Song for Day 43 - "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones

Song for Day 43 - "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones

 Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, and Keith Richards.

     Childhood buddies Keith Richards and Mick Jagger might never have formed the core of "The Rolling Stones" had it not been for a chance 1960 reacquaintance on Platform 2 of Dartford rail station, with Richards showing a keen interest in the Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records Mick was carrying.

      After a number of national hits, The Stones hit the big time with "Satisfaction" in May of 1965.  Among many subsequent successes is "Sympathy for the Devil" from the 1968 "Beggars Banquet" album.  The song wasn't entirely welcome in religious circles but it is, in fact, a study in the art of negation.

      In "Eve Marie" (aka "Heartbreaker") the narrator vilifies a pariah in lurid detail but suddenly ends with:

It will rain
champagne before I tell you
that I loved her.

      In "Sympathy for the Devil" Lucifer brags at length about the destruction, murder and strife he has wrought, before slipping in the fact that everything he has just said is bullshit:

I tell you one time, you're to blame

      It is us, not him, who created this havoc.

      In 2016, peace was not on the ballot.  How badly are we screwed?  Worse than you or any Cassandra can imagine.  Consider this:  When--not if--when Hair Gropenführer is driven from office it won't be because of his racism, sexism, creepiness (including around his own daughter), ignorance, incompetence, dishonesty, corruption, cruelty, bullying, boorishness, gaucheness, clumsiness, criminality or staggering stupidity.

      It will be because of his chumminess with Vladimir Putin. 

      Think about that for a moment.

Lyrics:

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 to waste
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

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game
I stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain
I rode a tank
Held a general's rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
Ah, what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah
(Woo woo, woo woo)
I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made
(Woo woo, woo woo)
I shouted out,
Who killed the Kennedys?
When after all
It was you and me
(Who who, who who)
Let me please introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached Bombay
(Woo woo, who who)
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
(Who who)
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby
(Who who, who who)
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's confusing you
Is just the nature of my game
(Woo woo, who who)
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
(Who who, who who)
So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
(Woo woo)
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I'll lay your soul to waste, mm yeah
(Woo woo, woo woo)
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, mm yeah
(Who who)
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, mm mean it, get down
(Woo woo, woo woo)
Woo, who
Oh yeah, get on down
Oh yeah
Oh yeah!
(Woo woo)
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 [x2]
Oh, yeah
What's my name
Tell me, baby, what's my name
Tell me, sweetie, what's my name
Woo, who, who [x6]
Oh, yeah
Woo woo [x2]