One of my very favorite songs of all time was written by Mick Jaggar and Keith Richards in 1969: Gimme Shelter. A song that was written in response to the violence and the unrest of the time. I probably have pranced around doing my “air” version of Mick Jaggar singing and strutting this song numerous times. I’m sort of resembling an old Mick these days.

It seems like this song is as relevant as ever. Just today, I read about another border patrol agent being shot and killed protecting our borders. It pains me to see great tragedies occurring almost right before my eyes. Rape, murder it’s just a shot away.http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/20121002arizona-border-agent-death-stuns-state.html

Unrest is everywhere. No such thing as compromise. Folks talking about civil war. People without work. People who have given up. The left and the right. There is no compromise. Facebook filled with hatred posts pitting one side against another. Is it the extreme right? Yes! Is it the extreme left? Yes! No such thing as trying to be a moderate in an extreme world. I’m a thinkin’ I need shelter from the gathering storm.

In revisiting my past, at no other time can I recall such division in the country.  I lived through the 60’s but it was before I became politically aware of my surroundings so I really didn’t experience that unrest except through a child’s eyes. Today, I see a country divided, the far left vs the far right. I sometimes think that war it’s just a shot away and it isn’t a war across some ocean. In revisiting the lyrics of the Stones, you just might find some relevance. Plenty of good videos of Gimme Shelter but I like this one from 2003. Mick is in his upper 50’s and still delivering. Powerful song. Watching Mick with Lisa Fischer, just might give you some goose bumps. It gives me pause on how I see the world. I tell love, sister, yeah, it’s just a kiss away.

Gimme Shelter

Yeah, a storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don’t get some shelter

Lord, I’m gonna fade away

War, children, yeah, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children, yeah, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away, hey, yeah

Oh, see the fire is sweepin’
At our streets today
Burnin’ like a red coal carpet
A mad bull lost its way

War, children, yeah, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children, yeah, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away, hey, yeah

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

Yeah, a storm is threatening
My very life today
A gimme, a gimme shelter
Or I’m gonna fade away

War, children, yeah, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children, yeah, 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, shot away, shot away
It’s just a shot away, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away, shot away, shot away

I tell love, sister, yeah, it’s just a kiss away
I tell love, sister, yeah, 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
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, kiss away, kiss away
Gimme shelter, yeah, gimme shelter, yeah
Gimme shelter, yeah, gimme shelter


Gimme shelter, gimme shelter