The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
This song is sung in first person form, with Mick Jagger playing no one else but Satan himself. He documents events through history that could be seen as “works of the devil.” The Rolling Stones took some serious heat for singing a song from the devil’s perspective, but the point of the song is more...
[Intro]
Yeow
Yeow
Yeow
[Verse 1]
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
[Chorus]
Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name
But what's puzzlin' you is the nature of my game
[Verse 2]
Stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the Tsar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain
I rode a tank, held a general's rank
When the Blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank
[Chorus]
Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name
Oh yeah
Ah, what's puzzlin' you is the nature of my game
Aww yeah
[Verse 3]
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
I'm a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reach Bombay
[Chorus]
Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name
Oh yeah
But what's puzzlin' you is the nature of my game
Aww yeah
(Uh, get down heavy!)
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus]
Pleased to meet you, hope you'll guess my name
Aww yeah
But what's confusin' you is just the nature of my game
Mmm yeah
[Verse 4]
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
Mmm, yeah
[Chorus]
Pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name
Mmm, yeah
But what's puzzlin' you is the nature of my game
Mmm, mean it, get down
[Outro w/Guitar Solo]
Get down
Woo hoo!
Aww yeah
Get on down
Oh yeah
Ba bum bum, ba ba bum
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
Ooo hoo, ooo hoo, oooo hoo
All right
Ooo hoo hoo, ooo hoo hoo, ooo hoo hoo
Ah yeah
Ooo hoo hoo, ooo hoo hoo
Ah yes, what's my name?
Tell me, baby, ah what's my name?
Tell me, sweetie, what's my name?
Ooo hoo hoo, ooo hoo hoo, ooo hoo hoo, ooo hoo hoo
Ooo hoo hoo, ooo hoo hoo, ooo hoo hoo
Ah yeah
What's my name...
Sympathy for the Devil was written by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards.
Sympathy for the Devil was produced by Jimmy Miller.
The Rolling Stones released Sympathy for the Devil on Fri Dec 06 1968.
The backing vocals are provided by Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts, Nicky Hopkins, Anita Wallenberg, and Marianne Faithfull.
The song’s purpose is not a magnification or glorification of the evil demonstrated by the events it portrays. Rather, the events establish the devil’s enormous power as evidence of our inferior position in relation to him. Yet, it is this inferiority that demands our sympathy; for, if we are unabl...
Keith Richards:
(he was unsure)…whether it should be a samba or a goddamn folk song
and –
Before, when we were just innocent kids out for a good time [the media said], ‘They’re evil, they’re evil. So that makes you start thinking about evil… . Everybody’s Lucifer.“
Nicky Hopkins, who accompanied the Stones from the 60’s to the 90’s.
Keith Richards via Rolling Stone
It started as sort of a folk song with acoustics and ended up as kind of a mad samba, with me playing bass and overdubbing the guitar later…That’s why I don’t like to go into the studio with all the songs worked out and planned beforehand. Because you can write the...