger KNOWS she's a junkie--- BECAUSE he KNOWS her,, he knows when she is HY .  

            Still, Jagger uses her and her "condition" as an example of not getting what you want but instead getting what you need .   For me, this THIS is "tough sledding" .

           

Miss Inclined

                    I WANT to Believe that Jagger is intent upon broadcasting his Song in an EFFORT to goad folks into an advantageous Condition DESPITE the REAL proximity of Failure be it abject or otherwise .   Shit ain't-gonna get done unless Effort is involved .   Any GUARANTEE of Reward must be "suspended" because of the True Nature not just of Effort but also of the True Nature of the Universe and of course, KARMA.   Jagger insists that Effort MUST-BE applied [to every task] .   Here, we must remember this :  
"It isn't the Goal that is TRULY Important, it's the Journey ".    This THIS MUST-BE applied to Effort as well and it looks-like this :   The Effort   >>> IS<<<    the Goal .  This THIS is certainly Wisdom, where Wisdom MEANS Spiritual COMMON SENSE .     

Miss Judge

                         We must wonder at the nature of "Mr. Jimmy" --- a person, Jagger observes, who..."looks pretty ill" .  Why was he entered as important component ?    After Jagger sings his song, Mr. Jimmy has but one word, and it is "dead" ---  this causes Mick to return with "You can't always get what you want (...) you get what you need".   Is Death part of that THAT ?   Does Mr. Jimmy 'need' to die ?   ...not buyin' it .

               I don't know if it's "safe" to assume that the "reception" was a >wedding< "reception" and the woman and her +1 were invited guests, {as was Jagger} .   When he caught sight of her she was having a glass of wine ---was that to calm her jittery nerves, a signal [as it were] of drug addiction (?) which is 'born out' by the addition of "I knew she was gonna meet her "connection" where "connection" is Old School for "The Pusher Man"  a drug dealer >>> {Coke, Heroin, etc.} .   Are we to then assume that she too is, "pretty ill" ?   I think so .   Here, the "footloose" man is not only her "+1" but a comrade-in-harms who is ne'er-do-well at best:  "footloose" as weary 'soul' or beggar as the case may be .  {It ISN'T 'safe to assume' that he too is an addict--- I'm-gonna assume it anyway.}   {{{She WANTS drugs----but GETS wine}}} {{{{too simplistic}}}} .

              What's REALLY goin' on here ?    

             

              

Miss Appropriate

                              Suppose the 'Effort' is only of secondary significance ?   Suppose the Primary Significance is in the word > "need" ?   "What you WANT" MAY not be, what you Need .   You may WANT a 'Wilson' tennis racket but you are 'getting' a 'Head' instead .   Why the fuck would anyone complain ?   What the Universe `gives` is NOT 'label' dependent .   Here's another :   you may WANT an ounce of Panama Red, but the Universe GIVES you a quarter ounce of Angel Dust ---no one in their RIGHT Mind is gonna cough-up condemnation,,,,,  no one .   Oh if Life was like THAT !!!

            

Miss Shapen

                             On the surface Jagger's words appear nothing more than a gentle prod,,, clearly Mick believes that if you DON'T "Try" you may or may not "get what you need" .  He's a champion of Effort .  I say, `Good for Mick` .

              We don't know the odds for success if Effort is applied ,  nor do we know what is to be expected if Effort is NOT applied .    Is this >It< now a thing of "Helter Skelter" (?) a random {seemingly chaotic} episode of Chance (?) --- if that is so, then trying or not trying is a "crap shoot"  where outcomes are governed by the haphazard "roll of the dice" .   I mean ,,, there's that .   Here, then, when thrown up a against a Cosmic Background, Life becomes a "crap shoot"  --- a game in which "Lady Luck" is the Ultimate and Supreme --- a Goddess of Fate, Karma and Destiny whose whim and fancy can determine both Success and Failure .    I confess ---   I'm no fan .  

Miss Phit

                              I had to Goggle the lyrics for "You Can't Always Get What You Want" ~~~ the stanza about Mr. Jimmy at the Chelsea drugstore was difficult to comprehend {for me}.   It's been bothering me for weeks now, mainly because I WANT this : "If you try, you{'ll} find, you get what you need ".   How great would that be if such were, in fact, a Cosmic Absolute --  a GUARANTEE of Reward for Effort ??  Sadly, no such luck .  

             Here's what remains :   "You can't always get what you want /  "But if you try >>>sometimes<<< you just [ MIGHT  ] find /   You get what you need."  

             Elsewhere, I have tagged Mick Jagger with "Zen Master" much the same way that I tagged Joan Didion as well ~~~ Artist whose SPECTACULAR  Zen remains unknown to both .   I WANT the Pop Culture to be recognized as a Source [if not Reservoir] of Spiritual Inspiration and Incentives --- you can see and feel how good it wood* be if WHENEVER you TRY you "get what you need".   We WANT Success to be the Result of SOLID Effort .  I mean shit, who DOESN'T want to Succeed after EVERY Effort  ???   I sure do .

            >>> IT<<<  does NOT "Work that way" as ALL of Us have routinely experienced .