Sympathy for the Devil

"Sympathy for the Devil"
German cover to 1973 single release
Song by The Rolling Stones from the album Beggars Banquet
Released	February 1969 (Japan) October 1973 (continental Europe)
Recorded	4-5 and 8–10 June 1968 at Olympic Studios, London
Genre	Rock
Length	6:18
Label	Decca, London
Writer	Jagger/Richards
Producer	Jimmy Miller
Beggars Banquet track listing
10 tracks Side one "Sympathy for the Devil" "No Expectations" "Dear Doctor" "Parachute Woman" "Jig-Saw Puzzle" Side two "Street Fighting Man" "Prodigal Son" "Stray Cat Blues" "Factory Girl" "Salt of the Earth"

"Sympathy for the Devil Remix"
Single by The Rolling Stones
Released	16 September 2003
Recorded	March - June 1968
Genre	Rock
Length	38:24
Label	ABKCO
Producer	Jellybean Benitez, The Neptunes, Fatboy Slim, Full Phatt
The Rolling Stones singles chronology

"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by The Rolling Stones which first appeared as the opening track on their 1968 album Beggars Banquet. It was written by Mick Jagger and credited to Jagger/Richards. Rolling Stone magazine placed it at #32 in their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Inspiration

"Sympathy for the Devil" was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, though the song was largely a Jagger composition.[1] The working title of the song was "The Devil Is My Name", and it is sung by Jagger as a first-person narrative from the point of view of Lucifer.[2]

In the 2012 BBC 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 him by Marianne Faithfull.

In a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone, Jagger said, "I think 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."[1] It was Richards who suggested changing the tempo and using additional percussion, turning the folk song into a samba.[3]

Backed by an intensifying rock arrangement, the narrator, with chilling narcissistic relish, 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." Jagger stated in the Rolling Stone interview: "... it's a very long historical figure — the figures of evil and figures of good — so it is a tremendously long trail he's made as personified in this piece."[1]

At the time of the release of Beggars Banquet the Rolling Stones had already raised some hackles for sexually forward lyrics such as "Let's Spend the Night Together" [4] and for allegedly dabbling in Satanism [5] (their previous album, while containing no direct Satanic references, had been titled Their Satanic Majesties Request), and "Sympathy" brought these concerns to the fore, provoking media rumours and fears among some religious groups that the Stones were devil-worshippers and a corrupting influence on youth.[5] The lyrics focus on atrocities in the history of mankind from Lucifer's point of view, including the trial and death of Jesus Christ ("Made damn sure that Pilate washed his hands and sealed his fate"), European wars of religion ("I watched with glee while your kings and queens fought for ten decades for the Gods they made"), the violence of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the 1918 massacre of the Romanov family ("I stuck around St. Petersburg when I saw it was a time for a change/Killed the Tsar and his ministers/Anastasia screamed in vain"), and World War II ("I rode a tank, held a general's rank when the Blitzkrieg raged, and the bodies stank"). The song goes right to the present time of 1968 with the lines: "I shouted out, "Who Killed the Kennedys?"/ When after all it was you and me". The song was written following the assassination of Robert Kennedy, over four years following the assassination of his brother John Kennedy. Also, the phrase "Just as every cop is a criminal/And all the sinners saints" is a part of Mick Jagger's philosophy.[6]

Jagger sings the final lines of the coda, before the fade, in a high falsetto.

The song may have been spared further controversy when the first single from the album, "Street Fighting Man", became even more controversial in view of the race riots and student protests occurring in many cities in the U.S.[7]

Recording

The recording of "Sympathy for the Devil" began at London's Olympic Sound Studios on 4 June 1968 and continued into the next day; overdubs were done on 8, 9 and 10 June.[8] Personnel included on the recording include Nicky Hopkins on piano, Rocky Dijon on congas and Bill Wyman on maracas.

It is often mentioned that Marianne Faithfull, Anita Pallenberg, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, producer Jimmy Miller, Wyman and Richards performed backup vocals, singing the "WOO WOOS", repeatedly, as this can be seen in the film Sympathy for the Devil (see below) by Jean-Luc Godard. In reality the backup 'whoo whoo' vocals were overdubbed at a later stage in Los Angeles by Richards, Jagger and Miller. Richards plays bass on the original recording,[citation needed] and also the song's electric-guitar solo. Jones is seen playing an acoustic guitar in the film, but it is not audible in the finished mix.

In the 2003 book According to the Rolling Stones, Watts said: "'Sympathy' was one of those sort of songs where we tried everything. The first time I ever heard the song was when Mick was playing it at the front door of a house I lived in in Sussex... He played it entirely on his own... and it was fantastic. We had a go at loads of different ways of playing it; in the end I just played a jazz Latin feel in the style of Kenny Clarke would have played on 'A Night in Tunisia' - not the actual rhythm he played, but the same styling."[3]

On the overall power of the song, Jagger continued in Rolling Stone: "It has a very hypnotic groove, a samba, which has a tremendous hypnotic power, rather like good dance music. It doesn't speed up or slow down. It keeps this constant groove. Plus, the actual samba rhythm is a great one to sing on, but it is also got some other suggestions in it, an undercurrent of being primitive—because it is a primitive African, South American, Afro-whatever-you-call-that rhythm (candomblé). So to white people, it has a very sinister thing about it. But forgetting the cultural colors, it is a very good vehicle for producing a powerful piece. It becomes less pretentious because it is a very unpretentious groove. If it had been done as a ballad, it wouldn't have been as good."[1]

Aftermath

In an interview with Creem, Jagger said, "[When people started taking us as devil worshippers], I thought it was a really odd thing, because it was only one song, after all. It wasn't like it was a whole album, with lots of occult signs on the back. People seemed to embrace the image so readily, it has carried all the way over into heavy metal bands today."[5]

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 much 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."[9]

Contrary to a widespread misconception, it was "Under My Thumb" and not "Sympathy for the Devil" that the Rolling Stones were performing when Meredith Hunter was killed at the Altamont Free Concert.[5] Rolling Stone magazine's early articles on the incident misreported that the killing took place during "Sympathy for the Devil",[10] 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 having--something very funny happens when we start that number." Several other songs were performed before Hunter was killed.[8]

After being omitted from the Stones' 1972/73 tours, "Sympathy for the Devil" was played occasionally as the encore in 1975/76, and has been performed regularly on all of their tours since 1989. Concert renditions have been released on the albums The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!, Love You Live, Flashpoint, and Shine a Light.

Music video

Video footage of a live performance of the song is shown on Australian TV station in place of a music video. The performance features John Lennon shown in the audience.

Personnel

• Mick Jagger - lead vocals
• Keith Richards - electric guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals
• Brian Jones - backing vocals
• Bill Wyman - maracas, backing vocals
• Charlie Watts - drums, backing vocals, cowbell
• Nicky Hopkins - piano
• Rocky Dijon - congas
• Jimmy Miller - backing vocals
• Anita Pallenberg - backing vocals
• Marianne Faithfull - backing vocal

On Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert (1970)

• Mick Jagger - lead vocals
• Keith Richards - lead guitar, first solo
• Mick Taylor - rhythm guitar, second solo
• Bill Wyman - bass guitar
• Charlie Watts - drums

Prior to the opening bars of "Sympathy" on Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!, a female audience member pleads with Richards to play "Paint it Black". She can be heard saying, "Paint it black, paint it black you devil".

The 1968 film and others

Sympathy for the Devil is also the title of a producer's edit of a 1968 film by Jean-Luc Godard whose own original version is called One Plus One. The film, a depiction of the late 1960s American counterculture, also 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."[1]

Popular culture

The song appears in the video games Guitar Hero 5, Call of Duty: Black Ops, during the mission Crash Site and in Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. The song is also used in the film Fallen (1998), briefly in the film Tropic Thunder (2008), and in both of John Goodman's scenes in the film Flight (2012).

The first episode of season 5 of Supernatural is titled "Sympathy for the Devil".

The song appears in a television commercial for Mercedes-Benz that debuted during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLVII on February 3, 2013.

The song was also in the soundtrack of the movie Goodfellas (1990), during the manic cocaine delivery and arrest sequence.

Guns N' Roses version

"Sympathy for the Devil"
Single by Guns N' Roses
from the album Interview with the Vampire soundtrack
B-side	"Escape to Paris" (by Elliot Goldenthal)
Released	13 December 1994 (US) January 1995 (UK)
Recorded	October 1994
Genre	Hard rock
Length	7:36
Label	Geffen
Producer	Guns N' Roses, Mike Clink, Matthias Gohl
Guns N' Roses singles chronology

Guns N' Roses recorded a cover in 1994 which reached #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 notable for causing an incident involving incoming guitarist, Paul Tobias, that was partially responsible for guitarist Slash departing from the band in 1996. Slash has described the Guns N' Roses version of the song as "the sound of the band breaking up".[11]

Personnel (Guns N' Roses version)

• W. Axl Rose - lead vocals, piano, production
• Slash - lead and rhythm guitars, production
• Duff McKagan - bass guitar, backing vocals, production
• Dizzy Reed - keyboards, production
• Matt Sorum - drums, percussion, production
• Paul Tobias - rhythm and lead guitars, backing vocals, production

Other notable cover versions

The song has been widely covered since its release.

• Sandie Shaw, on her album Reviewing the Situation (1969)
• Blood, Sweat & Tears, whose version entitled "Symphony for the Devil" appeared on their third album (1970)
• Bryan Ferry, on his solo album These Foolish Things (1973)
• "Weird Al" Yankovic on his Rolling Stones polka medley "The Hot Rocks Polka" (1989)
• Jane's Addiction, on their 1987 self-titled live debut album (1987). The Jane's Addiction version was also featured on the soundtrack to the 1988 film Alien Nation. It was also featured in the season 5 finale of Sons of Anarchy and later included in vol. 2 of the show's soundtrack.
• In 1989, the Slovenian band Laibach released an EP of seven different versions of the song, interpreted as everything from a Wagnerian symphony to a light techno number.
• Thrashing Doves released a live recording of the song on the B-side of their 1987 single "Jesus on the Payroll".
• In 1991, Brazilian actress Cláudia Ohana recorded the song as the main theme for her character Natasha in soap opera Vamp. The song went on to become one of the biggest hits of the year in that country.
• In 1996, Natalie Merchant released the song as a bonus track on the commercial CD single of her single "Jealousy". The song was later quietly re-released as a bonus track on Merchant's 1999 re-release of Tigerlily. The song is a fused version of two live recordings, one at the Meadows in Hartford, Connecticut and the Mid Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York.
• At their 2000 Halloween Concert at UNO arena in New Orleans, Louisiana, Widespread Panic covered "Sympathy for the Devil" as their show opener. While not the first time they played the song, it was the first time since 1989 and 1,497 shows since the last time played. A different version is found on their live album Jackassolantern.
• Pearl Jam's concert renditions of "The Water Pouring Song" included an instrumental section of "Sympathy for the Devil". Bon Jovi often covers it[clarification needed] during the piano break in their concert performances of "Keep the Faith". A snippet of the song is often sung by Bono along with "Ruby Tuesday" during performances of "Bad" at U2 concerts, for example at Live Aid in London and in the concert film Rattle and Hum. In 2005, Ozzy Osbourne released a cover on his box set Prince of Darkness and the related Under Cover release.
• The Swedish metal band Tiamat covered the song on their album Skeleton Skeletron, released in 1999.
• In 2005, Cuban drummer and percussionist Horacio Hernandez ("El Negro") recorded a Latin Jazz version of the song, sung by Latin great Rubén Blades.[12]
• Indie rock bands Band of Skulls and John & Jehn covered the song for the French TV show Taratata broadcasted in March 2010.[13]
• British DJ Norman Cook, also known as Fatboy Slim remixed the song for his EP, Sympathy for the Devil Remixes.

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wenner, Jann (14 December 1995). "Jagger Remembers". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 June 2006. 
2. ^ McPherson, Ian. "Track Talk: Sympathy for the Devil". Retrieved 28 October 2008. 
3. ^ a b Jagger, Mick; Richards, Keith; Watts, Charlie; Wood, Ronnie (2003). According to the Rolling Stones. Chronicle Books. p. 119. ISBN 0-8118-4060-3. 
4. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Let's Spend the Night Together". allmusic. 2007 . Retrieved 26 June 2007.
5. ^ a b c d Cruickshank, Douglas. "Sympathy for the Devil". Salon.com. Retrieved 25 June 2006. 
6. ^ Jagger/Richards (20 June 2004). "Sympathy for the Devil". RollingStones.com. Retrieved 1 March 2008. 
7. ^ Wyman, Bill (2002). Rolling With the Stones. DK Publishing. p. 309. ISBN 0-7894-9998-3. 
8. ^ a b Zentgraf, Nico. "The Complete Works of the Rolling Stones 1962–2008". Retrieved 23 February 2008. 
9. ^ Greenfield, Robert (19 August 1971). "The Rolling Stone Interview: Keith Richards". Rolling Stone 
10. ^ Burks, John (7 February 1970). "Rock & Roll's Worst Day". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 13 September 2008. 
11. ^ Bozza, Anthony; Slash (2007). Slash (Paperback|format= requires |url= (help)). New York: Harper Collins. p. 480. ISBN 0-00-725777-5.  (German paperback is ISBN 0-00-725776-7)
12. ^ "La timba no es como ayer". AllAboutJazz.com. Retrieved 28 November 2010. 
13. ^ "video BAND OF SKULLS / JOHN JEHN : Sympathy for the devil - bande of skulls, band of skull, band skulls - videos MYTARATATA.COM". Video.mytaratata.com. Retrieved 15 October 2010. 

External links

• "Reason to Rock" review
• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics