Music Monday: “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones
Posted By RichC on May 11, 2026
Although Rolling Stones music has been included on MDB before, “Gimme Shelter” from 1969 hasn’t been highlighted appropriately for a Music Monday (it was included but YouTube restricted on the post “Thoughts of war, a nuclear exchange and our human condition.”) The song is ranked up there with some of the all time great music by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It was rank as #13 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2021) and is considered the band’s best song by the magazine.
For me, it is up there with MY Rolling Stones “bad parenting song.” 😉
Gimme Shelter is the opening track from The Rolling Stones’ 1969 album Let It Bleed, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The song, known for its intense, apocalyptic tone, reflects the turbulent era of the late 1960s—marked by war, social unrest, and political violence. Its iconic guitar riff was inspired by Keith Richards seeing people scrambling for shelter during a sudden London storm. The track features powerful, haunting vocals by session singer Merry Clayton, whose performance—recorded in a single take while she was pregnant—became legendary. She famously screams, “Rape, murder! It’s just a shot away!” before the song’s chilling conclusion.
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