Mourning England in Song. Part 3 - 1969 Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones

Readying myself for what feels like a forced emigration, I am putting together the soundtrack of a whole life spent living in England. You can read more about why I am doing this here: https://kierkegaardslunch.blogspot.com/2026/08/mourning-england-in-song-part-1.html

Gimme Shelter: The Rolling Stones

I'd like to claim that I came to this song when it first appeared. Was I paying much attention to the Stones aged 7? I doubt it. But I do know that my 16 year old brother bought Let it Bleed and my guess is that I will have heard it soon after. What I can say is that as soon as I was really paying attention to music - probably from about the age of 11 - this track landed in my head, and it's never left. For me it's the greatest Rolling Stones track of all. 

The opening few bars start me off. Keith's tight and threatening opener, all menace and build as the country-esque twang of another guitar comes in behind, and then soul singer Merry Clayton's haunting backing vocal (she was dragged out of bed to do it in the middle of the night, heavily pregnant apparently). The song builds and builds all blues and foreboding right up to the masterpiece that is Merry belting out the chorus with Mick as Bill relentlessly punishes the bass and Charlie shuffles around on the drum kit behind. There's a harmonica in there, a deep south vibe that was appearing in their stuff around that time. The lyrics are bleak - about the precarity of everything (Rape, murder, it's just a shot away...) in an era of souring dreams epitomised by the morass of Vietnam and, of course, the song also later gave its name to the documentary about the Stones' car-crash free rock festival at Altamont, which resulted in a fan getting killed at the hands of the Hells Angels 'security' detail hired for the event. 

It's a bleak but devastating song, and it's addictive. It's been covered over the years many times - the definitive version (and it's all about that female vocal) for me is the Playing for Change version that deepens the blues feel and foregrounds some fantastic black vocalists and musicians. It's here: https://youtu.be/GJtq6OmD-_Y?si=3DdewOe9BpEwp2dL 

Unless you're also old enough to also remember the Sex Pistols being pissed and saying fuck on the telly in 1976, it's difficult to describe the effect of the Rolling Stones on society. I can still remember my Mum finding Let It Bleed in my brother's album collection years and years later. "Did you know he has a Rolling Stones record?!" she said to me a hushed and shocked whisper (it was probably about 1989 by then). "Yes Mum, I did", I said. I don't recall whether I told her how much I loved the first track on it. 

Side note - whilst the vocals for the song were recorded in LA, the instrumental parts of Gimme Shelter was put together at the legendary Olympic Studios in Barnes, London. Years later I lived in Barnes, often walking past this iconic piece of music history. I don't think it was till after I had moved out that I discovered its role in creating this legendary song. 

Also in contention from 1969 - songs that have appeared in my life and stayed - River Man by Nick Drake, Pinball Wizard by The Who, from Tommy, and Marvin Gaye's I heard it through the grapevine (released in 1969 in the UK). Plus Joni Mitchell's first version of Both Sides Now (though I might come back to another version of that one 😉).