10 Perfect Rock Songs That Changed Music History
6. Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
Every single band that came out before the '60s was pretty much using the blues as their template. People like Little Richard and Elvis Presley may have gotten the crowds screaming in their time, but it was always just a more high energy version of what you were hearing out of people like Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson from years before. The Rolling Stones may have been born out of that scene, but Keith Richards hit on something a lot darker once he came up with Satisfaction.
Originally intending to create a horn line, the nasty fuzz of the opening guitar became one of the defining riffs of rock and roll, taking only a couple of notes and putting mountains of attitude behind it. Outside of the guitar riff though, Mick Jagger's lyrics might be some of the most indicative of the rock and roll street kid, looking to get his rocks off any way he can, whether that means venting his sexual frustration or becoming more and more jaded about the pop machine trying to sell him the same old schlock.
The British Invasion may have already been underway, but Satisfaction was the first time we got to see more of a dark edge being infused into rock and roll. The Beatles may have been the clean cut kids on the Ed Sullivan Show, but the Stones were the dark mirror of the true danger that could come out of rock and roll.