What is your interpretation of Sympathy For The Devil?



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2007-04-15 15:03 by Bitches Brew.

What you mean?

The text. He wants our opinion on the text. What it means and such...

JumpingKentFlash

For a start, I'd spell 'S-Y-M-P-A-T-H-Y' correctly.

Mick Jagger (quote from timeisonmyside.com): " I wrote Sympathy for the Devil as sort of like a Bob Dylan song. ...It had its poetic beginning, and then it had historic references and then philosophical jottings and so on. It has a very hypnotic groove, a samba, which has a tremendous hypnotic power... It keeps this constant groove. Plus, the actual samba rhythm is a great one to sing on, but it's also got some other suggestions in it, an undercurrent of being primitive... So to white people, it has a very sinister thing about it"


The lyrics:

Please allow me to introduce myself
Im a man of wealth and taste
Ive been around for a long, long year
Stole many a mans soul and faith
And I was round when jesus christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But whats puzzling you
Is the nature of my game
I stuck around st. petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain
I rode a tank
Held a generals rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
Ah, whats puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah
I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made
I shouted out,
Who killed the kennedys?
When after all
It was you and me
Let me please introduce myself
Im a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached bombay
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But whats puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But whats confusing you
Is just the nature of my game
Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me lucifer
cause Im in need of some restraint
So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or Ill lay your soul to waste, um yeah
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, um yeah
But whats puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, um mean it, get down
Woo, who
Oh yeah, get on down
Oh yeah
Oh yeah!
Tell me baby, whats my name
Tell me honey, can ya guess my name
Tell me baby, whats my name
I tell you one time, youre to blame


Now, what does it all mean?:
I don't think it's an ode to the devil, altough many people have (mis)interpreted it that way. IMO the message is that the devil (i.o.w: evil) is in us all and that we're responible for or own actions. Or something like that.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-04-15 13:48 by turnersmemo.

I believe it was inspired by Mihkail Bulgakov's novel 'The Master & Margarita'. Great novel BTW

I aggree with Turnersmemo,I don't think that it's and ode to the devil,I think it says that evil is present all around us

I shouted out, Who killed the Kennedys?

I remember someone posting on here that Mick wrote this the night Robert Kennedy was assassinated - Maybe that triggered a gut reaction? The Stones were a lot more concerned with the politics of the day 40 years ago than they are now.

Lee

>> the night Robert Kennedy was assassinated ... The Stones were a lot more concerned
with the politics of the day 40 years ago than they are now. <<

he changed "Kennedy" to "the Kennedys" when RFK was assassinated.
and Mick (at least!) pretty famously has strong political views nowadays as well -
puts 'em on records, even.

Bitches Brew, if you feel like changing the thread title so it gives the right name for the song,
you can go back to your first post, hit the "edit" button under it, then make the changes you need to -
it's Sympathy (not "The Simpathy") for the Devil. thanks

Er...well...of course it´s about love and peace and red roses and
nice houses with green lawn and faithful housewives and barbecues.

No?

Hehehehe!

seems obvious.


IORR............but I like it!

great topic, bitches brew,....you might also enjoy some of these thoughts from a few months ago:
[www.iorr.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-04-15 18:40 by Lukester.

Whatever it's about, Mick was quite a lot into devil stuff back then.

For an interesting illustrated interpretation of "Sympathy For The Devil" click here.
Then click on "Full Image"

Cool, Schillid..

Amazing that they will perform in front of the Winter Palace...

?

Clearly the best lyrics of any Rock song EVER.

My interpretation is that Lucifer took on many different (human) forms over the years, all the while making sure and overseeing that evil deeds were being done.

.....as other people have mentioned, I believe the song illustrates how all people are capable of being evil.....as though it is an inherent trait in all of us.....thankfully most people resist the tempation...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-04-16 09:22 by Lukester.

I think the quality of both music and lyrics exceeds by far what the normal rock song. The lyrics to me are close to Jim Morrisson and alan Ginsberg etc. T
I think when the Stones wrote that song they did not know about the power of the words and the impact. Still a lot of people do not accept this today.

It's a great song to dance to.

I think that people have a habit of blaming their misdeeds on the devil (I see this a lot in Christianity) and this song is arguing that it is people are also responsible for sinning. The devil is not the only one to blame.

josh.
np: "one scotch, one burboun, one beer" - alexis korner

"Hear Me talk of Sin
And you know
This is it... "
(J. D. Morrison, "Strange Days")