Get Off of My Cloud
"Get Off of My Cloud" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones.[3] It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for a single to follow the successful "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". Recorded in Hollywood, California, in early September 1965, the song was released in September in the United States and October in the United Kingdom. It topped the charts in the US, UK, Canada, and Germany and reached number two in several other countries.
"Get Off of My Cloud" | ||||
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US single picture sleeve | ||||
Single by the Rolling Stones | ||||
B-side |
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Released |
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Recorded | 6–7 September 1965 | |||
Studio | RCA, Hollywood, California | |||
Genre | Blues rock[1] | |||
Length | 2:55 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Jagger/Richards[2] | |||
Producer(s) | Andrew Loog Oldham[2] | |||
Rolling Stones US singles chronology | ||||
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Rolling Stones UK singles chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
UK single |
Composition
The Stones have said that the song is a reaction to their suddenly greatly enhanced popularity and deals with their aversion to people's expectations of them after the success of "Satisfaction". Richards commented: "'Get Off of My Cloud' was basically a response to people knocking on our door asking us for the follow-up to 'Satisfaction' ... We thought 'At last. We can sit back and maybe think about events'. Suddenly there's the knock at the door and of course what came out of that was 'Get Off of My Cloud'".[4] In 1971 he added:
I never dug it as a record. The chorus was a nice idea, but we rushed it as the follow-up. We were in L.A. [Los Angeles, where "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" was recorded], and it was time for another single. But how do you follow-up "Satisfaction"? Actually, what I wanted was to do it slow, like a Lee Dorsey thing. We rocked it up. I thought it was one of Andrew Loog Oldham's worst productions.[5]
In a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone, Jagger said, "That was Keith's melody and my lyrics ... It's a stop-bugging-me, post-teenage-alienation song. The grown-up world was a very ordered society in the early '60s, and I was coming out of it. America was even more ordered than anywhere else. I found it was a very restrictive society in thought and behavior and dress."[6]
I was sick and tired, fed up with this and decided to take a drive downtown
It was so very quiet and peaceful, there was nobody, not a soul around
I laid myself out, I was so tired and I started to dream
In the morning the parking tickets were just like flags stuck on my windscreen[3]
The song is in E major and is built on variants of the "Louie Louie" riff, a short repeating pattern of the chords I, IV and V, in this case E–A–B–A. It opens with a drum intro by Charlie Watts and twin guitars by Brian Jones and Richards.[1]
Personnel
- Mick Jagger – lead vocals
- Keith Richards – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Brian Jones – twelve-string guitar, lead guitar, electric piano
- Bill Wyman – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Charlie Watts – drums[2]
Release
The 1965 single release was a major success for the Rolling Stones. In the US, the single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 6 November 1965, and remained there for two weeks.[7] The song was included on the band's next American album, December's Children (And Everybody's), released in December 1965.[8] The song stayed at number one in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in November that year.[9]
Appearances on later Stones releases include:
- Got Live If You Want It! (live album, 1966)
- Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) (compilation album, 1966)
- Hot Rocks 1964–1971 (compilation album, 1971)
- 30 Greatest Hits (compilation album, 1977)
- Singles Collection: The London Years (compilation album, 1989)
- Forty Licks (compilation album, 2002)
- The Biggest Bang (live DVD-set, 2007)
- GRRR! (compilation album, 2012)
Chart history
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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References
- Unterberger, Richie. "Rolling Stones: Get Off of My Cloud – Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 June 2007.
- Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives. pp. 96–7. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
- Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 38 – The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance. [Part 4]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
- According to the Rolling Stones (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2003)
- Greenfield, Robert. "Keith Richards – Interview". Rolling Stone (magazine) 19 August 1971.
- "Jagger Remembers". Rolling Stone. 14 December 1995. Archived from the original on 14 July 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
- Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits. New York City: Billboard Books. p. 186. ISBN 0823076776. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- December's Children (And Everybody's ) at AllMusic
- Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 184. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- "Austriancharts.at – The Rolling Stones – Get Off of My Cloud" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- "Ultratop.be – The Rolling Stones – Get Off of My Cloud" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5605." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- "Offiziellecharts.de – The Rolling Stones – Get Off of My Cloud". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Get Off of My Cloud". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
- "Dutchcharts.nl – The Rolling Stones – Get Off of My Cloud" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- Flavour of New Zealand, 20 January 1966
- "Norwegiancharts.com – The Rolling Stones – Get Off of My Cloud". VG-lista. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- "Rolling Stones: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- "The Rolling Stones Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, November 13, 1965". Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.