“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”
…
“Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game”
According to an article in the Washington Post, by Stephanie McCrummen, describing the scene at the Trump Rally in Mesa, Arizona, inside a cavernous hangar, at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, the Trump Rally organizers played the Rolling Stones songs “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Jumping Jack Flash”, to jack up the crowd. Driven by the Trump campaign’s delusional sense of omnipotent messianic superiority, these budding Fascists probably think that this song is actually an homage to the Great One, Donald Trump. Add to that, the fact that Trump rallies are basically New Age Klan Rallies, they seem to believe that this song is their theme song.
Nothing could be further from the truth. This song is about the evils of such men as Trump and his Mighty Whitey Militia flock.
www.washingtonpost.com/...
From SongFacts, on Sympathy for the Devil” :
www.songfacts.com/...
“The lyrics were inspired by ‘The Master and Margarita’, a book by Mikhail Bulgakov. British singer Marianne Faithfull was Mick Jagger's girlfriend at the time and she gave him the book. Faithfull came from an upper-class background and exposed Jagger to a lot of new ideas. In the book, the devil is a sophisticated socialite, a "man of wealth and taste”
…
“Keith Richards (2002): "Sympathy is quite an uplifting song. It's just a matter of looking the Devil in the face. He's there all the time. I've had very close contact with Lucifer - I've met him several times. Evil - people tend to bury it and hope it sorts itself out and doesn't rear its ugly head. Sympathy for the Devil is just as appropriate now, with 9/11. There it is again, big time. When that song was written, it was a time of turmoil. It was the first sort of international chaos since World War II. And confusion is not the ally of peace and love. You want to think the world is perfect. Everybody gets sucked into that. And as America has found out to its dismay, you can't hide. You might as well accept the fact that evil is there and deal with it any way you can. Sympathy for the Devil is a song that says, Don't forget him. If you confront him, then he's out of a job." (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France, for above 2)”
“Other historical events alluded to in the song include the 100 years war ("fought for ten decades") and the Holocaust ("and the furnace stank"). (thanks, Phil - Rochester, NY)”
Being a hardcore Stones fan, I saw their first public concert in L.A., at the old Long Beach Auditorium, and many times since. I saw them do this song and “Midnite Rambler”, they both really went together, in ’68 and ’69, and at Altamonte. Believe me, this song does not honor Trump and his brownshirts, it decries them.
So, people out here in the last vestiges of DemocracyLand, what do we do about this shit?
Like their song, how ‘bout some “Street Fighting Man”. Contemporize that, and start a Twitter campaign,, oh let’s say :
#No Rolling Stones at Trump Rallies”
I do not use Twitter myself, but perhaps all you folks can start this going.
What do you say people??
“Sympathy For The Devil”
“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 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
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
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”
Songwriters: RICHARDS, KEITH / JAGGER, MICK
Sympathy For The Devil lyrics © Abkco Music, Inc.