10 Perfect Closing Songs In Rock History
8. You Can't Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones
Absolutely nothing that the Rolling Stones attempted in their lifetime could really be described as wholesome. Even with songs like Wild Horses and Ruby Tuesday in their back catalog, the sound that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards made famous was all about the seedier side of rock and roll, from the nastiness of Sympathy for the Devil to the sassy riff to Satisfaction. Once they decided to actually tidy things up, we got served one of the most energetic songs of their career.
Before the Stones even arrive, hearing a children's choir sing the chorus of this song is a touch surreal, before the signature sound of Keef's guitar comes in to put you back on stable ground. There's even a bit of a hopeful message in the lyrics, with Mick Jagger talking about having the determination to go through life and eventually finding what you need along the way.
What makes this a great closing track though is that outro, with everything building in intensity until it feels like a virtual symphony of sound. We don't have a full orchestra though...we just have a bunch of voices and a couple of guitars. In some cases though, that's all you need to make something truly magical. As much as the Stones wrote the blueprint for rock and roll, this is one of the few songs in their catalog that feels like a living breathing entity.