Gimme Shelter

The thing that amazes me about the music of the Rolling Stones is that a lot of it seems to fit no matter what decade it's heard in. "Gimme Shelter" was first released in 1969 on the Let It Bleed album. The song was a warning of destruction as the love of the 6os faded into the napalm burn of Vietnam. The song offered some hope. War was "just a shot away" but love was "just a kiss away". The Stones asked people to make the choice while hoping love would win out.

As I'm writing this, over 400 members of a cult in Uganda have burned themselves to death. A gunman has just killed 35 people in Kashmir. A few days ago a 14 year old boy near my home killed himself because he couldn't stand his classmates' continuous comments about his sexuality. Ethnic cleansing is alive and well in the 21st century. Things seem to be going to hell in a handbasket. Oh Mick! Gimme some shelter too!

Every time I listen to "Gimme Shelter" I think that it's a perfect soundtrack for the world we live in now. Mick sings like a man trapped in a world he can't live with (and hopes to change). I'd love to know how he

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