Lyrics for Sympathy for the Devil as interpreted by oofus

Sympathy for the Devil Lyrics
Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long long year stolen many a man's soul and faith
I was around 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 Tzar and his ministers; Anastaria screamed in vain
I rode a tank held a gen'rals rank when the blitzkrieg
raged and the bodies stank
Pleased to meet you hope your guess my name, oh yeah
Ah what's puzzling you is the nature of my game, oh yeah

I watched the glee while your kings and queens fought for
ten decades for the Gods they made
I shouted out "who killed the Kennedy's?" when after all it was you and me
Let me please introduce myself I'm a man of wealth and taste
And I lay traps for troubadors 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

Pleased to meet you hope you guess my name
But what's confusin you is just the nature of my game

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, um yeah

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, um yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, um mean it, get down

Woo, who
Oh yeah, get on down
Oh yeah
Oh yeah!

Tell me baby, what's my name
Tell me honey, can ya guess my name
Tell me baby, what's my name
I tell you one time, you're to blame

oh, who
woo, woo
Woo, who
Woo, woo
Woo, who, who
Woo, who, who
Oh, yeah

What's my name
Tell me, baby, what's my name
Tell me, sweetie, what's my name

Woo, who, who
Woo, who, who
Woo, who, who
Woo, who, who
Woo, who, who
Woo, who, who
Oh, yeah
Woo woo
Woo woo

Interaction
Mail to a friend Send Lyrics to a Friend
Share on Facebook

Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us Add to Del.icio.us




  • 168 Comments
  • Printer Friendly Lyrics
oldest first     Expand All
angel4peeace
01-15-2007

Rated 0 
awesome...i love this song. This song is so true. I saw Mick Jagger perform this song live and it was unbelievable.

Log in to reply
feel me loud
01-19-2007

Rated 0 
This might be one of the greatest songs ever written.

Log in to reply
:)4thecamera
01-23-2007

Rated 0 
i think guns and rosese is a real good band but their version is horrible! After reading all the posts about it i figured i better listen to their version before saying how much better the rolling stones did, and im just sayin if i had the choice of listening to the GNR version and getting 3 bucks, or the rolling stones version and having nothing happin, i'd go with listening to the rolling stones.

i really like the bongo drums in the rolling stones version, and as far as the 30 second i-tunes demo goes there arent any in the GNR version.

Log in to reply
:)4thecamera
01-23-2007

Rated 0 
srry i listened to the demo again, there are bongo drums, they just arent played as well in the GNR version as in the rolling stones version, and there's no energy at all in the gnr version... AT ALL!!! well now im seriously done (or am i.... MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!)

Log in to reply
:)4thecamera
01-23-2007

Rated 0 
i know i said i was done, but i lied. im still gonna post my top 5 fav bands

RHCP
Nirvana
Rolling Stones
Bob Dylan and the Band
70's aerosmith and led zephlin tie
Areosmith is crud now that they sold the rights to all their good songs!!!!!!!!

Log in to reply
:)4thecamera
01-24-2007

Rated 0 
i know ive posted far to many times already, and u probly all hate me now, but i just wanna say that this is the greates rock song of all time

Log in to reply
:)4thecamera
01-24-2007

Rated 0 
to slappywhite(page 4):
BOHEIMIAN RHAPSODY IS HORRIBLE!!! ITS ONLY REDDEMING QUALITY IS THAT IT WAS IN WAYNES WORLD!!!! (however we will rock u is one of my fav songs.)

Log in to reply
:)4thecamera
01-24-2007

Rated 0 
BTY i saw the stones perform this song live, so taht was totally awesome :P

Log in to reply
:)4thecamera
01-24-2007

Rated 0 
P.S. the reason fo ros many posts is i read as i posted, ive now read all coments and unless i think of something good u wont hear from me again :P

Log in to reply
rkpetersen
01-28-2007

Rated 0 
This song is a true classic, from the world's greatest rock and roll band. A metaphorical Lucifer pointing out the evil is inherent in human nature, and that whether he actually exists or not, at most he's merely a catalyst for things we're all to happy to do to each other anyway.

A few other comments:

GNR version better than the Stones version? Please, be serious, you're making me lol.

Troubadors = Beatles? Sounds like a stretch to me. Someone's been smoking too much herb, I think.

There's a recent song by OK Go that's a direct counterpoint to SFTD. While certainly not in anything like the same league as SFTD, musically or lyrically, it's not a bad tune, and clearly the songwriter felt humanity should take more responsibilities for it's actions as well. The song's called A Good Idea At The Time, and here are the lyrics:

True about my taste
True about my wealth
The thing about St Petersburg, I was never there myself
So come on Yeah come on
Anastasia might have cried all night, I couldn't say myself
So come on Yeah come on

I appreciate your courtesy, your well-learned politesse
But you got yourself into your own mess
You know the demon's in the design
A good idea at the time
Oh seemed like a good idea at the time
Yeah seemed like a good idea at the time

Now how it all went down, only Pilate knows
All I ever asked of him was when the bars would close
So come on, Yeah come on

I appreciate your courtesy, your well-learned politesse
But you got yourself into your own mess
You know the demon's in the design
A good idea at the time
Yeah seemed like a good idea at the time
Yeah seemed like a good idea at the time

True about my wealth
True about my taste
But you dont need no help from me, you'll lay yourself to waste
So come on Yeah come on

Seemed like a good idea at the time
Yeah seemed like a good idea at the time

Log in to reply
sugar0magnolia
02-08-2007

Rated 0 
"I shouted out "who killed the Kennedy's?" when after all it was you and me"
Does anybody know what he means by this?

Log in to reply
deadblackangel
02-11-2007

Rated 0 
SftD was written partly as an experiment, to see what they could do and see the public's reaction.
It's an amazing song, and very well written.

Can we stop the acusing, the shitty opinions, and the religious nuts preaching thier crap.

Log in to reply
sugar0magnolia
02-12-2007

Rated 0 
all i have to say (Hunter Thompson fans will get this) is that this song was a perfect opening for the book 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'

Log in to reply
arash_1
02-20-2007

Rated 0 
i think this song is about the devil possessing ones body
and it goes thru the devils work throughout history

1 Pilate, governor of the Roman Judaea, was a person who was possessed, possibly payed, to order jesus christs crucifixion
(i personally believe this was because jesus was against usury and material things)

2 the devil had the czar and his ministers killed because it wanted to create the u.n.

3-4 he played armies in the world wars by funding both sides to gain more power and control

5 kennedy was a troubadour (if you know his real famous speech) and wanting to expose the devil that got him killed before he reached the masses (bombay)

6 every cop is criminal because they keep the devils law

some know of zog, and i feel every one of us in the "democracies" is contributing to the devils plan to rule the world

there is sympathy for us because we are not aware or are just players
who who? you you
Arash

Log in to reply
dame13
02-25-2007

Rated 0 
this is one of the best and most controversial songs of all times,
Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails...
remember that when you judge someone ;-) cause there are two sides to every story

Log in to reply
dame13
02-26-2007

Rated 0 
one more thing no one can sing this better than mick, i'm a big fan of axl and way he signs but he doesn't come close this perfection from mick jagger, not in this song

Log in to reply
its_a_mad_world
03-06-2007

Rated 0 
ok ok you know what? anyone who thinks this song is even ABOUT the devil needs to be kicked in the teeth!! jesus christ everyone who thinks this song is evil is only proving the stone's piont because this song is about how we blame the devil for all the evil WE do and how we need to stop blaming all our missdeeds on some spiritual boogyman and take some fucking responsibility for the bad things we do

on an unrelated note i really wanna read that false prophet essay everyone is talking abut in the beging it sounds funny but the link is broken does anyone know if its still around somewhere?

Log in to reply
Crouch
03-23-2007

Rated 0 
I think the song is trying to say we all have a bit of the devil in us and it can be unleashed at any time, so dont jump to judge those who you disagree with cos you you may be just as bad as them but cant see it....
the line 'just as every cop a criminal and all the sinners saints' sums it up I reckon.
Thats why the devil is asking for sympathy and courtesy cos the devil is all of us. This is shown in the line ' I shouted out "who killed the kennedys" when after all it was you and me'
All the evils and bad deeds refered to, crucifiction of christ, Rusian revolution, 2nd world war etc were created by society, in other words you and me, we're all the devil folks, get over it...recognition is the first step to re-habilitiation.

Log in to reply
Crouch
03-23-2007

Rated 0 
I think the song is trying to say we all have a bit of the devil in us and it can be unleashed at any time, so dont jump to judge those who you disagree with cos you you may be just as bad as them but cant see it....
the line 'just as every cop a criminal and all the sinners saints' sums it up I reckon.
Thats why the devil is asking for sympathy and courtesy cos the devil is all of us. This is shown in the line ' I shouted out "who killed the kennedys" when after all it was you and me'
All the evils and bad deeds refered to, crucifiction of christ, Rusian revolution, 2nd world war etc were created by society, in other words you and me, we're all the devil folks, get over it...recognition is the first step to re-habilitiation.

Log in to reply
jweezy1983
04-01-2007

Rated 0 
It's not about the devil, it is about how twisted humans can be. More or less about the devil within man.

Log in to reply
JPiLL902
04-19-2007

Rated 0 
I think if this song was written today there may be another line or two about the recent events in Blacksburg.

Log in to reply
Chemical Ali
04-22-2007

Rated 0 
Without reading into everyone's thoughts yet (only read first page), I'd like to share my view.

This song refers to many terrible acts commited by humans. Showing that we bring these evils upon ourselves. Lucifer is not the only one to blame, so it is Lucifer asking for sympathy in that he may be evil, but we're responsible for this.

Roots of this theory in the song? Near the end the speaker says "Ill tell you one time, you're to blame.". Also, when asking you to "guess his name", the speaker gives examples of evil done by men, so the name is not Lucifer, but Men. When he does say he is Lucifer ("Just call me Lucifer"), he backs it up with "just as every cop's a crimanal, and all the sinners saints, as heads is tails" and since we know these not to be true, we can see that the culprit isn't Lucifer.

Just my $0.02

Log in to reply
NEWSOCIETY
05-25-2007

Rated 0 
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
'Cause I'm in need of some restraint

not sure if this has been posted yet, but the Singer can't be playing the part of satan, because, of the above excerpt. Lucifer is Satans name, and it says might as well call me lucifer, cause im in need of some restraint. This sounds bad, but hes more likely to be playing God. to me that makes sense in a way.

Log in to reply
viper67
06-23-2007

Rated 0 
This song is a direct shot at people with religious beliefs. It was meant for certain people not to get. In short, it is saying, to blame all the bad things in the world on a "character", is naive and uneducated. The only thing that would be more rediculous than this belief, would be the actual belief that Mick Jagger is actually the devil. This song, not only is extremely cleverly written, and disguised, but has some of the best guitar licks, and rolls along with the best r&b ever written. For those who still don't get it, I'm sure think Ozzy Osbourne is the prince of darkness, Alice Cooper is the Devil's son, and Marilyn Manson is, well "mister scary". What these artists all have in common, is they get to travel world, and see first hand the atrocities caused by religion. All were brought up very religious, and began to mock this belief, after worldly education. For all you young music listeners, I was like you, and at 15 took the words to this song literally, after learning about popular music extensively, and the different bands, I was able to see through the simple lyrics of alot of songs, but believe this one is one of the most important. "Who killed the Kennedy's?" after all it was you and me, and the russian's, and the mafia, and the.................. Not some dude in a red cape.The end lyrics give it away, "I tell you one more time baby, your to blame". Meaning us, people. It's a shame that alot of people weren't sharp enough at the time to get it, and for those who didn't, John Lennon had to write a song with no hidden tongue in cheek meanings. The shame is, when he wrote that song , people got it, but stuck their heads in the sand. Though it doesn't rock like "Sympathy", it's just as important, and 200 years from now ,people will know , "Imagine ", was sending the exact same message to an ignorant and confused society.

Log in to reply
Lithium Debator
07-26-2007

Rated 0 
The "Troubadours who got killed before they reached Bombay" refers to the hippies who traveled the "Hippie Trail" by road. Many on them were killed and ripped off by drug peddlers in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Those shady deals were probably the "traps."

Log in to reply




  • Add Your Comments
What does this song mean to you?

You must be logged in to post your comments.

Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.





Popular
Top:   Lyrics, Artists, Albums
Random:   Lyric, Artist, Album

Your Ad Here