The Rolling Stones have many iconic songs. One of them is “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” but it took four years for it to chart.
The song closed out the band’s 1969 album ‘Let It Bleed’ and was the B-side to “Honky Tonk Women.” Despite “Honky Tonk Women” being a number-one hit, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” didn’t meet the criteria from ‘Billboard’ to chart on its own.
“It’s a good song, even if I say so myself,” Mick Jagger said in the book According to the Rolling Stones. “It’s got a very sing-along chorus, and people can identify with it: No one gets what they always want. It’s got a very good melody. It’s got very good orchestral touches that Jack Nitzsche helped with. So it’s got all the ingredients.”
Cut to 1973, and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” was released as an A-side single after the song helped bring the house down night after night on the Stones’ legendary 1972 American tour.
After its re-release, it eventually peaked at number 42 on the ‘Billboard’ Hot 100.
