(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: E A/C# | D A/C# :||
Chorus 1
| E7 | E7 | A7 | A7 | E7 | E7 | A7 | A7 |
I can’t get no, satisfaction. I can’t get no, satisfaction.
| E7 | B7 | E7 | A7 |
‘Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try.
| E A/C# | D A/C# | E A/C# | D A/C# |
I can’t get no, I can’t get no.
Verse 1
||: E A/C# | D A/C# :||
When I’m driving in my car.
When a man comes on the radio.
He’s telling me more and more.
About some useless information,
supposed to fire my imagination.
| E A/C# | D A/C# | N.C | N.C |
I can’t get no, oh, no, no, no.
| E A/C# | D A/C# | E A/C# | D A/C# |
Hey, hey, hey. That’s what I say.
Chorus 2
| E7 | E7 | A7 | A7 | E7 | E7 | A7 | A7 |
I can’t get no, satisfaction. I can’t get no, satisfaction.
| E7 | B7 | E7 | A7 |
‘Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try.
| E A/C# | D A/C# | E A/C# | D A/C# |
I can’t get no, I can’t get no.
Verse 2
||: E A/C# | D A/C# :||
When I’m watchin’ my TV.
And a man comes on and tells me.
How white my shirts can be.
But he can’t be a man ’cause he doesn’t smoke,
the same cigarettes as me.
| E A/C# | D A/C# | N.C | N.C |
I can’t get no, oh, no, no, no.
| E A/C# | D A/C# | E A/C# | D A/C# |
Hey, hey, hey. That’s what I say.
Chorus 3
| E7 | E7 | A7 | A7 | E7 | E7 | A7 | A7 |
I can’t get no, satisfaction. I can’t get no, girl reaction.
| E7 | B7 | E7 | A7 |
‘Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try.
| E A/C# | D A/C# | E A/C# | D A/C# |
I can’t get no, I can’t get no.
Verse 3
||: E A/C# | D A/C# :||
When I’m ridin’ ’round the world.
And I’m doin’ this and I’m signin’ that.
And I’m tryin’ to make some girl, who tells me.
Baby, better come back maybe next week,
can’t you see I’m on a losing streak?
| E A/C# | D A/C# | N.C | N.C |
I can’t get no, oh, no, no, no.
Chorus 4
||: E A/C# | D A/C# :||
Hey, hey, hey. That’s what I say.
I can’t get no, I can’t get no, I can’t get no.
Satisfaction, no satisfaction, no satisfaction, no satisfaction.
I can’t get no.
Satisfaction’s chords and progressions
You could use chords to remember the main riff of Satisfaction, although you probably need TAB to get it right first…
Analysing the chords using Roman numerals they are I – IV – bVIIx, like this:
||: E A/C# | D A/C# :||
That bVIIx is a classic rock n’ roll chord often referred to as a backdoor dominant. This main riff is played for the intro and verse.
The chorus is more of a blues, although the movement between the chords is not your average 12-bar.
| E7 | E7 | A7 | A7 |
| E7 | E7 | A7 | A7 |
| E7 | B7 | E7 | A7 |
After these 12 bars, we play that riff again for four bars.
As a member, you get TAB for how to play the riff as the only guitarist in the band, we also analyze the chords in depth.
Here’s a link to the complete (members only) lesson: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction chord analysis and TAB.
Become a member today and get unlimited access to all step-by-step guitar courses, TAB for the songbook, the Self-Eliminating Practice Routine, and the eBook Spytunes Method.
Satisfaction’s guitar riff was supposed to be played by horns!
Satisfaction is a great example of Keith and Mick’s songwriter partnership. Keith would provide the riffs, Mick the lyrics.
Released on The Rolling Stones‘ fourth album Out Of Our Heads in 1965, it went to #1 on the U.S. charts.
In the U.K., it was banned since the lyrics were deemed sexually suggestive. Only pirate radio played it at first. Something that only worked in their favor as the bad-boy alternative to The Beatles.
The now-legendary main riff in Satisfaction was originally supposed to be recorded by a horn section. Keith was unhappy with what they recorded early on in the session. At the end of the day, he quickly grabbed a guitar and put it down with most parts of the signal chain distorting, aiming to explain how he wanted the saxophones to sound more aggressive.
As the band returned the following day, everyone agreed that this was the way it should be, without horns but with a heavily distorted guitar, revolutionary back in 1965!
The Rolling Stone Magazine placed (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction at #31 on their list of 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.
Satisfaction chords | Related pages
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The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones is an English band that became popular in the early 60s. Incredibly, the band has stuck together ever since.
They’ve had great success with tunes like Start Me Up, Satisfaction, Wild Horses, Angie, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, and Honky Tonk Women.
The Rolling Stones on the web
Rock n Roll & Early Pop
As popular music was starting to take shape, the earliest styles that came out of Jazz and Blues were Rock n Roll & Early Pop.
Learn tunes by The Beatles, Elvis, The Monkees, Chuck Berry, The Kinks, and The Rolling Stones.
