Songfacts®:

• Appearing on Let It Be, the Replacements' third studio album, "Unsatisfied" is a statement of perpetual dissatisfaction. It's an '80s update of the miasma captured in The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Penned by Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg, it curls its lip against the perpetual lies of human existence. This is Albert Camus stuff - Holden Caulfield of The Catcher In The Rye territory - total disgust with the inauthenticity of modern human existence.
• In some ways, "Unsatisfied" is a more serious, maybe more mature, take on the theme it shares with the Stones' 1960s generational-theme song. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" rocks. It gets you out of your seat and bopping. It's rather satisfying. "Unsatisfied" only leaves you sitting in that peculiar pleasure that melancholic reflection can bring. There's beauty there, but not the kind of beauty you dance to. The cynicism at the heart of the song is relentless, with no ray of sunshine:
  
  Everything you dream of
  Is right in front of you
  And everything is a lie
  
  The song bears a marked difference from earlier Replacements music, which even at its surliest was fun in a chaotic, punkish way. "Unsatisfied" feels like angry reflections from a middle-aged man, not the work of a 25-year-old Westerberg on the cusp of success.
• Let It Be was a breakthrough album for Westerberg and the Replacements. It marked a drastic change in Westerberg's songwriting, the level of control he exerted over the band's direction, and the group's commercial success. It would also prove to be one of the band's most influential albums (along with its 1985 successor, Tim). The Replacements didn't crush the charts as much as other '80s acts, but they were as important to indie music as any band of the era.
• In the guileless, raw confession of "Unsatisfied," we see foreshadowing of '90s grunge. It's no surprise that Westerberg's "Dyslexic Heart" is on the soundtrack to Singles, one of '90s-culture's most important films. Westerberg's harmonic depression and discontent bridged 1970s punk to 1990s grunge.
• Westerberg plays lap steel guitar, sometimes called Hawaiian guitar, on this song. As the name suggests, it's a steel guitar that's played horizontally, usually lying on the player's lap.
• Rolling Stone magazine called "Unsatisfied" Paul Westerberg's greatest song.
• This song is used in the 1994 comedy Airheads, starring Brendan Fraser, Adam Sandler, and Steve Buscemi. The '90s-film icons play clueless rock-and-roll refugees in a band named The Lone Rangers. They accidentally take a radio station hostage and force the DJ to play their music. "Unsatisfied" is played as plans begin to unwind and Fraser's character, Chazz, flavors a burrito with hot sauce delivered via Uzi-shaped water gun.
  
  Airheads was a box office bomb and favored target of 1994 film critics. It never cultivated a cult following, but it's still remembered fondly by some children of the '90s and fans of rock-themed movies. In its own goofy way, the movie is a celebration of bar-circuit bands who dedicate their lives to their music.