“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is a song recorded by the Friends of Jo Cox, a collaboration featuring MP4, Steve Harley, Ricky Wilson, David Gray & KT Tunstall. A cover of the 1969 song by the Rolling Stones (written by Jagger–Richards), it was released as a charity single by Chrysalis Records on 16 December 2016. It benefitted the Jo Cox Foundation and reached number 136 in the UK Singles Chart.
Background
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” was recorded in the memory of the Labour Party politician Jo Cox, who served as the Member of Parliament for Batley and Spen from May 2015 until her murder on 16 June 2016. She was scheduled to hold a constituency surgery in Birstall, when she was shot and stabbed multiple times in the street by the far-right extremist Thomas Mair.
As a member of the rock band MP4, which is made up of four current and former British MPs, Labour MP Kevin Brennan was the organiser of the project. The song was chosen as as it “called for multiple singers and choirs, reflecting a message of togetherness”. It was recorded in November 2016 at the Backstage Centre in Thurrock and mixed at the Arts Media Studio in London. MP4 and producer Robin Millar, initially recorded the backing track, then Millar invited singers Steve Harley, Ricky Wilson, David Gray & KT Tunstall to contribute, alongside 13 choir singers from Members of the Parliamentary Choir and 72 members of the Thurrock Community Choir. Millar was pleased with the results, describing the single as a “really good record”, and a “really good piece of music”.
Speaking of his involvement, Harley stated in 2016, “Like so many people across the country, I was incredibly shocked and saddened when I heard about the death of the wonderful Jo Cox.She was just 41 years old when she was killed in the most horrendous way.The more I learned about the causes which were close to her heart, and the more I learned about Jo in general, the more I felt compelled to pay tribute to such a unique woman.”
Harley described the charity single as also a “protest song against the rise of extremism in our country”. He stated, “It’s not a political song in the sense that we’re campaigning against the far left or the far right. But we are campaigning for the vast majority of Brits who hold balanced, sensible, level-headed views. And we’re protesting against those people, like Thomas Mair, who want to challenge that. Jo Cox represented democracy, she represented the will of the people, and when she was killed that democracy and that will was attacked. We simply can’t let that happen without some sort of protest. We can’t let people believe that, through acts of terror, they can take society in a direction it doesn’t want to go in.”
Release
The profits of the single went to the Jo Cox Foundation, which in turn benefitted the charities Cox supported, including the Royal Voluntary Service, the White Helmets, and Hope not Hate. The single’s release marked the launch of the foundation.
The single was originally scheduled for an early 2017 release, but this was brought forward to December 2016. It was hoped that the single would be a contender for the UK Christmas number one slot.
Songwriters Mick Jagger and Keith Richards waived their claim on songwriting royalties and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, authorised the waiving of VAT on the single. The bookmakers William Hill pledged to donate all the money staked on the single reaching number one to charity, alongside an additional £5,000 donation.
Ultimately, the single failed to reach the top 100 of the main UK Singles Chart and reached its peak of number 136 in its first week. It fared better in other charts, including number 24 in the Singles Download Chart and number 4 in the Physical Singles Chart. In January 2017, it was announced that the Jo Cox Foundation had almost received £2 million in donations, which the single had contributed to.
Music video
Both a music video and seven-minute documentary film about the song’s recording were released to promote the single. The footage was filmed by students from the National College Creative Industries in Thurrock. The music video was directed by Sevya Bonin-Briginshaw and the documentary was directed by Nietzsches Onyemba.
Track listing
Digital and CD single
- “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (Single Edit) – 4:04
- “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (Full Length Version) – 6:27
Personnel
Friends of Jo Cox
- Steve Harley – vocals
- Ricky Wilson – vocals
- David Gray – vocals
- KT Tunstall – vocals
- Kevin Brennan – acoustic guitar
- Robin Millar – electric guitar
- Pete Wishart – keyboards
- Ian Cawsey – bass guitar
- Greg Knight – drums, percussion
- Members of the Parliamentary Choir – choir
- The Thurrock Community Choir – choir
- Suzi Digby – choir conductor
Production
- Robin Millar – production, mixing
- Jon Jacobs – recording engineer
- Tony Faulkner – vocal recording
- Mazen Murad – mastering
Other
- The Artful Dodgers – sleeve design
- Christopher Bissell – photography
Charts
UK Singles Chart: 136
UK Independent Singles Chart: 9
UK Independent Singles Breakers Chart: 2
UK Physical Singles Chart: 4
UK Singles Download Chart: 24
UK Singles Sales Chart: 24
