Gimme Shelter- Rolling Stones
-The lyrics start two minutes into the video and end at about 6:30
Oh, a storm is threat'ning
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
The floods is threat'ning
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I'm gonna fade away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
I tell you love, sister, it's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
The floods is threat'ning
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I'm gonna fade away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
I tell you love, sister, it's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away
In this song, the Rolling Stones are trying to persuade the people and government of America to stop the war in Vietnam. The Rolling Stones do this by describing what an evil thing war is.
In the first verse, Jagger talks about hiding from a storm that is threatening him. The 'storm' that he is referring to is the war in Vietnam, and all the chaos that is involved in it. In the chorus, he talks about the war. My interpretation of the 'shot away' is showing that one shot from a gun can kill someone. (A less deep interpretation is that Jagger can't handle the war and is taking 'shots' (drugs) to relive stress.) Another lyric that I have thought abour is thinking of either 'fading away' or 'shelter' as death via suicide. If it is fading away, Jagger is saying the war is too evil to stand and must fade away. If it is shelter, Jagger could be afraid of being drafted into the army and 'fading away' that way.
In the next verse, he talks about a fire sweeping our very street. I think that he is still speaking of the chaos of the war and the effect is has on the American people. He says that it 'burns like a red coal carpet' because no one can be comfortable with the war going on. He goes on to again remind the people about how close death really is with the war.
Jagger then stresses individual evils of war by talking about rape and murder, both which actually happened during the war. The final verse is basically a variation of the first, talking about floods instead of storms, but with the same meaning. He ends the song on a happy note saying that if we love eachother instead of hate eachother, the world will become a better place.
