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"Get Off of My Cloud"
US single picture sleeve
Single by the Rolling Stones
B-side	"I'm Free" (US) "The Singer Not the Song" (UK)
Released	24 September 1965 (1965-09-24) (US) 22 October 1965 (UK)
Recorded	6–7 September 1965
Studio	RCA (Hollywood, California)
Genre	Blues rock
Length	2:55
Label	London (US) Decca (UK)
Songwriter(s)	Jagger–Richards
Producer(s)	Andrew Loog Oldham
Rolling Stones US singles chronology
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1965) "Get Off of My Cloud" (1965) "As Tears Go By" (1965)
Rolling Stones UK singles chronology
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1965) "Get Off of My Cloud" (1965) "19th Nervous Breakdown" (1966)
Alternative cover
UK single

"Get Off of My Cloud" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for a single to follow the successful "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". Recorded at RCA Studios 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.

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'". 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. , 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.

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."

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

The song opens with a drum intro by Charlie Watts and twin guitars by Brian Jones and Richards. Ultimate Classic Rock critic Michael Gallucci called this Watts' best drumming performance, saying that it has "one of the most unconventional drum structures ever employed in a Top 40 hit" in which Watts basically :plays the same 4/4-beat-fill-4/4-beat-fill pattern throughout the song" and does not break the beat even once.

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon, except where noted:

The Rolling Stones

• Mick Jagger – vocals
• Keith Richards – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Brian Jones – twelve-string electric guitar, lead guitar, acoustic guitar
• Bill Wyman – bass, backing vocals
• Charlie Watts – drums

Additional musicians

• Ian Stewart – piano
• Unidentified musician(s) – hand claps

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. The song was included on the band's next American album, December's Children (And Everybody's), released in December 1965. The song stayed at number one in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in November that year. Billboard described the song as a "wild, far out beat number which will have no trouble topping their 'Satisfaction' smash." Cash Box described it as a "rollicking, fast-moving blues-soaked thumper with an infectious danceable beat" that should be another success after "Satisfaction." Record World said that "The Rolling Stones dispense some more of their very thick and funky rock."

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

References

1. "Rolling Stones singles".
2. "1965 timeline".
3. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Rolling Stones: Get Off of My Cloud – Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 June 2007.
4. ^ 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.
5. ^ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 38 – The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance. [Part 4]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
6. According to the Rolling Stones (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2003)
7. Greenfield, Robert. "Keith Richards – Interview". Rolling Stone (magazine) 19 August 1971.
8. "Jagger Remembers". Rolling Stone. 14 December 1995. Archived from the original on 14 July 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
9. Gallucci, Michael (24 August 2021). "Top 10 Charlie Watts Rolling Stones Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
10. Margotin & Guesdon 2016, p. 124.
11. Babiuk & Prevost 2013, pp. 186, 239.
12. ^ Babiuk & Prevost 2013, p. 186.
13. Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits. New York City: Billboard Books. p. 186. ISBN 0823076776. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
14. December's Children (And Everybody's ) at AllMusic
15. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 184. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
16. "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. 2 October 1965. p. 16. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
17. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 2 October 1965. p. 12. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
18. "Single Picks of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 2 October 1965. p. 1. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
19. "The Rolling Stones – Get Off of My Cloud" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
20. "The Rolling Stones – Get Off of My Cloud" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
21. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5605." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
22. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 240. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
23. "The Rolling Stones – Get Off of My Cloud" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
24. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Get Off of My Cloud". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
25. "The Rolling Stones – Get Off of My Cloud" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
26. "Flavour of New Zealand, 20 January 1966". Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
27. "The Rolling Stones – Get Off of My Cloud". VG-lista. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
28. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
29. Hallberg, Eric (1993). Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962 - 19. 8. 1975. Drift Musik. p. 243. ISBN 9163021404.
30. Hallberg, Eric; Henningsson, Ulf (1998). Eric Hallberg, Ulf Henningsson presenterar Tio i topp med de utslagna på försök: 1961 - 74. Premium Publishing. p. 313. ISBN 919727125X.
31. "Rolling Stones: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
32. "The Rolling Stones Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
33. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, November 13, 1965". Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
34. Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.

Sources

• Babiuk, Andy; Prevost, Greg (2013). Rolling Stones Gear: All the Stones' Instruments from Stage to Studio. Milwaukee: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1-61713-092-2.
• Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (2016). The Rolling Stones All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. ISBN 978-0-316-31774-0.

External links

• Complete Official Lyrics
• Rolling Stones - Get Off of My Cloud on YouTube

• 1965 songs
• 1965 singles
• The Rolling Stones songs
• Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
• Cashbox number-one singles
• Number-one singles in Germany
• Number-one singles in South Africa
• UK singles chart number-one singles
• Decca Records singles
• London Records singles
• Songs written by Jagger–Richards
• RPM Top Singles number-one singles
• Song recordings produced by Andrew Loog Oldham