Street Fighting Man

Editor's Note: This week we're looking at the some of the best songs from 1968. Why? Because everyone and their mother is talking about 1968 this year. Sure it's the 40th anniversary of the most important year since 1945, but it seems like the media and old Baby Boomers want some sort of revolution this year. So to please them, we'll look at some of the better songs from 1968 and see what sort of impact they have on some Gen-Yer who was apparently named after Bobby Kennedy (even though both his grandfather and father went by Robert before RFK became a house hold name...)

Street Fighting Man by the Rolling Stones



In a way, it's sort of unfair to look at the music of 1968... art is nearly always a reaction to current events. So I should probably be looking at the songs of 1969 and even 1970, where the impact of 1968 was felt by everyone... but at the same time, what were people listening to in 1968? That might be more important.

Either way, this song, was probably the most blatant attempt by any band or group or song writer to really capture what the hell was going on out there. Leave it to the Stones...

Western history if filled with a few years where a lot of shit happened and it changed everything... 1815, 1848, and 1968. This are years that people take to the streets and demand change. And that's the lasting impression of 1968—people fighting with police on the street. You saw it everywhere: Paris, West Berlin, Prague, Mexico City, in the U.S., the most infamous is Chicago (but really throughout urban America and many college campuses) just to name a few places.

The real question is, do the Stones succeed? On the face of it, yes. Richards' guitar rips and cuts throughout the song with a tentative urgency. The drum work isn't half bad and drives the song along. Mick's voice is distant, horse, and filled with a little rage.

But you know what? As far as protest and militant songs go... Sunday, Bloody Sunday is so much more militant (and really the gold standard, if you ask me). And as far as a protest song... this isn't up to the standards set by, say, Country Joe & the Fish, Dylan, Sam Cooke, and eventually Marvin Gaye. The lyrics the Stones provide us leaves much to be desire: "Well, then what can a poor boy do/Except to sing for a rock n roll band/cause in sleepy London town/Theres no place for a street fighting man"

But in a way, these are honest lyrics; most people could identify with these words because most people didn't take to the streets. They sat around and watched it on TV, talked to their friends about everything, and lived life. 1968 was a crazy year that saw protests of some form in nearly every Western city... but most people didn't participate.

But what's really annoying about this song is that it... is... a... pop... song. It's got a great lick and a pretty good hook. For some reason there is a piano solo. The song isn't all that chaotic, which is what you'd expect if you were trying to write a song about people in the street fighting authority. And the worst part... the song fades out. Why? I don't know... maybe because it's the Rolling Stones, and they're too smart to actually write a protest song that would really piss people off. Basically the Stones are saying, "we're going to tap into what's going on without actually saying anything about it or taking a stance. We're going to be neutral, and you're going to listen and love this because we know how to write hooks and riffs."

Which raises the question, is Coldplay trying to be the Stones and U2 at once?