"You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, you just might find
You get what you need," - Mick Jagger, "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
The air was clean, crisp and cold last night in Austin as Mick Jagger jumped and gyrated around the Zilker Park stage and Keith Richards merely tried to keep from falling off of it. 
The Rolling Stones made their first ever concert appearance in the city, and I was there.
It was my first Stones show as I was busy being born at the peak of their power, however, those guys can still put on a hell of a performance despite the wear and tear on their bodies. Jagger never stopped moving the entire night, Richards played a mean guitar and looked as reptilian as ever and the rest of the band was tight. 
Although I was listening to the Rolling Stones, it was a snippet from a Tom Petty song, "You never slow down, you never grow old," that kept running through my head.
I believe it. And I think if you saw the show last night the lyric holds up because after a solid first hour, the Stones ripped through the last 45 minutes of their set by blasting out classics like "Satisfaction," "Jumpin Jack Flash," "Start Me Up," and "Sympathy For The Devil" before encoring with "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Brown Sugar."
As the last notes of "Brown Sugar" died, an impressive fireworks display erupted from the giant stage that supported the band throughout the evening. 
It's a pretty cool feeling to be standing amongst 60,000 people who are all whooping back at Jagger as he churns through "Brown Sugar" while running amok all over the stage. This is the power of an open-air concert venue like Zilker Park, and while I prefer a more intimate setting 9 out of 10 times, some bands were not meant to be corralled and the Rolling Stones fit that bill.
The only problem was that all this occurred on Sunday night, and now I feel about half-dead on Monday morning as I ponder my workload and guzzle coffee like Richard's consumes whiskey (and after listening to him last night it's easy to see that Johnny Depp did indeed model Capt. Jack Sparrow on the rocker). 
My hollowed out condition also got me thinking about which 3 songs I would want played at my funeral, which I admit is somewhat morbid, but it is Monday morning and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" would definitely be on my set list followed by "I Ain't Ever Satisfied" by Steve Earle and "To Live Is To Fly" by Townes Van Zandt.
And before anybody points it out, I do realize that "You Can't Always Get What You Want" was used in "The Big Chill" and referenced in "High Fidelity" - I'm still using it.
If anybody else has got some good ones, let me know and I hope the day goes quickly because I feel somewhat ashamed that Jagger is more than twice my age, yet he seems to have more than 4 times the energy.
-BDS
Funeral tunes for me:
"Hello, I am in Delaware" - Dallas Green (just cuz I like the name of the song)
"Tender" - Blur (cuz the song is just that damn cool)
"This could be anywhere" - Alexisonfire (for when the geezers leave the viewing and the young folk wanna get down)
Mick probably spends a good part of the day taking a nap and didn't have to get up early to go to work. That's my take on how he manages to keep so full of energy. Personally I'd be great if I got to get up when I wanted to rather than by a clock.
I refuse to write funeral songs down you're the second blogger with death songs on their mind. no way!! now lets talk about the "bad boys of rock n roll" I'll really show my age now-yes I did see the Stones singing on the Ed Sullivan show "Let's spend some "time" together." rather then "Let's spend the night together."
I saw the Stones years ago for their Voodoo Lounge Tour...very cool. I also saw them again at an outdoor venue in a big field. I agree they can still put on one hell of a show. I've never found Mick particularily attractive however when he grooves on stage it's quite sexy. Sort of like Prince :)
"Something's Gone Wrong Again" by the Buzzcocks.
And I know the Stones still rock, but that picture is way scary.
My friend Matt was there last night...bastard! lol Sounds like it was a good show.
Man, I feel you on the Monday thing, I had a VENTI coffee this morning and 2 diet cokes and it's only noon!
Funeral songs? I see kind of a theme with yours..hhmm. I don't think I want a funeral because I will never die..just fade away ;)
The Beatles - I'll Follow the Sun
Eva Cassidy - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Miles Davis & Thelonius Monk - Epistrophy
Rusted Root - Send Me on My Way
Or maybe Puffy and Jimmy Page - Come with Me
Idig - Never heard of the first or third one, but I do like the title on the first. Might have to go look at at Itunes or something.
Sarcastic - That's a good point as I never underestimate the value of a good nap. And clocks suck. Always.
Nobich - Who copied me? I'll have them sued. Ha. And I've seen clips of that appearance on Ed, but not live.
Miss Ash - They do put on an excellent show, which helps justify some of the high ticket price. Good Prince comparison too.
Wendy - It is a little frigthening, and I'm not familiar with the song, but the title sounds appropriate.
Jlee - Just fading away sounds good as long as we're not talking a Terry Shiavo (sp?) thing. Don't want any part of that. And that much caffeine should at least ease some of the pain of Monday. A little.
Melissa - Nice choices, although I don't know the second one. I don't think you want Puffy at your funeral though. On the other hand, it is yours and so all bets are off.
I'm so jealous!
The Stones are one of the bands that I'd like to see perform live. And even though I make fun of KR resembling the Grim Reaper ... you have to admit that the man can still rock!
And as for funeral songs - play, sing out loud, and give me all the flowers now! What the hell do I want with potpourri when I'm dead?
:-D
Good point as those things will be gone within a few days anyway, and Richards is still one cool bastard who can rock.
How he is still alive is a medical marvel.