Album: Beggars Banquet (1968)

Charted: 14 97

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• Yow, yow
  Yow
  Mm-huh
  Mm-uh
  
  Please allow me to introduce myself
  I'm a man of wealth and taste
  I've been around for a long, long year
  Stole many a man's 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 what's puzzling you
  Is the nature of my game
  
  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 general's rank
  When the Blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank
  
  Pleased to meet you
  Hope you guess my name
  Oh, yeah
  Ah, what's 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?"
  Well, after all, it was you and me
  Let me please introduce myself
  I'm a man of wealth and taste
  And I laid traps for troubadours
  Who get killed before they reach Bombay
  
  Pleased to meet you
  Hope you guess my name
  Oh, yeah
  But what's puzzling you
  Is the nature of my game
  Oh, yeah
  A-get down, baby
  
  Pleased to meet you
  Hope you guess my name
  Oh, yeah
  But what's confusing you
  Is just the nature of my game
  Mm, yeah
  
  Just as every cop is a criminal
  And all the sinners saints
  As heads is tails, just call me Lucifer
  'Cause I'm 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 I'll lay your soul to waste, mm, yeah
  
  Pleased to meet you
  Hope you guess my name
  Mm, yeah
  But what's puzzling you
  Is the nature of my game
  Mean it
  Get down
  
  Woo-hoo
  Ah, yeah
  Get on down
  Oh, yeah
  Mm
  Bum, ba-bum, bum, bum, ba-bum
  Ba-bum, bum, bum, ba-bum
  Bum, ba-bum, bum, bum, ba-bum
  Bum, dum, bum, bum, ba-dum, da
  Yeah
  Ah, yeah
  
  Tell me, baby, what's my name?
  Tell me, honey, can you guess my name?
  Tell me, baby, what's my name?
  I'll tell you one time, you're to blame
  Ooh-hoo, ooh-hoo
  Ooh-hoo, alright
  Ooh-hoo-hoo, ooh-hoo-hoo
  Ooh-hoo-hoo, ah, yeah
  Ooh-hoo-hoo, ooh-hoo-hoo
  Ah yes, what's my name?
  Tell me, baby, what's my name?
  Tell me, sweetie, what's my name?
  
  Ooh-hoo-hoo, ooh-hoo-hoo
  Ooh-hoo-hoo, ooh-hoo-hoo
  Ooh-hoo-hoo, ooh-hoo-hoo
  Ooh-hoo-hoo, ah, yeah Writer/s: Keith Richards, Mick Jagger
  Publisher: Abkco Music Inc., BMG Rights Management, Wise Music Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 194

• John B. from Cleveland, OhioThis was played as a theme song for the Wraith in Stargate Atlantis, "Vegas" episode. Just perfect to match his evil.
• Larry from NyThe Beatles were hardly "clean cut" when this song came out. In fact, John Lennon is seen writhing along to the beat of the song while the Stones are performing it during their "Circus" show on the BBC. The Beatles were no longer the "Hard Day's Night" mop tops when this great song came out. "Revolution", "Helter Skelter" "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" were some of the songs that were contemporaneous with "Sympathy for the Devil."
• Luna Loud from Royal Woods, MichiganWait, my bad! Now that I think about it, the solo DOES seem to have more of Jimmy Page's tone. I guess I was comparing the one on "Stray Cat Blues" from the same album, which might as well have been Page, and possibly, "Bitch", from Sticky Fingers, which Keith is actually credited with playing in the liner notes, if I'm not mistaken. If you listen to most of Keith's other leads, they don't really have that tone (but some have the groove). I guess I just wanted it to be o' Keef so badly, but at least it was most likely ONE of my hero's, anyway!
• Luna Loud from Royal Woods, MichiganThis was the first guitar solo I learned completely by ear. It's so easy, yet so fun to play. IMO I think Keith actually plays the solo himself, it's got his style and tone all over it.
  
  As for the song itself, what can I say that hasn't already been said? The lyrics are brilliant and philosophical. Mick at his lyrical best. I like the music too, but "Gimme Shelter" is my favorite Stones tune, but I really dig this one.
• Karl from AustraliaPeter from Bcc, Az "BTW the idea that this has to do with Russia/communism/conservationism is retarded." It has everything to do with it!
  "I stuck around St. Petersburg
  When I saw it was a time for a change
  Killed the czar and his ministers."
  Satan again admits to being a major influence on the Russian Revolution in 1917 which led to the rise of the U.S.S.R. hence Communism. In 1918 the Bolsheviks (Communists) killed the Royal family of Czar Nicholas II of Russia.
• Pillbory from UkNot sure how old this thread is. But the references of the lyrics, in the brilliant documentary Sympathy of the Devil, jagger sings the following lyrics during the recordings - Rode in a Tank, held a generous rank, when the “SS raids and the bodies stank”
• Scott from Coshocton, OhioThe end of the song Sympathy for the Devil, Mick changes the lyrics in one sentence and instead of Sweetie, What's my name and he sings "Trina Watson.....You're to blame." I went to school with a Trina Watson and she came back from a Stones concert and told us that she met Mick and stated this in his song while singing on stage which was recorded. I cannot find this anywhere and have always thought it was a hoax but every time I here this song it is there.
• Nick from Austin, TexasThe bluesman Robert Johnson claimed that, one night, just before midnight he had gone to the crossroads. He took out his guitar and played, whereupon a big black guy appeared, tuned his guitar, played a song backwards and handed it back to him. This incident altered Johnson's playing and his finest and most everlasting compositions were the fruit of the few years left to him. The legend tells us how he needed to bury himself at the crossroads, offering himself to the powers dwelling there. The image of the Devil remains one of threat, blessing, beauty and opportunity. Where we find the Devil we find danger, unpredictability and chaos. If he offers us a deal we know we are in for a complicated bargain. We. Not you people, music fans. For the Devil says that change is good, that we need movement in order to progress. His world is about cunning and ordeal entwined like the twin serpents of past and future on the pole of ascent. Whatever your naive, and woefully ignorant speculation concerning this matter and this song, pay the Devil his due or he will get around to you. The Devil is a traveling man, and whether or not some damn fool atheistic materialist believes in him matters not one Whit. He believes in the atheist and doesn't suffer fools lightly. Don't tempt a spiritual being utterly inimical to human hubris, and very, very real as a being utterly beyond science, and humanistic ideals of the Enlightenment, which are so hilariously juvenile in the blinders that your puny ideas of humans as being the epitome of Evolution. Or creation. Or reap personal and collective destruction. You are warned. Take the song literally, or leave off.
• Moritz from Germany, MannheimLemmy Kilmister covered this classic with Motörhead on their last album 'Bad Magic' (2015)
• Lou from Occupied AmericaOne comment is a either a lie or the person writing the comment didn't look up the REAL lyrics when he/she said: "Other historical events alluded to in the song include the 100 years war ("fought for ten decades") and the Holocaust ("and the furnace stank")." That part of the song is NOT about the holocaust, the line says: "I rode a tank Held a general's rank When the Blitzkrieg raged And the BODIES stank." That lyric is about the very lethal Nazi Blitzkrieg, or Lightning War, with the German Wehrmacht mowing down opposing forces like combine on steroids, killing hundreds of thousands of Allied personnel. NOT about furnaces. [Got that fixed, thank you. -editor]
• Melinda from AustraliaI can’t listen to this song without linking it totally to their disastrous free (?) concert at Altamont, US. And certainly this song was played at it. 300,000 attended that concert. The Rolling Stones hired, in their naievity, the Hell Angels bikers to control the security at it. And paid them in alcohol. As everyone knows with disastrous consequences. The drunker the hells angels bikers got. The more they assaulted concert goers. Until finally that night an 18 year old African American was kicked and stabbed to death by them in the crowd. At 1 point Jagger stopped singing Sympathy For The Devil to restore order in the crowd. You can see the video of the whole thing online. And read about it on Wikipedia. Mick jagger tried desperately to do crowd control. Actually there were 3 other deaths at that concert. You can see also online, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts requested to see video footage of the events that night afterwards. The whole band, including Santana, (the Grateful Dead who declined to perform seeing how dangerous it became) were deeply disturbed by what happened at Altamont. Mick Jagger did not intend to even have it at Altamont Speedway. 2nd choice. And the stage was incorrectly built deep. So the crowd were scarily close. The Rolling Stones escaped by helicopter. Altamont should NEVER have happened. Was the devil at Altamont? I think so.
• Brian from SouthpoleI believe that Kieth could have played that lead. Check out "Sympathy for the devil time is on our side.". The video of them practicing shows Kieth really picking a smooth, fast lead. I was not a believer that he could actually even come close to that stinging lead intro. Now I really think Kieif could have pulled it off. The whole damned solo.
• Jeff from Pittsburgh, Pa"People had been killed in sight of the stage, you know, while the Stones sing 'Sympathy for the Devil.' Everybody went, 'This is a little not OK.'"
  --Bernie Leadon of The Flying Burrito Brothers and Eagles describing the concert at The Altamont Speedway Free Festival Saturday 6 December 1969 where Meredith Hunter was killed by a Hell's Angel gang member.
  [BBC Four Documentary "Hotel California: LA from The Byrds to The Eagles" (2007) at 41:08-16]
• Aleta from Sydney, AustraliaI have a story about this song. I'm Australian but I speak Japanese. When I lived in Fukuoka Japan in the 90s (1995 I think?) I was recruited by a local company to translate for the Stones roadies when they were setting up the stage for the Voodoo Lounge tour. They flew in huge containers with all the equipment that they had to set up - the set was so big it took three days of basically non stop working (I worked 12 hour days but the roadies told me they worked around the clock). I also translated for the cook who had to buy all the food locally which was fun. Anyway the girl I was working with and I were young and not bad looking so the lighting tower guys invited us up there to watch the concert. I wasn't really into the Stones and I didn't even know this song: they told me to move the lighting switches up and down in time to the "woo woo" and I realised I was doing the stage lighting. I did it the whole song and I will always remember this song because of that. It was a great concert and I got a fantastic view for free. And no we didn't sleep with them.
• Jeff from Scarborough, OnIt ain't Jimmy Page doing the solo. In Godard's One Plus One documentary, Richards is working on the solo and you can hear the sound and melodies/riff very early in the process of the construction of the song. Also, it sounds to me like Jagger is singing, exactly, "washed his gads; concealed his face." Regardless that the official lyrics makes more sense.
• Brian Foley from Auckland, New ZealandThe song Sympathy for the Devil seemed strong in its logic till it came to this line – the killing of troubadours before they reached Bombay. I can hardly recall any troubadour coming to India through the Gateway of India. Troubadours are travelling musicians. Some defend the line saying troubadours refer to The Beatles. They became mystical in their song writing after coming to India, losing touch with reality and the commom man.
• Stephen from New York, NyI love the fact that this is the only rock & roll song to use the word "politesse."
• Andre from New York, NyIt's the 21st century and how many of you are still wrapped up in gods and satan? It's time to come out of your caves. If there is anything inherently "evil," it's human beings' dependence on religion as a source of moral behavior. As one blogger astutely explained, the Stones' song focuses on human atrocity throughout history. They have sung about a "devil" and he (or she) is us.
• Zero from Nowhere, NjI was watching the "Shine a Light" concert last night (Thanksgiving night) on VH1 classic. Wow, did Keith butcher this song. I think my cousin said it best, "He plays like a f--kin' ameture!" Seriously, could someone who's seen the movie tell me if he was always this bad or if he just killed his musical ability through years of drug abuse?
• Mark from Norman, OkFINALLY after almost thirty years of listening to this song I have learned what "I laid traps for Troubadours who get killed before they reached Bombay" means. It is my favorite Rolling Stones song and has been from the moment I first heard it. Say what you want about Mick Jagger, he can write some great lyrics.
• Peter from Bcc, AzWow some people are way out there on the meanings of this song. Basically I see it as pretty simple. It is showing the dark side of man, much like what Jagger is quoted above.
  
  To whoever it was that said something about furnaces stinking, the lines are. " I rode a tank with a general's rank while the Blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank" which is sorta related to the holocaust but not specifically.
  BTW the idea that this has to do with Russia/communism/conservationism is retarded.
• Remmick from Indianapolis, InIf you look up "troubadours" you'll find that a troubadour is a composer during the middle ages. so it is possible that the rolling stones were talking about the Beatles going to India, referring to the Beatles as troubadours.
• Roberta Trevisan from S?o Paulo, BrazilI don't like this song! And it's not the religious thing, I just don't feel well listening it maybe I am too close to that "the dark side of man" like Mick Jagger says one of this quotes, and I don't to be in the dark.
• Paul from Boston, MaOf course who is playing the lead is one of those great mysteries. Keith's playing has always been more stylish than showy -- more like Miles Davis to Clapton or Page's Chet Baker. Personally it sounds much more like the Clapton of the Abbey Road Suite than Page. It could just as easily be Jeff Beck or even perhaps the other 'Jimi' (who played jam sessions with Bryan and Dave Mason at that time) .
• Paul from Boston, MaJoe in Minneapolis, with all due respect I think "I lay traps for troubadors/who get killed before they reach Bombay" is a reference to Dacoit or Thugee (root of 'thug'), the sanctioned murder of travelers by votaries of Kali, the Hindu Goddess of Death. Victims of dacoit frequently welcomed these attacks, believing that they would be reborn up-caste. In the 1840s it, along with Suttee, the burning of (living) wives alongside their dead husbands, became a cause celebre in the British Press, and unleashed a flood of Methodist missionaries to convert the heathens of Hindoostan, which in turn had the undesired effect of awakening Indian Nationalism.
  
  Three years earlier, the Beatles brilliantly parodied this cult in "Help!"
• Endy from Paris, FranceIn my opinion, the end of the song ("As every cop is a criminal / And all the sinners saints / As heads is tails, just call me Lucifer / Cause I'm in need of some restrain") plainly states that God and Satan are the one and same person. Heads is tails, cops are criminals, sinners are saints, opposites are equals and good is evil. Being called Lucifer is indeed humbler and more restrained than claiming the title of God. And the nature of his game, playing at being both ultimate good and ultimate evil, is most puzzling...
• Lolo from Pembroke Pines, Flwasn't this written around the time Maryann Faithful & Mick were hanging out with the Process Church? I know a little about them & their belief was that if you believe in God you must believe in Satan & respect him just the same, which is what these lyrics kinda say
• Joshka from Alkmaar, NetherlandsAwesome song, if you blow the heads of all the mannequins in the Call of Duty: Black Ops map Nuketown, this song starts playing.
• Chris from Westerly, Ri"mark", from stockton, CA: first, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is a total fraud. Everyone knows that—except you, I guess. Second, this song has absolutely nothing to do with your antisemitism and moronic conspiracy theories.
• Ron from Chennai, IndiaMr. Ken, Boneville, MS, MS. If you are a great Stones fan as you claim to be, you would know that JIMMY MILLER produced albums for the stones in that era. That is the Jimmy Mick is calling out to when he says 'get down, Jimmy', the one who was on the other side of the glass partition. And yes, I accept that on the guitar, Keith technically doesn't hold a candle to Page, but this riff has Keith stamped all over it. Like someone else here put it, it's groovy and that's how Keith plays. You have very unfunny retardation, it seems.
• Ken from Booneville,ms, MsListen real close and u can hear Mick say "GET DOWN JIMMY". Jimmy Page played the solo. Sorry Keith but dont think u could play that riff. U've never done it again even on Rock n Roll Circus. But Keith did a great bass part. Brian originally played an acoustic guitar part but it wasnt used or even recorded. I am a great Stones fan but they did have help on certain songs. Even John Lennon & Paul McCartney helped them with WE LOVE YOU.
• Michael from Plainfield, IlOk, here goes, I know this is not the original
  meaning behind this song however, after many
  years from its start, it has perfectly described
  Corperate America.
  Wrong is right... and right...is wrong.
  Every cop is a criminal... and definently all the
  the siners are saints.
  If you have not mastered the art of patronising
  (Ass kissing), then your still in the devils power.
  Try to do the right thing, and someone will take credit for it.. save the company $300,000 a year,
  and expect someone in that higher position to take complete credit for your discovery.
  NO, you have not done enough... is what anyone without colledge credentials will be treated with.
  Sympathty is the backward way.
  
  In Coporate America.
• Jack from Bristol, TnThe solo in this song was done by jimmy page a tireless sessions player at the time, which was right before zeppelin. It is very obvious to most guitar players.
• Ian from San Francisco, CaWow. Can't believe some of the misinformation people have posted as comments....Specifically by the religious wing nuts.
  
  The song is not anti-christian or pro-evil. It's about the atrocities in the history of mankind, and how we should conduct ourselves when faced with them in the future ("So 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").
  
  The lyrics' focus, however, is on atrocities in the history of mankind, including 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 lyrics also refer to the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy. The recording sessions for the track were in progress when the latter was killed, and the words were changed from "Who killed Kennedy?" to "who killed the Kennedys?"
  
• Rick from Orlando, FlAleister Crowley,...face is on the upper left hand corner of the
  Beatles, Sgt. Peppers cover! Being that he was so involved with
  that seemingly 'clean cut group', his connection with the Rolling Stones is obvious, but why? What is the connection of all this well known 'evil' in the world and 'music?' We know that Lucifer was at one time God's, heavenly praise and music minister, even so much that instruments were physically part of his body! The young are easily deceived, so be very wary; Decembers Children
• Rick from Orlando, FlI was there listening very closely to all the popular music of that
  era,...some was good, some was bad and some was ugly. I am a "Spirit filled Christian" now and I am not here to convince you
  of what 'good and evil' is, or is not. God, gave all of us a very good conscience to discern "good from evil". You make the call about 'satin and his angels', but remember, they were once with
  God, in heaven and will 'never be again', and yes 'evil is very real' in the world,...so enjoy, but beware, "All is not as it seems!"
• Wade from Katy, TxThe 1968 Beatles were clean-cut?
• Roy from Redondo Beach, CaROLLING STONES' Keith Richards admits to having a demon in him. Mick Jagger has tattoos of the devil on his body
  They admit to being into Satanist Aleister Crowley's teaching
  ROLLING STONES wrote the song 'Jumpin Jack Flash' based on what Jagger learned from Satanist Aleister Crowley
  ROLLING STONES wrote the album 'Their Satanic Majesties Request'
  The Rolling Stones' founder Brian Jones spent considerable time in Joujouka recording. The Stones' 1989 release "Steel Wheels"
  features samples of this Moroccan form of voodoo. Haitian voodoo was also used on the Stones' album Goat's Head Soup.
  The early Stones, for example, bank-rolled an occult sect call "The Process" and provided a base of operations for their
  satanic evangelism. (Contact America radio broadcast, September 15, 1986) Later, Anita Pallenberg, an aspiring actress and
  accomplished witch, became the companion of first Jagger and then Keith Richards. In July of 1979, at Richards' Connecticut
  estate, an 18-year-old boy shot himself while lying in Pallenberg's bed. Investigating officers uncovered reports of weird rituals
  and sacrificed animals that led up to the suicide. (Rock and Roll Babylon, Courage Books, 1982, Gary Herman, p. 125;
  The Rolling Stones The First Twenty Years, Knopf, 1981, David Dalton, p. 148) The Stones were further involved with a cult film
  maker and satanist Kenneth Anger. Jagger scored Anger's film "Invocation of My Demon Brother" and Anita Pallenberg
  sponsored "Lucifer Rising", a movie that showed "the actual ceremonies to make Lucifer rise." Not coincidentally, the film
  starred rock singer Marianne Faithful, another ex-girlfriend of Mick Jagger. Stones, p.155) While in England, Anger worked
  on the film Lucifer Rising,dedicated to Aleister Crowley. The film brought together the Process Church, the Manson
  Family cult, and the Rolling Stones. The music for the film was composed by Mick Jagger. Mick Jagger who was labeled by
  Newsweek as the "Lucifer of Rock" and the "unholy roller," said: "There are black magicians who think we are acting as
  unknown agents of Lucifer." Process Church follower Marianne Faithfull went all the way to Egypt to participate in the film's
  depiction of a Black Mass. The part of Lucifer was played by a guitarist of a California rock group, Bobby Beausoleil.
  Beausoleil was a member of the Manson Family, and Anger's homosexual lover. A few months after filming under Anger's
  direction in England, Beausoleil returned to California to commit the first of the Manson family's series of gruesome murders.
  Beausoleil was later arrested and is now serving a life sentence in prison along with Manson.
  
• Krk from Stockholm, SwedenRight before they start playing "Sympathy" on "Ya-Ya's", there's a girl yelling: "Paint it black! Paint it black! Paint it black, you devil!" That recording of the girl is also thrown in on "Flashpoint" right after "Ruby Tuesday" and before "You can't always get what you want"
• Mark from Mchenry, IlYears ago, I finally came to the conclusion that this is not a celebration of Satan, as some of my evangelical Christian peers seem to think. It is about how Satan is behind chaos and tragedy in this world. Keith Richards' 2002 quote above supports this understanding of the song. Musically, this is another example of how the Stones are the best band of all time at building the intensity level throughout the course of a song.
• Bob from Albuquerque, Nmi personally love the stones. this song (if you really listen, hint hint) is about yin and yang. the whole every cop is a criminal and all the sinner saints portion of the song is showing that there is no good without bad and no light without dark etc. and im not exactally sure about the whole troubador reference.
• Melinda Wheeler from Jacksonville, FlThis song is an anthem written and sung in worshipful adoration for Satan. Plain and simple, it smacks of Nazism, disdain for life and in whole disdain for Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for the human race. Anyone who believes differently is a dunderhead.
• Rick from Brooklyn, Ny, NyDevo actually did a killer version of Satisfaction that Mick approved of.
• Rick from Brooklyn, Ny, NyIt's "use all your well-earned politesse" (ability to finesse), no "politics"
• Mike from Ft. Lauderdale, FlJust to clarify: the lines "I rode a tank, held a general's rank when the Blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank" are a direct reference to WWII and Hitler, who held a general's rank.
• Phoebe from Belchertown, MaI seriously consider this one of the best songs ever written, lyrically and musically. Genius lyrics paired with excellent instrumentals, nothing even compares to this.
• Gary from Denver, Coin the video of the stones preforming this song at the nightclub, we see John Lennon there rather enjoying himself!
• Mike from Traverse City, MiIt is eveident that none of you have heard Ozzy's version, if you had, you would certainly forget everything else. By far blows the rest away.
• Matt from Boston, MaJust for the record, Slash absolutely hated the G n' R version of this song. He said it was an AXL ego trip and the band just meandered their way through it and that the final version sucked.
• Ferdinand from Utrecht, NetherlandsDoes anyone know why The King of Sweden is mentioned in the lyrics?
• Mark from Des Moines,With 50 million or more dead in WWII, the bodies stank reference would seem logical to follow the reference to the Blitz. Blitz the overall war, bodies the most blatant symbol, the holocaust. Those others who say it is Elders of Zion are smoking their socks!
• Mark from Des Moines,Actually troubadors may have been a reference to the remnants of the tantric Gyuto monks of the 100 man choir from Tibet, fleeing the Chinese in 1959. They fled to India over those Afghan and Pakistan passes...10 of 100 survived. Mickey Hart recorded them eventually. Their historical reference: "troubadors."
• Thomas from Somerville, AlNo matter how this song in interpreted or by whom, it is by far the best damn Rock and Roll song ever written. The guitar ride is nasty and the bass and background singers are awesome. Whoo whoo!!! There will never be another classic like this one.
• Thomas from Arkham, Mathe song is about Luciferians trying to manipulate people throughout history.
• Thomas from Arkham, MaDespite what Phill in Rochestr sates the lyrics "furnanace stank" is not found in the song. He delibratly misquotes teh lyruics there is no reference to any holocaust, like he claims.
• Emily from Detroit, MiLooking back on a song like this is not the same as writing it. The late 60s were REALLY DIFFERENT than now, especially from the Stones's perspective, being at the center of everything that was happening. Back in the 60s, you could say things like, "the devil gets blamed for what we humans do" -- say that now, and the fundamentalists will be all over you.
• Cynthia from Scranton, Pathis song is amazing, and i go to catholic school.
• Kirsten from Cape Town, South Africathis song is totally going to play at my funeral.
• Colin from Montreal, QcThis is from http://toase.net/archives/000383.php
  ...the god Kali is often portrayed as a disembodied mouth and tongue. This was the inspiration for the iconic Rolling Stones logo. Also the followers of Kali are known to be violent and would kill pilgrims in India. This is referenced in the RS song Sympathy for the Devil when they say "And I laid traps for troubadors
  Who get killed before they reached Bombay."
• Jeff from Casa Grande, AzUse all your well-learned politics
  Or, I'll lay your sould to waste!
  trans: be good, or I @#$% you up!
• Luke from Manchester, EnglandIt's "Bible" and "Offends"
  
  Go to English class before fiction class
• Rosario from Naples, Flthis song is insane. i love it.
• Ashley from Quincy, Ili have a story about this song it was bad.
  
  a couple of days ago my friend asked me to come to bibble school with her and i dodn't go to church so it was a new thing. we got there and a man behind a counter noticed my skirt and it said the rolling stones. he asked what my fav. song was and with out thinking i said sympathy for the devil the man just looked at me and said interesting then i relized what i said and turnd red then i said i like the guitar solos not the words. after that i didn't say anything. i'm so sorry if that afinds anyone.
• Kym from Yishun, Singapore"Sympathy For The Devil" - would be a great soundtrack to accompany the book 'I, Lucifer' or the film adaptation...
• Joe from Seattle, WaThe Pharrel version of this songs sucks. It's the Stones with some giant bass added in to drown out the Stones. Sorry, Mick and Keith have more soul than you dude... in fact, I would say that the Stones are at least as soulful as anything I've ever heard (from Chuck Berry to Marvin Gaye). I'm just saying... white people get this rap of being squares. Mick may speak a little different, but he is one funky mother.
• Neil from Ayr,Johnathan... keith may have been good in the day but slash is still going and knows how to put on a good concert. all keith did was just stand there and talk
• Madison from Moscow, MalaysiaI don't care if you think this song is good or not, "Sympathy for the Devil?" I don't think so.
• Brian from Boston, MaMAGGIE FROM HIGH BRIDGE,NJ YOUR TEACHER IS WRONG AND IT IS NOT POETRY....POETRY IS FOR WANKERS
• Brian from Boston, MaYE OF SO MUCH MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE GREATEST ROCK 'N' ROLL BAND IN THE WORLD... CAN'T YOU HEAR ME KNOCKING IS ONE OF THE CLASSICS BECAUSE IT CAPTURES MICK TAYLOR AT HIS BEST
• Brian from Boston, MaSO MANY PEOPLE...YET SO LITTLE KNOWLEDGE
• Brian from Boston, MaNOBODY CAN COVER A STONES SONG AND MAKE IT SOUND GOOD...PERIOD
• Brian from Boston, MaRORY FROM VICTORIA,CANADA IT WAS NOT A RELIGIOUS FACTOR BUT A CIVIL WAR OF FAMILIES....THIS IS WHY CANADIANS COME TO AMERICA ...TO LEARN
• Brian from Boston, MaTO ALL YOU WELL EARNED POLITESSE THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR LASTED 116 YEARS
• Maggie from High Bridge, NjWe studied this song in a creative writing class and the teacher told us that the Stones were referring to the Beatles when they talked about the trubadors. This is hand down the best Stones and perhaps the most creative piece of poetry, yes I said poetry, that has ever been written
• Ashley from Quincy, Ilthis is almost the best stone song ever!! Keith's guitar solo is grovy.
• Scott from Boston, MaEven though it's "bodies" and not "furnace", I think it still references the Holocaust since it comes right after the Blitzkrieg line. "The bodies stank" would make more sense as a reference to the Holocaust than the Blitzkrieg.
• Markus from Nashville, TnTry this for years when I heard this it sounded just like the book "Cassius", A highlander stile inmortal, Gaius Cassius Longinus was the Roman soldier that stabbed Jesus Christ on the cross
  Jesus looked down and said "as you are now, is as you will be till my return" and all he knew was to be a soldiering and did that down the centuries.
• Nathan from From The Country Of, CanadaIt does not reference the Holocaust, since the lyric is "and the bodies stank" not the "furnace"
• Tim from Philadelphia, Pastill dont understand that 4 troubadors line though
• Tim from Philadelphia, PaThe original is best but the Guns N' Roses cover is also sweet.
  
  a genius piece of music
• John from Amsterdam, NetherlandsThe song is a warning about how evil come's in various forms and is not easy recognisable. "Hope you guess my name" isn't Mick hoping you'll answer "you're the devil", it's the devil taunting you to call out who (or what) is evil in this world: is it Cheney, Saddam, Putin, the Pope, whoever. You need to ask yourself that question.
  
  "And what's puzzing you is the nature of my game". For it's not the devil who does all the bad things in the world, the nature of his game is have people like YOU doing it. That's his game.
• Kaj from Benton, Pa Doesn't anybody get it???????
  "Just as every cop is a criminal and all the sinners Saints...and heads is tails just call me Lucifer.....
  It's not evil speaking...it's good.
  It's all Yin and Yang...2 sides to the same coin. You can't have good without evil...and you can't have evil without good.
• Paul from Athens, GreeceFantastic song and i like also Guns 'n' Roses cover. What about you ?
  
• Andrew from Bartlett, TnOne word: classic. The Stones are the best!
• Charles from Houston, TxActually they did not rerecord the song when Bobby Kennedy died and changed the lyrics to "Kennedy's" (plural)as some people think. Mick Jagger messed up and accidentally said it plural, which of course turned out to be very starnge later when the second Kennedy (Bobby) was also shot
• Andrew from Los Angeles, CaGotta Love The Stones.
• Tom from Pittsburgh, PaI know this will probably start an argument with many stones worshipers, though I am one too, the great guitar solo on "Sympathy for the Devil" is not Keith Richards but Roy Buccanon. I offer the following reasons to beleive that is true. 1. First and foremost, the style and attack is immistakably Roys. 2. Roy was mentioned, back in the day, as being one of the session players used on this album. 3. It was normal practice in those days to not credit extra players. In fact the stones were great for that. Did you also know that it's Jimmy Page playing the guitar solo on "Time is on my side"?? Keith claims Page played on the original session but he re-recorded the solo himself playing Jimmys part, note for note. They would always say that to avoid fan fallout, who these thing really meant alot to. There are also a number of other stones recordings that are known for a fact to have session musicians on them. Another is the guitar solo on "Hand of Fate". I forget the guitarist name on that one though. None of this takes away from their talent and vision, I just think it is important to musicians in particular to understand how hard it is to get just the right solo on for a particular song, and sometimes everyone needs someone elses touch.
• Barbra from Stockton, Hong Kongpharrell made a remix to this its the bomb
• Steve from Albany, Ny'And I laid traps for troubadors who got killed before they reached Bombay' is probably a reference to the Thugee cult, devoted to Kali, the goddess of death, active in India for hundreds of years before being supressed in the 1850's.
• Mark from Stockton, Cathe song portrays the new world order
• Mark from Stockton, CaThe song is about the "New World Order", the illuminati. Read "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion"
• Craig from Melbourne, Australia1 of about 10,000 reasons why the Stones are the greatest.
• Stonesfansincechild from Sofia, BulgariaAll of you trying to get the idea of this song should visit http://www.reasontorock.com/tracks/sympathy.html
  
  About covers, please read
  http://www.reasontorock.com/tracks/watchtower.html for one of a very few covers which are far better than the original
  
  Rock on!
• R from Montreal, Qc, CanadaBest version is definitively on Ya Ya's Out.
  
  Charlie Watts is incredible and the two solos by Richards and Taylor are anthology.
  
  Both versions have to be played loud.
• Miguel from Cincinnati, OhKeith Richards has said that the song's rhythm is a samba, but to me it sounds more like an Afro-Cuban rhythm . And Jagger said that they used and "Afro whatever you call it type rhythm" (which tells me that The Rolling Stones still have no idea till this day what the hell they were doing and just went with the flow while a real musician/s did the hard labor for the song).
  
• Miguel from Cincinnati, OhI don't know if anyone has noticed or not, but at the beggining of the song there's a lady clearly laughing or something in the background (as Mick is going: huh! guh! hum hu hum!). And then towards the end of the song there's a real deep growl going: huuuaaooo... And a lady moaning and growling: huummm.... Haaaaaaaaaaaa....! As though she's being pleasured. There are other sounds sort of like people screaming almost all throughout the song, but faintly in the background.
  
  Does anyone know the meaning of what that's supposed to mean or stand for.
• Shannan from Wilmington, DeI love the song and the movie for it. I don't really like were they cut out the time they are in the studio to show the actual film part, but it is great to see Brian there. The Rolling Stones Rock!!!!
• Cadence from Flagler Bch, FlLol.....oops, I just did "that" same exact thing norman, detroit, MI.....my apologies.......now,
  "excuse me while I....." increase my meds:) BTW,
  another great song from "Begger's Banquet" is
  "Stray Cat Blues." Stones Rock!!
• Cadence from Flagler Bch, FlI love this song. Wicket bass line and lead guitar from Richards. Great vocals and lyrics from Jagger. BTW, norman, detroit, MI....placing
  Jimi Hendrix in the same sentence as Hilary Duff ? Increase your medication, dude, its not working:)
• Andrew from New York, United StatesFor the record- both the brilliant guitar solo, and the brilliant bassline, were played by Keith, as noted already. Anyone who sat through "One Plus One" knows the song didn't take off until Keith grabbed the bass and started playing that great line. Whereas most bass players would have used a minor 3rd in a song about Satan, Keith whacks the major third before going down to the open A string. What this adds to the song is tremendous, as is the drive created by Keith's constant alternation between the E and D notes at the 7th and 5th frets and the open A string. The chromatic run leading to the change to the B note, 7th fret on the E string, is just great...You would almost think that Keith had some Music Theory training! It's just his incredibly musical ear... Stones bassist Bill Wyman, according to Stanley Booth's book on the Stones, told Jim Dickinson, who was playing piano at Muscle Shoals when the Stones were recording "Wild Horses', to throw away the chord chart he got from watching Keith play... "Don't pay any attention to Keith, he doesn't know what he's doing." Meaning he didn't know the names of the chords he was playing. So what? Who cares when it sounds so f**ckin' great??
  
  I might add that "The Master and Margarita" is a great read. The Devil comes to town impeccably dressed, with his mysterious black cat, and proceeds to turn everything upside-down...good/evil, right/wrong, etc. Bulgakov is highly entertaining, and I believe the book, noted above as the inspiration for "Sympathy"'s lyrics, was originally banned in Russia...
• Guy from Woodinville, WaThis song contains the single most expressive guitar solo ever recorded! Sheer inspired brilliance from Keith Richards.
• Aaron from Manistee, Mi2nd favirote stones song after "Paint it Black". Heres one for you. Which U2 song originally had Mick and his daughter on backing vocals? Im also a U2 fan btw.
• Jim from Boonton/aspenco, Cowell i was at the concert at madison squair garden ny ny when the did this song for the first time since the concert at altimine it was stated in press reles the next day what was wild about it the stones had a 50 or a 100 afircan percusionist band walk around the garden for a half hour playin drums etc then all of a suden the stones came on stage doin the song it was quintessinal any fogive the spelling whatya expect comin from north jersey the stones r the best thing in the world
• Don from Huntington, WvThis song is artistic genious as far as I am concerned. I never tire of it. It is in your face spiritual contemplation, mentioning some of the most controversial and tragic events of the last 100 years and implicating the devil had a hand in them. The FALL is significant for everyone, and that is why this song continues to stimulate us 40 years after it was written. Good sh*t Mick!
• T. Michels from Venlo, NetherlandsGreat song and great lyrics. Actually it is about the killing of men by men. I rather preffer the remix by the neptunes, sounds a lil' better, and their video is much better. Okay, maybe the Devil-idea has been taken to far with this video, but still it's good.
  This is the link to the vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFQDmS5ZIJw
• Stefanie from Rock Hill, ScNo I don't think the Stones were Satanists, but they were highly interested in the acult for awhile. The song seems, in my opinion, to refer to the evil that is sometimes present in humans. Even though, it doesn't call out Hitler, Rasputin (spell check please), and Lee harvey Oswald to name a few, it does refer to their actions. They were all evil things that tookplace, and those people were extremely evil and brutal.
• Allen from Bethel, AkI think this song would be more dramatic if the song's title didn't reveal that its about the devil. For example, it could have been named just simply "Sympathy" or something.
• Allen from Bethel, AkOops, a double post. Why does that always happen?
• Allen from Bethel, AkI belive the piano part in this song inspired the piano (not the sytheziser) part in The Who's "Baba O'Riley". Townsend already was inspired by "19th Nervous Breakdown" to make "Substitute".
  (https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-who/substitute)
• Allen from Bethel, AkI belive the piano part in this song inspired the piano part (not the sytheziser) part in The Who's "Baba O'Riley". Townsend already was inspired by "19th Nervous Breakdown" to make "Substitute".
  (https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-who/substitute)
• Mark from Worcester, MiCasey Dalton GA, spot on. (james, Edwardsville, IL,) snap out of it. Do more reading and less typing.
• Odin from San Jose, CaThis one gets my vote for best song ever and I consider it my personal theme song ... and I'm not even a Satanist. In an interview, Keith spoke about his displeasure at people thinking that he was in league with the devil. Nothing beats being at a Stone's stadium concert when the entire audience joins in to sing the Whoo Whoo part to this song.
• Rob from Glendale, NyI went to see the Stones in January at MSG
  Mick sang this song dressed up as a pimp.
• Bill from Erie, PaIf you want to read a similar perspective on the devil, then read "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. There's one chapter where one of he main characters is talking with the devil, and it seemed to me very similar. Possibly inspired "The Master and the Margarita".
• Bram from Zoetermeer, NetherlandsIt's not that I want to be too critical, but when I read that people say this is 'the best (rock 'n roll) song that exists, they may be a little overreacting in my point of view. I mean, I think it's a good song, I haven't read the words yet but what I hear sound good. What I do mean is that it musicly, where we talk about, not very special is. a lot of repeating in the melody, not many instruments that are exchanging. no it is possible that the song doesn't need that, but that means still that it is far from a best song, 'cause that matches with lyrics and music perfect, and originates. now don't get me wrong I don't want to say that this isn't a good song, but try to be as much as possible an objective person to give comment to whether it is a good song or not, and not one you just like. I think the Stones have written better.
• Casey from Dalton, GaSympathy for the Devil is a good song. I don't think it's worshipping Satan, though; most of it's more ironic than serious. It's got a good sound, though.
  James (Edwardsville), you're getting most of you ideas from the Bible and Genesis, but you're seriously distorting them. The Bible represents Satan as an evil rebel and God as a perfect God; if you accept the Bible as fact, then this has to be true. If the Bible is biased and susceptible, then none of it could be true and it's just a book; the concepts of God and Satan are useless. Don't pick and choose parts and think Lucifer might be a "good guy", because there you're just making stuff up. People might take what you say seriously (religion is something people base their lives on), so don't just imagine storylines and roles for God and Satan. You get people alternately pissed off and screwed up.
• Steve from Ottawa, CanadaIf you can sit through (or fast forward through)the political rhetoric in Jean-Luc Godard's film "Sympathy for the Devil", the footage of the Stones creating this song in the studio is simply incredible. Rent it, borrow it or steal it...it is well worth the effort.
• Ben from Nyc, MsJim, Des Moines,
  Dude? how do you know so much about them being satanists? And Why do you care??
• Lucy from Da, TxThis is an awsome song...one of the stones best. mick jagger does a awsome job on the vocals. this is a great song 2 listen to...i go insane whenever i hear it. the lyrics are awsome. and i dont think the rolling stones are satanists...but i gues nobody really knows except for them. and does it really matter anyway? you don't need to argue about if these guys are satanists or not...just listen 2 the music and enjoy it...its a fabulous song. keith richards is the coolest person to ever live
• Sam from Shanghai, ChinaKevin from NJ, I agree with you. It's got that same running narrative, and that same building sensation, where you feel something colossal is waiting just around the corner...
• Benfacts from San Diego, CaI was listening to NPR a while ago, and they had a piece on santeria (voodoo). They mentioned the sacred drum rhythms they use to summon their spirits, then played a bit of them - it sounded like the beginning to Sympathy. I don't think this was a coincidence - and Mick/Keith's quotes about it being a "samba" rhythm plays down the santeria connection, although Mick refers to it. The sacred drums (bata) and the rhythm (toque) have spiritual potency that allows the music to call down the Orishas, invoking the spirits, and bring them to the ceremony where they possess initiates. Spirit possession is an important part of santeria and bata are a key part of inducing the possession in a ceremonial context.
• Lucus from Mount Airy, NcGn'R, though the band had considerable talent back in thd day, should have never attempted such a feat as covering "Sympathy"; the song's instrumental sparsness - just piano, drums, and a few small guitar parts - is where its awesomeness lies. To smother the Stone's original groove with distortion is to kill its mojo completely.
• Elie from The U.k, EnglandThe stones were not satanists and this song is about the evil of man andI believe that the devil is the evil within us
• Keith from Front Royal, Va1.Yes, Keith played bass and lead guitar on this song.
  2."The bodies stank" is the correct line.
  3.Comparing Guns-n-Roses (though a very good band) to the Stones is completely ridiculous. G-N-R did a lousy job with this song. Slash is a great player but even he wouldn't be so stupid as to claim he's better than Keith Richards.
  4.Whoever it was that said the Stones were Satanists understands very little or nothing about the band. Yes, Kenneth Anger was briefly acquainted with the band. That's as far as that goes.
• Chris from Claremont, NhThere is a scene in the Movie "The Stand" by Stephen King, when Randall Flagg (The Devil) intorduces himself to Lloyd, and says, "Please to meet you Lloyd, hope you guess my name."
  
  Lloyd says "Huh?"
  
  And Randall Flagg says, "Nevermind, it's a classical reference."
  
  Funny.
  
• Johnny from Los Angeles, CaThis is my favorite Stones song. Bar none.Jim from Phili, funny. Cowboy Bebop is pretty good, for an anime; itz the best I've seen. Oh, and Homero, caps lock key is located on the left side of computer, if you need directions. Sry, but that just really pisses me off. Interesting, Evan from Orlando. I had never made that connection before. I believe that if he/she exists, the Devil was banished from Heaven. But like James said, the devil may not even take pleasure in being evil. We have our own image of him/her don't we? We could be totally wrong. Go Angela!
• Norman from Detroit, Mior in jimi's case did them.
• Norman from Detroit, Miremakes suck. i hate it when people steal other peoples ideas and use it for a profit. the sad thing is, everyone in thebuissnes does them. everyone from hilary duff to jimi hendrix.
• Rory from Victoria, Canada
  "the 100 Year's War was also a religious dispute. Just to let you know." - Brendon, Paxton, IL
  
  And just to let you know Brendon, the 100 years war didn't last "ten decades" It lasted 11, closer to 12.
  
• Don from Newmarket, CanadaThe Stones re-recorded the line about Kennedy (and pluralized it to Kennedys) as Bobby Kennedy was shot before the song was completed.
• Shannon from Kitchener, Ontario, CanadaYou know what? It is not often I say this, but, Guns N Roses took the song {Sympathy for the Devil} and made it their own.
  
  People should never do a cover unless they can do it justice and not repeat it exactly or make it far worse. The Sundays took Wild Horses and made it their own too. So to Ash of Charleston, WV I say to you that both Guns N Roses and Rolling Stones should be revered equally for their contributions to the world of music.
  
  Guns and Roses did only three cover songs released commercially that I know of {aside from the tragic Spaghetti Incident}: Live and Let Die, Knocking on Heaven's Door, & Sympathy for the Devil. Their original music very good.
  
  If Axl Rose hadn't lost his marbles you would not think so poorly of the band. Axl has dragged the GNR name through the dirt with his Chinese Confederate Liberal hootenanny album that will never be released. He should have retired.
  
  But don't dare knock the rest of the band have a listen to Appetite for Destruction sometime. There is golden timeless and legendary atmosphere there can never be recreated. That is rock and roll.
  
  You would not like if I knocked The Rolling Stones. You should not try to compare bands from two completely different generations. The same vibes weren't happening. You know what? The Sex Pistols were only around for one album. They are still remembered and cherished.
  
  I think that both The Rolling Stones and Guns N Roses shall be revered equally for their awesome contributions to rock history.
  
  -Shannelle Kitchener, ON, Canada
• David from Merseyside, EnglandDoes anyone know whether Keith Richards played lead guitar in this song? Because I heard somewhere that he played bass
• James from Edwardsville, Ilyeah, he's not very good anymore and should have stopped.
• Alan from Grande Prairie, Alberta, CanadaRound table discussion. What exactly makes a band the "greatest rock and roll band ever"? Hanging around until you wear out your welcome. Jagger was once quoted in Rolling Stone as saying "you won't catch me singing "Satisfaction" when I'm 40. No try 70. Enough already they were a great band now its time to cash it in. As far as "Sympathy for the Devil" goes its a good song, what keeps it from being great is that it has FAR to long a closing.
• Angela from London, EuropeThe Stones version > every other version. the end.
• Jim from Philadelphia, PaThis song is the greatest. Just proves that the Stones are the Greatest Rock and Roll band ever. If you go to a Catholic high school, in relgion class, say this is your favorite song.
• Amanda from Pleasanton, CaThis song is bad ass. I'm pretty eclectic with my taste in music but this song is the best! I like the remixes too with NERD and Fat Boy Slim.
• Casey from Chicago, IlThe ninth fact from the top isn't quite right. It's supposed to be (and the bodies stank).
• Homero from Monterrey , MexicoTELL ME IF I´M WRONG. MY DAD TOLD ME THAT WHEN THEY MADE THIS SONG, SOMETIMES STRANGE THINGS HAPPENED AT THE STUDIO, LIKE ELECTRIC ENERGY LACKS, STRANGE SOUNDS. SOMEONE WHO COULD TELL ME THIS PLEASE...
• Erik from Cherry Valley, IlThe song is about the evil side of mankind,and basically how satan is a part of it
• Rory from Victoria, CanadaWow ok I don't care what religion you're from Jim, Des Moines, IA thats not relevant. Maybe the stones were satanists ( although I highly HIGHLY doubt it) but that doesn't change or effect what this song is about at all. All the lines in the song are refering to man kind, whatever way you look at it humans killed jesus, humans committed the holocaust,humans killed the kennedies, and humans( under religous influence mind you) caused the crusades.
• Stefanie Magura from Rock Hill, ScSorry guys. Yor're right it's "Bodies stank." The only reason I know it's on Ozzy's album is because I heard an interview with him.
• Stefanie Magura from Rock Hill, ScIf I remember correctly the "furnace stank" line is in the song.
• Ash from Charleston, WvFace it, you morons. Guns 'N' frickin' Roses sucks. They will be forgotten in ten years. The Stones will be revered for ten generations. Stop comparing them!!! It's not even a valid argument. It's like comparing Anna Kournikova to Janet Reno. I love the movie "Interview With the Vampire." But as soon as the closing credits start, I'm on the Stop button of my remote control like a fat kid on a Milk Dud.
• Daniel from Warszawa, PolandMan bands and singers did covers of this song:
  Tiamat, Laibach, Perl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Guster, David Byrne, Elliot Goldenthal, Janes Addiction, Louis Bertignac and Paul Personne, Natalie Merchant, Roxy Music & Bryan Ferry...
• Nathan from Defiance, OhI was surprised to find this song only #32 on Rolling Stone Magazine's top 500 songs. Some of the songs higher in the list like "Smells like Teen Spirit" and "Born to Run" as good as they are, pale in comparison. I guess all lists are subjective.
• Stefan from Antwerp, BelgiumRyan, I also read the book "dreamcatcher"(loved it btw) and thanks to this book I really wanted to listen to this song (I knew it but I never listened very good to the lyrics,..)
  Now , it is one of my all time favourite songs.
  
  But sadly they didn't put the song in the movie.
• Jason from York, Pathe lyrics are 'the bodies stank' not 'furnace'. probably their best song, though 'gimme shelter' is my favorite. keith's in your face bass playing adds a dimension that bill wyman's playing lacks. grant it wyman is rock steady and i miss him.
• Tom from Freiburg, GermanyI like the live version on "Ya Ya's" much better than the studio version. It's interesting to see how Mick Taylor takes over the lead guitar from Richards, taking the song to a new level with his soulful string bends.
• Jim from Des Moines, IaCan't believe how naive some people are. For crying out loud, the Stones were Satanists, and this song is PR for their master. Interesting info at:
  
  http://www.filmsinreview.com/Features/CampDavid/campdavid4_nov.htm
  
  "It is a well-documented fact that for a period of time in the late Sixties, Kenneth Anger was the official astrologer and flavor of the month for the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger composed music for one of Kenneth's films (INVOCATION OF MY DEMON BROTHER, 1969) and Keith Richards relied on Kenneth's reputation as a Magus. Keith's lady, Anita Pallenberg, was already considered a black queen in occult circles but did not impress Kenneth in the least."
  
  Anybody who knows anything about Anger and Crowley knows they were Satanists.
  
  Sheesh...Ok, flame on, you know you will...some people just won't let the facts get in the way of their emotional addictions.
• Blake from Kennesaw, Ga, UsaSlash is an awesome guitarist, but GnRs cover wasn't nearly as good as the original
• Jonathan from Deltona, FlKeith Richards is a much better guitarist than slash. And this is a great song, never gets old. One of The Stones best works, and especially one of Jagger's.
• Ross from Independence, MoThis is #31 in Rolling Stone's list of 500 greatest songs.
• Jose from Minneapolis, MnI remember reading that the "troubadors who got killed before they reached bombay" refers to the hippies who traveled the "hippie trail" by road. Many on them got killed and ripped off by drug peddlers in afghanistan and pakistan. Probably those shady deals were the "traps"
• Jesse from London, EnglandKeith richards is a way better guitarist than Slash, tom (i'm a guns n' roses fan too) it don't get better than the mick and the keith! that song is awesome! sympathy for the devil!
• James from Edwardsville, Ilcome to think of it, lucifer is just about as evil as God. lucifer is after all just doing his job. but god, now there is a whole different category of evil. for example the story of noah: it will rain for 40 days and 40 nights. put 2 of each animal species on the ark. blah blah blah, you know the rest. what about everything else? god kills everybody but noah and his family. men, women, and children. what about a new born baby at the start of the flood? did that baby ever commit any sins? no, it did not. so then why did it deserve to be smitten? it didn't. what did hitler do? kill thousands upon thousands of people because they weren't a certain religion. what was god doing? the exact same thing. that's right, god is just as evil as hitler, maybe more so.
• James from Edwardsville, Ili kinda feel sorry for lucifer. i mean in my eyes, he's just one of God's helpers. i don't think of him as all that evil either. i think god spared him after his revolt in heaven to test the will of man and furthermore make sinners pay for their sins. he's just doing his job, i don't see why everybody thinks he's so evil.
• Eric from Cincinnati, OhI remember an interview where Mick (being an agnostic) says he doesn't really know if there is such a being as the devil, but that he thinks the poor guy gets a lot of undeserved grief. The song, he said, was an attempt to guess how Satan might portray himself. I suppose you could say Mick was playing "devil's advocate!" (sorry, I couldn't resist that last comment...)
• E from New York, NyI thinkg the Guns N' Roses version is a lot better.
• Brendon from Paxton, IlSumner from AK - the 100 Year's War was also a religious dispute. Just to let you know.
• Stefanie Magura from Rock Hill, ScOzzy Osbourne also covered "Sympathy For The Devil' on his Prince of Darkness Box-set.
• Sumner from Paragould, AkThe guy who said all the stuff about the "furnace stank" and Hundred Year's War was wrong. The line about fighting for "Ten decades" for the "Gods They Made" is about the Crusades, which pretty much were scattered over a hundred year period. The religious wars were actually what I think is a bunch of xenophobia and overzealousness, over the "Gods They Made"- The Muslim and Christian gods. The "furnace stank" line isn't even in the song.
• Kevin from Carteret, NjAlright I'll my friends want to kill me whenever I say this but, am I the only one that thinks this song is near identical (sans the samba rhythym) to "Jigsaw Puzzle" on the same album.
• Daniel from West Covina, CaThe worlds greatest rock song ever nothing can compare to it the lyrics are the most meaningfull keiths guitar solo is superb RIFF HARD KEEF it is excellent mick jaggers gave one of the best vocal performences of his life. this whole song is so great the best stones song ever.
• David from Jacksonville, FlI am writing a report on this song- Comparing the stone's version to that of GNR. I was wondering if anyone knew any good websites that gave an in depth analysis. Finally, i am able to write on some real poetry.
• Andy from Columbus, OhThe GnR cover is okay. The Stones original is much better, and I don't even like them!! Check out the Neptunes remix of the Stones.......It is bad-ass!!
• Seblazo from Melbourne, AustraliaThe Beatles and the Rolling Stones were best friends at the time so it is doubtful that they were taking a pot-shot at the Beatles in the troubadours verse. Plus the Beatles were pooing all over the Stones album sales so they werent really in the position to critisize theyre publicity stunt
• Jammie from Deckerville, MiI like it way better when GNR covered the song. They sounded so much better. Slah may say "it's the sound of the ban d breaking up". But I love their version.
  
• Adrian from Merthyr Tydfil, Alcharlie, Thomaston, CT - Have to agree - this is definitely the best stones song - it was also the theme tune for the film 'fallen' starring denzil washington. Time is on my side also appeared in the film. Its a really good watch actualy - sorry (they havent got me on the payroll honestly!)
• Charlie from Thomaston, Ctbest stones song ever, way better than satisfaction!
• Dave from Oak Park, MiPhil Ochs' song "Crucifiction", on an A&M album of his, PLEASURES OF THE HARBOR, could easily be an "answer song" to "Sympathy For The Devil", in that his song was about martyr-ism and assinations or at least deaths of "heros" from Jesus Christ to John F. Kennedy, chronicled in the Rolling Stones song, too...
• Shell from Riverdale, Ga"I've only ever heard the Guns N' Roses version and I think it's brilliant! Is the original even better?
  - Tom, Trowbridge, England" In a word, Tom, yes. My favorite Stones song. Since no one else has mentioned it, I'll add a note that the song featured prominently in the film "The Jericho Mile".
• Kevin from Tokyo, JapanRe: the troubadours: I've wondered if it was some kind of tongue-in-cheek 'threat' or warning toward the Beatles who had either returned or were on their way to India during this time, weren't they ? The Fab four naturally received alot of publicity for this 'stunt' and perhaps the Stones, as their bad-boy rivals, were taking-a-piss at them. Ironically if you like, the Beatles manager,Brian Epstein, died while the Beatles were in India and the funeral hastened their return.
• Phil from Rochester, NyJim, a little web searching revealed a couple pages with some insight to the question of the "troubadors who get killed before they reach Bombay"...
  
  http://www.novogate.com/board/968/Archives/12-25-2002/132060-1.html
  http://www.novogate.com/board/968/Archives/11-22-2002/127376-1.html
  
  Unfortunately, neither of those have anything more than speculation as to the meaning. It seems only Mick knows for sure.
• John from Triangle , Ncif you listen to the begining of the track you hear a man and a womens voice. i was just wondering if this was simply some backround noise form the studio or an intentional part of the song. for some reason i think it may have a slight reference to adam and eve. they were the firsts sinners and had the first encounter with satan and they are heard at the start of the song. this explination probably seems pretty far off, but thats just what i think
• Jim from Eugene, OrI get all of the historical references in the Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" except one. Who are the "troubadours who get killed before they reach Bombay"? Maybe all Brits would know this but we didn't study the British Raj very much in Oregon.
• Tom from Trowbridge, EnglandLyrically, the best song of all time.
• Tom from Trowbridge, EnglandThe only song that's in the same league as 'Stairway to Heaven'.
• Tom from Trowbridge, EnglandSlash may be a much better guitarist than Keith Richards (you all have to admit that) but no one can sing this better than Mick Jagger. On the whole, the original is better. It sounds a lot more fun and lively and Mick Jagger's voice helps with that. There's something about Axl Rose's voice which I find very depressing.
• Matt from Saugus, MaThis (and many other Stones songs) was used for the title of an episode of the anime Cowboy Bebop.
• Charlie from Thomaston, Dci think everyone knows(or i hope they know!
  )that this is about how we are as bad as the devil so we shouldn't look down on him so much
  
• Rhett from Melbourne, AustraliaGunners version is no where near as good as the original.
  The Stones play this live on the Brigdes to Babylon DVD, and it is probably the best song they have ever done live.
• Paul from Columbia, MoI like GNR's version a lot better, the entire song is more heavy and powerful. The Stones version was awesome, but Guns n Roses added a double guitar solo (and guitars in the verse as opposed to only piano). Sweet.
• Paulo from New York, NyNatalie Merchant covered this live; the track is on the bonus CD version of Tigerlily. It's a pretty good rendition.
• Robert from Chicago, IlGreat Stones tune. Covered by, believe it or not, Blood Sweat & Tears in '71 (STRANGE?!).
• Evan from Orlando, FlWe did a project in english class to compare this song to lord of the flies
• Brendan from Colts Neck, NjMy favorite stones song
• Simon from Brno, Czech RepublicKeith Richards played the bass and electric guitar(great solo),Bill Wyman played the maracas,Rocky Dijon(african percussionist)played the congas,Nicky Hopkins played the piano and Mick Jagger sang a lead vocal.
• Ryan from Redford, MiStephen King also used this as the anthem of an airforce flight group in "Dreamcatcher", but I don't know if it was also in the movie version.
• Tom from Trowbridge, EnglandI've only ever heard the Guns N' Roses version and I think it's brilliant! Is the original even better?
• Jason from Wylie, Txactually the guns n roses cover was done in 1994 along with the movie interview with a vampire was also released in 1994 the song was also quoted in the stephen king tv movie the stand
• Ken from Dupont, Pa"Sympathy for the Devil" is the greatest piece of music ever written, bar none. "Beethoven's 5th" runs a distant second.
• Danny from Grass Valley, CaMainly written by Mick Jagger, however Keith suggested the samba rhythm. Other notable Stones songs done mainly by Mick are Brown Sugar and Miss You. Songs mainly done by Keith include Tumblin Dice, Start Me UP, and Honkey Tonk Woman. Obviously most songs, including the ones above, all had a degree of collaberation.
• Michael from Chicago, IlRichards has said the song was written with Kenneth Anger in mind. Anger is known to the general public for his books of Hollywood gossip HOLLYWOOD BABYLON. He is also an underground filmmaker and promoter of Aleister Crowley (see Mr. Crowley in Black Sabbath section)and had promoted Crowley to the 60's rock scene.

More Songfacts:

Always On My MindWillie Nelson

Elvis Presley recorded "Always On My Mind" in 1972, but Willie Nelson's version 10 years later was the hit and won the Song of the Year Grammy.

Eleanor RigbyThe Beatles

Paul McCartney based the "Eleanor Rigby" story on old ladies he met at his housing estate. He saw how sometimes when they died, nobody really noticed.

JeopardyGreg Kihn Band

"Jeopardy" by The Greg Kihn Band got the Weird Al treatment with "I Lost On Jeopardy." Kihn and Jeopardy game show announcer Art Fleming both appear in the video.

Open ArmsJourney

"Open Arms" was a pioneering power ballad. Stadium rock bands like Journey shied away from slow songs, but when they reluctantly agreed to record the song, it became their biggest chart hit.

I Wanna Be BadWilla Ford

Willa Ford came up with her hit "I Wanna Be Bad" when her record company told her to tone down her music in a effort to differentiate her from Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, who were in their "bad girl" eras.

Rocket QueenGuns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses' Appetite For Destruction album includes a song called "Rocket Queen," identified in the liner notes as Barbi Von Greif. Axl Rose says she "kind of kept me alive for a while."

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