Last Saturday, ten of the authors in the anthology “The White Picket Fence” from Flower Song Press celebrated the official book launch with a reading at the beautiful community bookstore Cafe Con Libros in Pomona, California. It was long drive for me, but the local mountains were covered in snow, the sky was a brilliant blue, and the sun was shining.

What I particularly loved about this reading was how all of the stories we shared somehow spoke to each other. I read a story called “Satisfaction” about a young girl in 1965 feeling angsty about her looks and having a blowout fight with her mother. Here’s a snippet:

Olivia went into her bedroom and clicked on the tiny transistor radio next to her bed. “Satisfaction” was just starting, a song her mother hated, so she cranked up the volume.

I understand why Olivia’s mother didn’t like the song. My mother didn’t either and now, with older ears and eyes, I recognize the cynicism, privilege, and misogyny in many of the Rolling Stones’ song lyrics. For example, “Under My Thumb,” “You’re Out of Touch,” and “Stupid Girl.” And of course, “Satisfaction.”

Here’s more from my story.

Keith Richard’s opening guitar riff repeated three times, so urgent and furious that Olivia could not stand still. She danced in front of the mirror, waving her arms overhead. Someday, someone would ask her to dance and be amazed at her moves. Her father’s voice now, downstairs in the kitchen, talking to her mother, clearing his throat, something he did when he was angry.

“A herd of elephants,” he’d said before.

I was thirteen in 1965 when “Satisfaction” was released on the Stones third studio album “Out of Our Heads.” It’s a great song to dance to, but “Satisfaction’s” lyrics have always confused me as they do Olivia:

Mick Jagger sang “I can’t get no,” which made no sense. He was a rock star, flying around the world, making tons of money. He could get whatever he wanted. Maybe he was the same as her father, never satisfied no matter what. And what exactly was girly action? She wasn’t sure if she’d want to have it with Mick or Keith, but she doubted they’d want to have it with her anyway.

Her mother pushed the door open. “Please turn that down.”

Olivia reached for the volume knob. Maybe the lyrics meant the exact opposite. It was a double negative. Can’t get no satisfaction meant that Mick could get some.

Not too long ago, the Beatle’s bass player Paul McCartney called the Stones “just a blues cover band.” He might have meant that as a slam, but their bluesy music is the main reason I’m a big fan. I’ve always loved the blues. The Stones may have “borrowed” this music from Black American artists and then fed it back to us through a 1960s English party boy pop lens, but they also brought these Black artists (such as Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Bo Diddley) along with them on tour and introduced them to new audiences.

“Satisfaction” was the band’s first number one U.S. hit. Radio stations refused to play it in certain cities, and the Stones weren’t allowed to sing the line about “trying to make some girl” on a 1965 performance on Shindig!

It wasn’t only the sexual content that was problematic to radio. There’s also an anti-consumerism thread throughout the lyrics, ironic since the Stones have never had a problem accepting corporate sponsorship for their tours.

When I'm watchin' my TV/ And a man comes on and tells me/How white my shirts can be/But he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke/The same cigarettes as me

Brian Jones supposedly hated “Satisfaction” so much that he played “Popeye the Sailor Man” during performances of the song.

I still dance in front of the mirror sometimes and these days, I probably sound even more like a herd of elephants.

If you’d rather hear me read than dance, I’m honored to be a part of LibroMobile’s Oral Histories in an episode called “On Mailrooms, Stability, and How to Be a Better Neighbor.” You can listen here.

LibroMobile’s goal with these oral histories is “to empower community members to take ownership of their own histories.” If you’re interested in participating, LibroMobile provides technological tools, virtual applications, workspace and one-on-one tutorials as well as collaborative workshops. They can assist in archiving family albums too. Check out their website for more information.

Meanwhile, in Surf City, the city council got no satisfaction from a recent Supreme Court decision that had nothing to do with tariffs. SCOTUS declined to hear HB’s appeal of a lower court decision that sided with the state of California over housing mandates. Former city attorney Michael Gates (now running for state Attorney General) has argued for years that HB doesn’t have to follow California’s mandates because we’re a charter city. The state of California does not agree and now the Supreme Court doesn’t want to hear any more about it.

Mayor Casey McKeon said the U.S. Supreme Court decision not to take the city’s case was disappointing but “other paths will always exist for us to continue to rigorously fight to defend the Huntington Beach residents’ local control.” I’m not sure what these paths might be, but the council only has until mid-April to update its housing plan. The city is required to zone for 13,368 new units.

Matt Szabo reported that “the council has yet to have any open session discussions.”

Stay tuned.

Save the dates. May 1st and 2nd, Litfest in the Dena is returning to Pasadena. The theme this year is “Books That Changed the Public Narrative” and their website lists a few examples:

• Rachel Carson’s The Silent Spring

• Sinclair Lewis, The Jungle

• Jack Kerouac’s On the Road

• John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath

I’m on a panel with some incredible authors talking about storytelling. More information coming soon.

What book would you recommend as one that changed the public narrative? Write back and let me know and I’ll enter your name in a giveaway chance (US only) to win a signed copy of my novel Those People Behind Us which is also available wherever you like to buy books and always on the shelf at LibroMobile.