Sympathy for the Devil
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| "Sympathy for the Devil" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image:BeggarsBanquetLP.jpg | ||
| Song by The Rolling Stones | ||
| From the album Beggars Banquet | ||
| Album released | 6 December 1968 | |
| Recorded | 17 March - 25 July 1968 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Song Length | 6:18 | |
| Record label | ABKCO | |
| Producer | Jimmy Miller | |
| Beggars Banquet Album Listing | ||
| Sympathy for the Devil (Track 1) | No Expectations (Track 2) | |
- This article is about a song. For other meanings of Sympathy for the Devil see here.
"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by The Rolling Stones. The song first appeared as the opening track on the 1968 Stones album Beggars Banquet.
Contents |
The song
The song is sung with vehemence and swagger by Mick Jagger as a first-person narrative and commentary from the point of view of a suave and sophisticated Lucifer. It is often claimed that the lyrics were inspired by The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. At the beginning of Bulgakov's novel, an elegant stranger, later revealed to be Satan, says:
- "'Please excuse me,' he said, speaking correctly, but with a foreign accent, 'for presuming to speak to you without an introduction.'"
"Sympathy for the Devil" begins:
- Please allow me to introduce myself
- I'm a man of wealth and taste
Backed by a constantly intensifying rock arrangement, the singer coolly recounts his exploits over the course of human history and warns the listener:
- If you meet me, have some courtesy
- Have some sympathy, and some taste
- Use all your well-learned politesse
- Or I'll lay your soul to waste
At the time of the release of Beggars Banquet the Stones had already raised some hackles for sexually forward lyrics such as "Let's Spend the Night Together" and for dabbling in Satanism (their previous album, while containing no direct Satanic references, had been titled Their Satanic Majesties Request), and "Sympathy" brought these concerns to the fore, offering "proof" to fundamentalist Christians that The Rolling Stones (and perhaps all Rock musicians) were indeed worshipers of Satan and a corrupting influence on youth. It should be noted, however, that one interpretation of this song is that "The Devil" is in fact mankind...the lyrics are a brief history of some of the most notable attrocities committed by man against man, including The Hundred Years War (I watched with glee while you Kings and Queens fought for ten decades for the Gods they made), the October Revolution (I stuck around St. Petersburg when I saw it was a time for a change, killed the czar and his ministers), and World War II (I rode a tank, held a general's rank while the blitzkrieg raged, and the bodies stank). In that light, the song would appear to be a criticism of the immorality in Western Civilization and a call for sanity.
In addition to the very idea of a sympathetic view of the Devil, the lyrics included harsh references to the deaths of John and Robert Kennedy (the latter having occurred only months before the album was released). Ironically, the song may have been spared further controversy when the first single from the album, "Street Fighting Man" became even more controversial in the wake of the race riots occurring in many cities in the U.S.
Additional personnel included Nicky Hopkins - piano, Dave Mason - guitar and mandolin, Rocky Dijon - congas, Marianne Faithfull and Anita Pallenberg - backup vocals.
Film
Sympathy for the Devil is also the title of a 1970 film by Jean-Luc Godard. The film, a loose documentary of the late 1960s American counterculture, also featured the Rolling Stones in the process of recording the song in the studio.
References to the song
The song was used as the theme music to one of director Michael Mann's earliest works, the 1979 made-for-television film The Jericho Mile, written by Patrick J. Nolan and starring Peter Strauss.
In Hal Ashby's Coming Home (1978), Robert Carradine commits suicide under the increasingly overpowering "Sympathy for the Devil."
In the 1988 movie 'Alien Nation', Jane's Addiction's cover of this song is played in the "New Encounters" night club.
In the Stephen King book Dreamcatcher, a military unit's theme song is "Sympathy for the Devil".
In the 1994 miniseries The Stand, after the Stephen King book with the same title, the following line from "Sympathy for the Devil" is used: Pleased to meet you, ... Hope you guessed my name.
In the Alan Moore graphic novel V for Vendetta (at the end of Volume 2 chapter 7), V introduces himself to a corrupt, doomed bishop with "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste" while revealing devil horns from under his hat.
The name of the song is also used for session 6 of the popular anime Cowboy Bebop, in a tribute to the original (many sessions of Bebop are named for famous songs). Another anime, Witch Hunter Robin also used "Sympathy for the Devil" as a title for one of the later episodes in the series.
In the Hunter S. Thompson novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, it is the only tape cassette that Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo have in the car, mentioning "..grappling with a tape recorder turned all the way up on Sympathy for the Devil. That was the only tape we had, so we played it constantly, over and over as a kind of demented counterpoint to the radio."
In the James Patterson novel, "Along Came a Spider", Gary Soneji introduces himself to a corrupt detective, Miles Devine, with "Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a man of wealth and taste." When Devine does not recognize the allusion, Soneji continues with, "Sympathy for the Devil? The Rolling Stones?"
The version of the song performed by Guns N' Roses is used in the ending credits for the movie adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire.
The song is used in the ending credits for the movie Fallen, starring Denzel Washington and John Goodman. The movie features another Stones song, Time Is On My Side, as a plot device.
Argentinian Spanish pop ska group The Refrescos released an album named Simpatía por el débil (Sympathy for the weak one), a pun on the song title, in 1991.
The heavy metal band Witchery released a CD in 2000 called Symphony For The Devil.
The band PIG released a song entitled "Symphony for the Devil" on their 1993 album, The Swining.
The gothic metal band Type O Negative released a live DVD in 2006 called Symphony For The Devil.
On the sophomore album of the band OK Go, Oh No, the fourth track "A Good Idea At The Time" is a direct response to the Rolling Stones song and contains recognizable phrases from the original.
In the 2004 episode of The Sopranos, "Whoever Did This" Ralph says "Please allow me to introduce myself." and later in the same episode is asked by Father Phill "Were you there when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and pain?"
In the Jeff Long novel The Descent, a sniper watching Satan appear is singing: "Pleased to meet you... hope you guessed my name."
Covers and remixes
The song has been widely covered since its release, including a notable version by Jane's Addiction that was included on their 1987 self-titled live album, and another by the American hard rock group Guns N' Roses that was recorded in 1994 and featured in the closing credits of Neil Jordan's film adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, and the Denzel Washington film Fallen. In 1989, the Slovenian band Laibach released an EP of 7 different versions of the song, interpreted as everything from a Fascist Wagnerian symphony to a light techno number.
The song has a similar chord structure as the coda to The Beatles' Hey Jude, The Residents perform the two quodlibet as the finale to their album The Third Reich 'n' Roll.
In September 2003, ABKCO Records released a remix single of the original song featuring radio and remix versions by The Neptunes, Fatboy Slim, and Full Phatt.
Track listing
- "Sympathy For The Devil" - The Neptunes radio edit
- "Sympathy For The Devil" - The Neptunes extended remix
- "Sympathy For The Devil" - Fatboy Slim radio edit
- "Sympathy For The Devil" - Fatboy Slim extended remix
- "Sympathy For The Devil" - Full Phatt radio edit
- "Sympathy For The Devil" - Full Phatt extended remix
- "Sympathy For The Devil" - Original Rolling Stones version
In 2005, Ozzy Osbourne released a cover of the song on his 4-disc box set Prince of Darkness. The 4th disk of Prince of Darkness, which included only cover songs, was re-released in late 2005 on its own with three more cover songs under the title Under Cover; Ozzy's cover of "Sympathy for the Devil" was included in the re-release.