#7 "SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL"
THE ROLLING STONES, 1968

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There's two parts in The Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil" that I just love the hell out of.  First, you have the intro, with the tribal drums, weird backward voodoo chants, and other effects that lead into Mick as Satan singing, "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste!".  So intriguing...you just have to hear more.  And you do, as Mick tells you how he's been behind all the horrible events of the world since the dawn of man.

When he screams, "I shouted out who killed The Kennedys, when after all, it was YOU and ME!", however, it's a jaw dropping line that really makes you think.  It just hits you over the head with a shovel and leaves you wondering just what the hell he meant by that.  Is it a comment on how society eats its heroes?  The media?  The good always die young?  And for a Brit to come up with such an observation on American culture is amazing.  I'd love to hear what you think about it. 

SALON has a pretty cool article about the song, which among other things, debunks the urban legend that it was the one they were playing at Altamont when someone was killed by Hell's Angels in the audience.

-Robert Berry

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