Sympathy for the Devil
"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by British rock group The Rolling Stones. The song first appeared as the lead-off track on the 1968 Stones album Beggars Banquet and immediately generated controversy for its lyrical content.
The song, credited to Jagger/Richards, 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. 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 politics
Or I'll lay your soul to waste
At the time of the relase 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. 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 places in the U.S.
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.
American hard rock group Guns N' Roses recorded a cover version of the song in 1994.
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