"Sympathy for the Devil" is the first song on the Rolling Stones' album Beggars Banquet. It appears before the song "No Expectations", and it is 6 minutes and 19 seconds in length, making it the longest song on the album. The song has been controversial in many conservative groups because of its title.
The song garnered criticism over its content and intended meaning. Not for the first time, the Stones were accused by some of being devil worshipers, due to the content of the song being sung from the viewpoint of Lucifer.[1]
It has been interpreted as being a song showing that people allow Satan to control their world and that people allow Satan into their lives, led astray by his promises as noted in the opening line: "Please allow me to introduce myself / I'm a man of wealth and taste".
The song contains numerous references to historical events, from the standpoint of Satan being involved:
Mick Jagger himself describes it as ". . . 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."
There was an album released containing all of the remixes of the song.
Total Time-38:24
There have been many remixes and covers of the song, the most popular of which was done by Guns N' Roses in 1994.