You can’t always get what you want

I arrived late to the fan club that adores The Rolling Stones.

Country music was my genre of choice in the 1950s,1960s, and 1970s. Americana, traditional values (meaning, “how I grew up,”) and a genre in which women finally could become stars, not just backup singers.

Have you ever realized you missed out on what the general populace identifies as your group?

Well, I do. I completely missed the 1960s. I never marched. No drugs except nicotine and alcohol.

I was editor of the college newspaper when one day someone burst into the offices to report that someone lowered the flag to half-staff.

My most radical act was to grab a camera, race downstairs, out the front door, to the flagpole, where I used up my entire roll of film. Thirty-six frames of a flag at half-staff. I took a lot of ribbing for that.

So, cool I was not. Then, or today. Only now I hold a different world view. A view that treasures honor, truth (facts,) justice for all. A world where love reigns, where everybody always has enough. 

That includes the creatures around us, and the eco systems that make life sustainable. I believe in God, though many believe otherwise.

I’m also prone to ear worms, those little bits of a song that you just cannot stop singing. So, while visiting family in Milwaukee this past week, I subjected them to two ear worms.

First was, “Here comes Peter Cottontail” sung relentlessly to acknowledge the rabbit we witnessed ravaging the still-green tomatoes at season’s end.

The second ear worm was the title of today’s blog: “You can’t always get what you want,” from Mick Jagger’s and Keith Richards’ 1969 all- time rock hit.

At its most basic level, the line is kind of a “no-duh” statement. I could amend it to read, “You almost never ever get what you want.” This would be closer to being accurate, but the meter’s off, and the message more dreary than the original.

For me, the saving hope  of this song and of life itself are its closing words:

But if you try sometimes
Well, you just might find
You get what you need.

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