My Gen X Playlist: You Can’t Always Get What You Wanted – The Rolling Stones

I used to procrastinate in my personal life. My professional life, however, it’s never an option. There are too many client projects in the air and I can’t afford to let any of them drop. It’s a constant juggle.

I once read an article that described Type-A characteristics. I went through the list. Check. Check. Check. Yep, I can relate. I commented to a very good friend and colleague that I must be Type-A. Her response surprised me.

“You really are not Type-A. Our career demands us to be Type-A in order to be successful. You have to be Type-A at work, but that’s not authentically you.”

I stopped to think about this. Yes, this list described the “work me” that I have to be. I don’t have a choice. The more I compared her words to the list, I agreed this went against the grain of who I genuinely am. This didn’t align with the “me me”. Maybe this explains the mental exhaustion felt at the end of the day. It was beginning to make sense.

This conversation took place twenty years ago. Over the years I’ve navigated my role somewhat to be better aligned, but you can only move the needle so much. I still need to walk down that Type-A road to get things done successfully. Abandoning my procrastinating tendencies and wearing the Type-A uniform everyday to work are just a few compromises I’ve made during my career. I’m not quite sure if I’ve landed on whether this is a good or bad thing yet. Or maybe it’s not searching for a label at all. I’m no longer twenty with a long runway to make life changing choices. So no seismic shifts in the horizon. At this point, I’m content acknowledging the existence of these opposing forces and have come to peace with it. It’s a compromise that I can live with.

The Rolling Stones released You Can’t Always Get What You Want way back in 1969. Man, that’s a long time ago. Some songs about life defy time and hold on to their relevancy. Mick Jagger discusses the bridge between two of his mega hits.

It was not lost on people that the man who once sang “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” had now come to the conclusion that “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” When Jagger was confronted with this, he referenced the different perspective in the lyrics as being the key. “Now you also can’t get what you want,” he said at the time of the song’s release. “The same goes for me. I’m saying the same thing as when I said, ‘I can’t get no satisfaction,’ only articulated differently.”

– American Songwriter

Maybe compromise may sound a little jaded. But when real life collides with visions of your ideal world, sometimes you just have to take a few lumps and figure out the best path forward. I think Jagger might have gotten it right when he sang:

You can’t always get what you want. But if you try, sometimes you find you get what you need.

It may not lead to the fairy tale ending, but it’s still alright by me.

Seems I may have strayed a bit from the original prompt and took another tangent. Close enough for me . . .

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

I saw her today at the reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was a footloose man

No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

I saw her today at the reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she was gonna meet her connection
At her feet was a footloose man

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well, you might find
You get what you need

And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse
Singing, "We're gonna vent our frustration
If we don't we're gonna blow a 50-amp fuse"

Sing it to me, honey

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well, you just might find
You get what you need

Oh baby, yeah

I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill

We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was "dead"

I said to him

You can't always get what you want
Well no
You can't always get what you want
I tell you, baby
You can't always get what you want
No
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You get what you need

Oh, yeah, woo

You get what you need
Yeah, oh baby

I saw her today at the reception
In her glass was a bleeding man
She was practiced at the art of deception
Well I could tell by her blood-stained hands

Sing it

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want, ooh yeah, child
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need

Ah yeah
Ah yeah, woo!

Ah, you can't always get what you want
(No no, baby)
You can't always get what you want
(You can't now now)
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you just might find
You just might find
That you get what you need

Ah yeah!
Ah yeah! Do that