Sympathy for the Devil
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Expand Spanish Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox song "Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. The song was written by Mick Jagger and credited to the Jagger–Richards partnership. It is the opening track on the band's 1968 album Beggars Banquet. The song has received critical acclaim and features on Rolling Stone magazine's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list, being ranked number 106 in the 2021 edition.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
InspirationEdit
"Sympathy for the Devil" is credited to Jagger and Richards, though the song was largely a Jagger composition.<ref name="wenner95">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The working title of the song was "The Devil Is My Name", having earlier been called "Fallen Angels". Jagger sings in first person narrative as the Devil, who boasts of his role in each of several historical atrocities and repeatedly asks the listener to "guess my name." The singer demands the listener's courtesy towards him, implicitly chastising the listeners for their collective culpability in the listed killings and crimes. In the 2012 documentary Crossfire Hurricane, Jagger stated that his influence for the song came from Baudelaire and from the Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita (which had just appeared in English translation in 1967). The book was given to Jagger by Marianne Faithfull and she confirmed the inspiration in an interview with Sylvie Simmons for the magazine Mojo in 2005.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone, Jagger said, "that was taken from an old idea of Baudelaire's, I think, but I could be wrong. Sometimes when I look at my Baudelaire books, I can't see it in there. But it was an idea I got from French writing. And I just took a couple of lines and expanded on it. I wrote it as sort of like a Bob Dylan song."<ref name="wenner95" /> It was Keith Richards who suggested changing the tempo and using additional percussion, turning the folk song into a samba.<ref name="accordingtop119">Template:Cite book</ref>
Jagger stated in the Rolling Stone interview: "it's a very long historical figureTemplate:Sndthe figures of evil and figures of goodTemplate:Sndso it is a tremendously long trail he's made as personified in this piece."<ref name="wenner95" /> By the time Beggars Banquet was released, the Rolling Stones had already caused controversy for sexually forward lyrics such as "Let's Spend the Night Together"<ref>[[[:Template:Allmusic]] Unterberger, Richie. "Let's Spend the Night Together"]. AllMusic. 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2007.</ref> and their cover of the Willie Dixon's blues "I Just Want to Make Love to You". There were also claims they had dabbled in Satanism<ref name="salon">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (their previous album, while containing no direct Satanic references in its music or lyrics, was titled Their Satanic Majesties Request). "Sympathy" brought these concerns to the fore, provoking media rumors and fears among some religious groups that the Stones were devil worshippers and a corrupting influence on youth.<ref name="salon" />
The lyrics focus on atrocities in human history from Satan's point of view, including the trial and death of Jesus Christ, The Hundred Years' War, the violence of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the 1918 execution of the Romanov family during World War I, and World War II. The song was originally written with a line asking who shot John F. Kennedy, but after Robert F. Kennedy's assassination on 5 June 1968, the line was changed to reference both assassinations.<ref name="sftdlyrics">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The song may have been spared further controversy when the first single from the same album, "Street Fighting Man", became even more controversial in view of the race riots and student protests occurring in many cities in Europe and in the United States.<ref name="rollingwithp309">Template:Cite book</ref>
RecordingEdit
The recording of "Sympathy for the Devil" began at London's Olympic Sound Studios on 4 June 1968; overdubs were done on 8, 9 and 10 June.<ref name="nzentgraf">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Personnel included on the recording include Nicky Hopkins on piano, Rocky Dijon on congas and Bill Wyman on shekere. Marianne Faithfull, Anita Pallenberg, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, photographer Michael Cooper (photographer), Wyman, and Richards performed backup vocals. Richards plays bass on the original recording, and also electric guitar. Brian Jones plays a mostly mixed out acoustic guitar, although in isolated tracks of the studio cut, it is audible playing along with the piano.Template:Sfn<ref name=bvox>Godard Whoo-Whoo's footage retrieved 31 August 2023</ref>
In the 2003 book According to the Rolling Stones, Watts commented: Template:Quote
On the overall power of the song, Jagger continued in Rolling Stone: Template:Quote
The backing vocals came about by accident by producer Jimmy Miller and Anita Pallenberg. Pallenberg was in the engineering booth with Miller while Jagger was belting out an early vocal take of the song. According to Pallenberg, Miller was half talking to himself as Jagger sang, saying "Who, who?" He then repeated the words several times as Jagger sang on, and Pallenberg realized how wonderful that all sounded. After the take, she told Jagger what transpired in the booth and suggested that "who who" be used in the song as a backing vocal chant. The Stones then gave it a go and after the first take, "Who who" became "woo-woo", with most of this caught on film by director Jean-Luc Godard for his One Plus One (Template:Aka Sympathy for the Devil) movie.
LegacyEdit
Of the change in public perception the band experienced after the song's release, Richards said in a 1971 interview with Rolling Stone, "Before, we were just innocent kids out for a good time, they're saying, 'They're evil, they're evil.' Oh, I'm evil, really? So that makes you start thinking about evil ... What is evil? Half of it, I don't know how many people think of Mick as the devil or as just a good rock performer or what? There are black magicians who think we are acting as unknown agents of Lucifer and others who think we are Lucifer. Everybody's Lucifer."<ref name="greenfield71">Template:Cite news</ref>
Hunter S. Thompson and his attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta kept replaying the song hundreds of times during their drug-induced road trip to Las Vegas in 1971 to maintain focus whilst high. In Thompson's novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the film of the same name, the song is referenced several times.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Contrary to a widespread misconception, it was "Under My Thumb" and not "Sympathy for the Devil" that the Stones were performing when Meredith Hunter was killed at the Altamont Free Concert.<ref name=salon /> Rolling Stone magazine's early articles on the incident typically misreported that the killing took place during "Sympathy for the Devil",<ref name="burks1970">Template:Cite magazine</ref> but the Stones in fact played "Sympathy for the Devil" earlier in the concert; it was interrupted by a fight and restarted, Jagger commenting, "We're always havingTemplate:Sndsomething very funny happens when we start that number." Several other songs were performed before Hunter was killed.<ref name="nzentgraf" />
"Sympathy for the Devil" is considered the band's "ode to madness" by The Washington Post's Paul Schwartzman.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> The song has been played more than 800 times by the Rolling Stones during live performances, and appears on their live albums Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!, Love You Live, and Flashpoint, among others.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
LyricsEdit
The song's verse "I shouted out, ‘Who killed the Kennedys?' / When after all, it was you and me." is considered by critic Robert Christgau to be a commentary about how "this is a world where people get killed and all of us, to one extent or another, are implicated in the fact that this is that world." This lyric was noted in 2024 by Schwartzman as being omitted from the song since approximately 2006 in live performance. Christgau believes this was possibly done due to its lack of relevance "to the younger audience".<ref name=":0" />
PersonnelEdit
According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon,Template:Sfn except where noted:
The Rolling Stones
- Mick JaggerTemplate:Snd lead vocals,Template:Sfn hand drumTemplate:Sfn
- Keith RichardsTemplate:Snd backing vocals, lead guitar, bass
- Brian JonesTemplate:Snd backing vocals, acoustic guitar (inaudible)
- Bill WymanTemplate:Snd backing vocals, shekere
- Charlie WattsTemplate:Snd backing vocals, drums
Additional personnel
- Unidentified musicianTemplate:Snd maracasTemplate:Refn
- Nicky HopkinsTemplate:Snd piano
- Rocky DzidzornuTemplate:Snd congas, cowbell
- Michael Cooper, Marianne Faithfull, Anita Pallenberg Template:Snd backing vocalsTemplate:Refn <ref name=bvox>Godard Whoo-Whoo's footage retrieved 31 August 2023</ref>
ChartsEdit
Original versionEdit
Template:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chart| Chart (1969–2011) | Peak position |
|---|
2003 remixesEdit
Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2
Weekly chartsEdit
Template:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chart| Chart (2003) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 10 | |
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
20 |
| Portugal (AFP)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 3 |
Year-end chartsEdit
| Chart (2003) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 9 |
| Chart (2004) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 7 |
CertificationsEdit
Template:Certification Table Top Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Bottom
Avant-garde filmEdit
Sympathy for the Devil is also the title of a 1968 film by Godard, also titled One Plus One. A depiction of the late 1960s American counterculture, the film primarily featured the Rolling Stones in the process of recording the song in the studio. On the filming, Jagger said in Rolling Stone: "[it was] very fortuitous, because Godard wanted to do a film of us in the studio. I mean, it would never happen now, to get someone as interesting as Godard. And stuffy. We just happened to be recording that song. We could have been recording 'My Obsession'. But it was 'Sympathy for the Devil', and it became the track that we used."<ref name="wenner95" />
During the several days of recording the Stones as they played, a film lamp set up by Godard's crew started a major fire in the studio that caused substantial damage to the studio and laid waste to some of the band's equipment. However, the song's tapes were saved by Miller before he fled the studio, and Godard kept his cameras rolling capturing the fire on film as it roared on.
Guns N' Roses versionEdit
Guns N' Roses recorded a cover in 1994 which reached number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100; it was featured in the closing credits of Neil Jordan's film adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire and was included on their Greatest Hits album. This cover is noteworthy for causing an incident involving incoming guitarist Paul "Huge" Tobias, that was partially responsible for guitarist Slash departing from the band in 1996.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Slash has described the Guns N' Roses version of the song as "the sound of the band breaking up".<ref name="book">Template:Cite book (German paperback is Template:ISBN)</ref>
Rhythm guitarist Gilby Clarke, who does not appear on the recording, noted that the recording foreshadowed his departure from the band: Template:Quote
This was the band's final single until 2018's "Shadow of Your Love" to feature guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan.
PersonnelEdit
- W. Axl RoseTemplate:Sndlead vocals, piano
- SlashTemplate:Sndlead and rhythm guitars
- Duff McKaganTemplate:Sndbass, backing vocals
- Matt SorumTemplate:Snddrums, percussion
- Dizzy ReedTemplate:Sndkeyboards
- Paul HugeTemplate:Sndrhythm and lead guitars, backing vocals
ChartsEdit
Weekly chartsEdit
Template:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chartTemplate:Single chart| Chart (1994–1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (The Record)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 9 |
| Denmark (IFPI)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 2 |
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 3 |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)<ref name="Pennanan">Pennanen, Timo. Sisältää hitin: levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972. Otava Publishing Company Ltd, 2003. Template:ISBN</ref> | 2 |
| Iceland (Íslenski listinn Topp 40)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | 4 |
| Italy (Musica e dischi)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 5 |
| Spain (AFYVE)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | 4 |
Year-end chartsEdit
| Chart (1994) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Sweden (Topplistan)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
97 |
| Chart (1995) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
74 |
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 63 | |
| Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | 86 | |
| Sweden (Topplistan)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
88 |
Sales and certificationsEdit
Template:Certification Table Top Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Bottom
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
SourcesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Beggars Banquet Template:The Rolling Stones singles Template:Guns N' Roses