"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.

## Contents

* 1 Meaning of the Song
* 2 Sympathy for the Devil Remix
* 2.1 Track listing
* 3 Cover Versions
* 4 External links

## Meaning of the Song[edit]

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:

* "Made damn sure that Pilate / Washed his hands and sealed his fate" refers to Pontius Pilate's being the killer of Jesus.
* "I rode a tank / Held a general's rank / When the Blitzkrieg raged / And the bodies stank" refers to World War II and Nazism, the bodies being those of Jews murdered in the concentration camps under the Holocaust.
* "I watched with glee / While your kings and queens / Fought for ten decades / For the gods they made" refers to the Hundred Years War, which was fought over religious intolerance in Europe.
* "I shouted out 'Who killed the Kennedys?' / When after all it was you and me" refers to the murders of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy.

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."

## Sympathy for the Devil Remix[edit]

There was an album released containing all of the remixes of the song.

### Track listing[edit]

1. Sympathy For The Devil ((The Neptunes Remix) (Radio Edit))
2. Sympathy For The Devil ((The Neptunes Remix))
3. Sympathy For The Devil ((Fatboy Slim Remix) (Radio Edit))
4. Sympathy For The Devil ((Fatboy Slim Remix))
5. Sympathy For The Devil ((Full Phatt Remix) (Radio Edit))
6. Sympathy For The Devil ((Full Phatt Remix))
7. Sympathy For The Devil ((Original Version))

Total Time-38:24

## Cover Versions[edit]

There have been many remixes and covers of the song, the most popular of which was done by Guns N' Roses in 1994.

## External links[edit]

* Song Lyrics

1. ↑ Unterberger, Richie. "Let's Spend the Night Together". allmusic. 2007 (accessed 26 June 2007).