How the 1968 Paris Protests Shaped 'Street Fighting Man'

The most interesting thing about “Street Fighting Man” is that Mick Jagger wrote the lyrics after watching the 1968 Paris riots on TV, but the music was basically an accident. Keith Richards had recorded a demo on a cheap Philips cassette deck, and that wobbly, distorted sound — created by overloading the tiny microphone — became the song’s final track. The band literally couldn’t get a clean take, so they kept the cassette recording, which gives the song its frantic, clenched-teeth energy.

Jagger’s lyrics are a conflicted response to the political upheaval sweeping Europe and America. He writes, “What can a poor boy do / Except to sing in a rock and roll band?” — a line that acknowledges the limits of pop music as a revolutionary tool. Originally called “Did Everyone Pay Their Dues?”, the song was banned from many US radio stations for its supposedly inflammatory message. The irony is that Jagger never endorsed violence; he was documenting a moment he felt both drawn to and helpless in.