What is this, RollingStone.com?

"Sympathy for the Devil" is a rather profoundly Christian song, isn't it? We hear Satan proclaiming his proudest moments: the crucifixion of Christ, the Holocaust, and what is, supposedly, the great mass deception of the 1960s -- that people point fingers at the assassinations of the Kennedys and delude themselves into thinking that evil is out there, not inside. Because Satan glories in these things -- and could there be a more unreliable narrator than the father of lies? -- the hardcore message of the song is that we should both respect the evil of which we are capable, and choose not to give in to it.

Couldn't agree more with your musical analysis, Al: an airtight, don't-change-a-note classic, one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded, from the era when the Stones transformed from a great blues-derived rock band to something different, bigger, older, stranger, deeper.

I agree more with Rodney on the interpretation, though: I think it's about the power and danger of seduction (in the broadest sense), and rather than succumbing, the majesty of the music gives us the strength to resist the power of evil.

Another thing I failed to mention -- Jagger's Satan also claims credit for the Russian Revolution. Think of that: Communism was the work of the devil! Long before Ronald Reagan dubbed the Soviet Union the "evil Empire," Mick Jagger made the same claim in 1968!

Though they were deep in their own personal debauchery, the artists in them were perceptive and honest enough to spot evil where it reared its ugly head.

Actually, I think Jagger's Satan is taking credit for the slaughter of the Russian royal family. The establishment of communism was a second revolution months later.

One could argue that the second event depended on the first I suppose.

But could anybody really accuse Mick Jagger of being such a rabid capitalist as to equate communism with evil?

Hmmm... yeah, maybe.

Does anybody understand the line: "I lay traps for troubadours, who get killed before they reach Bombay"? I haven't been able to figure this one out.

this refers to thuggee

Troubadours were people in the middle ages who would travel from France trying to reach out to Europe and Asia of Gods true message but were often killed by Church officials or others before they could finish thier journey.

Why kill the troubadours before reaching Bombay?....i mean... why Bombay? Their must be some significant story... and i thought troubadours were musicains/lyric poets...not traveling religious people....at least thats what dictionaries say.

"troubadors" are not the issue - it could have been anyone on the road in India at the time who was unfortunate to run across the thuggees, but troubadors would have certainly been among those on the road

This is obviously a brilliantly written song, and brilliantly performed. I have always taken the troubador line as a reference to the Beatles. They were not as a group killed, of course, but when they became more mystical in their song writing, they lost touch to a certain extent with the commom man. This new "mystical" direction was resultant of their following of indian philosophies...aka Bombay.

This song isn't about evil or against it. It is about yin and yang. You have to have sympathy for the devil because there is no good without evil.

Our world would cease to exist if evil did not. Also the Stones highlight these things we commonly catorgize as evil things because they realize that they needed to happen.

For instance, if Pilate didn't kill Jesus someone else would have because he was suppossed to die anyway. God was the one who made it destined for Jesus to be killed so isn't God really the evil one? (I know it was stupid but I'm just making a point here) And they also talk about Satan killing the Russian royal family. The royal family had adopted Rasputin as their holy man and a sort of advisor. Over time he gained alot of power and started appointing all his corrupt and debaucherous friends important government positions. The family wouldn't cut him off though so he had to be killed. And it would seem very weak of the new 'less corrupt' government to let the family which loved Rasputin so much they gave him so much power to not be punished in anyway. I mean the Tsar was responsible for all of Russia and he goes and lets a psycho basically run the country killing tons of people in war for no reason, mass stealing of arms from the military, men raping women crap like that, so basically there was no other option but to kill the Tsar and Tsarina. They were not evil just gullible, you can't have people like that being responsible for the lives of so many others.

If the devil is evil so is god because there is no such thing as pure evil or pure good. Horrible as it may sound people need to die for the next generation to progress. Everything has a purpose, even world wars. I am a pacifist and against war but I realize the importance of certain atrociously horrible historical events. Yin and Yang.

Also, just as an afterthought, the devil talks about the atrocities he has commited on the one side, the side most people are on. You know, hating Hitler and Lenin, not being for mass killings and all that jazz. But being the devil why the hell would he care who we thought was 'good' or 'bad'? All he would care about was he was inducing a crap load of people to kill and rape and pillage and torture eachother. He wouldn't care who it was. So in the respect he killed the royal family he also tortured the people and sent men to die in war for almost no reason. In the respect he was Hitler and he killed 6 million Jews, 10 million Chinese, millions of retards, gays, gypsies, and Christians, he also made America drop an atom bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima and fire bomb Dresden for no reason.

And now he made you think he is evil. Yin and Yang.

Pluto, thank you very much for that thoughtful analysis.

this song can clearly be viewed from a number of different angles, as the comments here demonstrate. to my mind, this is one of the song's greatest attributes: it makes you actually THINK, rather than merely passively submit to what is being sung, again as the comments here show. great lyrics, great music and great performance all help to increase the impact of the song, but to me, its message remains the leading attraction, whatever jagger's intention or your interpretation of it is. of course, the original idea copuld have been specific or perhaps it was meant to provoke thought and discussion.

Some would say Jagger is referencing the jews! After all they killed Christ(made sure Pilate,i.e. Rome,washed its hands),the jews obviously were the murderers of the Russian Royals and fathers of the 1917 rev that killed millions! Did the jews kill Kennedy? Of course! They even killed John Lennon! As for the "Drove a tank.." an obv reference to Nazis,well I am stumped by that one. Maybe Jagger threw it in for cover.

Wow.. it's great that a song can stir up so much conversation and debate. I've spent a couple of hours researching each reference in Sympathy, and was interested in what I found.
But I had to stop myself and wonder.. at what point do you just enjoy a great song for being great??
The lyrics, the beat, the tight guitar, even the woohoo's... this is an awsome song. If we're looking for meaning in it, start with the first meaning...
it was meant to entertain us (and possibly impress some blond at the bar!)

pilate was roman, the russians were involved in the slaughter of the royal family, and everyone knows that an asian killed john lennon.....yoko.


o and the whole drove a tank.....he was talking about the nazi's, very directly talking about the nazi's he actually says "when the blitzkrieg raged". of course he was refering to the devil as himself.....jaghger was a british man so if you are in any way shape or form suggesting that he is a nazi or a supporter then you have completetly lost your mind.

RE:#16 john mclain

"As for the "Drove a tank.." an obv reference to Nazis,well I am stumped by that one. Maybe Jagger threw it in for cover."

Does this help? Heinz Guderian

Understand now?

Another piece of the puzzle, from Wikipedia:

"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.''"

the song is a reminder that evil will still be around us and will always be there to make our lives harder. it comes in many forms. sometimes it may look pleasant and nice but inside, it's the monster that is all bad. after all, vanity is the devil's game.

pluto 1969 is right. it's about yin and yang. without evil, the good is never recognized. to be able to realize a good thing, one must at least know evil.

let's just be cautious of all the things that happen around us. the song generally speaks about the devil controling heads or leaders or even worse the people who wanted the czar and his family dead. so let's not be an instrument of the devil.

It is hard to believe that anti semitism is alive and well in 16's comments above. Jagger is presenting himself as the devil yes, but through figurative expression. The general idea is that evil exists in the heart of man (review heart of darkness and lord of the flies for similar themes. There is not intent evident that Jagger is referencing the Jews. Pilot, if you review your Roman history was a Roman and was operating under the instruction of Caesar. "Did the Jews kill Kennedy? Of course!"... what evidence are you drawing this assumption from 16... it is a conjecture that has not merit... is unfounded... and I will stop there for fear of violating site policy... Critical thinking should prevail and should be supported by evidence.

Erwin Rommel (The Desert Fox) Drove a tank and held a General's rank (General Field Marshal) when the Blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank.

Along the same lines as Pluto above, later in the war, he was suspected of arranging the assassination of Hitler, which got him killed. Friend or foe? Perception often dictates our view of the elephant. That is an essential part of this song's message.

Christ's death, although tragic, was the "greatest gift" the world has ever known if you're a Christian. Don't want to get into that whole thing- destiny, players, etc. Suffice it to say, Pilate's role was the role of man, not Roman, not Jew but all of mankind. This is a central theme in all faiths and enlightened teaching... for example it's love thy neighbor, not love thy neighbor unless he be a jew, black, small, green, etc.

A story... I had a professor once ask in class, "guess who the Africans were most frightened of in WWII?" I replied, the English and Americans. She said, astounded (maybe because she was Jewish), "that's right". I said, It makes sense because they had been exploiting North Africans for centuries through the expansion of Empire. But the Nazis had no history in Africa until they came to power. Why would they be frightened by people who were there to send their oppressors packing? See the point? She brought her own baggage to the discussion, we all do, all the time.

To the person implying it was ridiculous for Jagger to equate communism with evil: the point of the song is that "moral" or "good" ideas such as, in this case, economic equality, can manifest themselves in evil ways. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" sums up the lyrical theme pretty well...

I should also add that this song is in no way Christian..."...watched with glee while you kings and queens fought for 10 decades/ for the gods they made..."

One point on the line about troubadours. I have been pondering it for a while. I believe there is a play of two different meanings, beautifully mingled. One way, the interpretation often found, it's about hippies travelling to India on a budget, looking for love and peace and a new consciousness (and maybe ganja), and getting in trouble, maybe even dying along the road: it's the mismatch between ideals and dirty reality, where the devil's tail shows up.
But I think there's a subtler,cultured assonance. Besides being a metaphore for hippies, Troubadours where actually middle age poets, who sang idealized love; one of their cherished themes was "love from afar". One of them, Jaufré Rudel, is famous for the story of a man, falling in love for a lady he'd never seen, just heard about her qualities; she lived somewhere in Middle East. The lover starts on a long and dangerous journey (at the times, crusades on top of it all) to go and see her... but he dies just short of reaching the place.
In the difference between ideals and dirty and sweaty reality does the devils' tail show up again.