🎶 “Sympathy for the Devil”: The Rolling Stones’ Satanic Masterpiece That Almost Didn’t Exist
There are songs that define a generation — and then there are songs that dare to challenge it.
When The Rolling Stones released “Sympathy for the Devil” in 1968, the public wasn’t just shocked by the bold lyrics — they were bewildered by how a blues-based rock band had suddenly conjured a dark samba, inviting listeners to dance with the Devil himself.
But here’s the truth that most fans don’t know: the version of “Sympathy for the Devil” we all know and revere today almost never happened. In fact, it started as a slow, introspective folk tune — and only became what it is thanks to a strange chain of creative twists, studio chaos, and one surreal brush with disaster.
Let’s go back to where it all began.
📝 A Dylan-esque Ballad Becomes Something Else
Mick Jagger initially wrote “Sympathy for the Devil” as a slow ballad. He had been reading Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, a Soviet-era novel in which the Devil visits Moscow to expose the hypocrisy of society. Influenced by Bob Dylan’s storytelling style, Mick wrote the lyrics from Lucifer’s perspective — a deeply unsettling but oddly poetic choice.
When he brought the song to the studio during the Beggars Banquet sessions in June 1968, it was basically a moody acoustic track.
But producer Jimmy Miller — along with Keith Richards — felt it lacked energy. “It just sat there,” Miller would later say. They tried to imagine what the song could become if it moved. If it seduced. If it danced.
So they stripped it down and began again.
🪘 Enter the Samba Groove – and the Devil Starts to Dance
The idea to give the song a Latin rhythm came during a jam session. Charlie Watts played a conga-style beat. Bill Wyman added maracas. Keith switched his guitar tone. The tempo was lifted — and the song found its pulse.
But the real moment of magic came thanks to Anita Pallenberg, Mick’s then-partner. She was present at the session and urged the band to explore a more exotic, hypnotic rhythm. Her influence gave rise to the song’s now-iconic “woo-woo” background chants, which began spontaneously but stuck because of how eerily perfect they sounded.
Now the song wasn’t just about the Devil. It was the Devil — seductive, elegant, and dancing in firelight.
🎥 Fire in the Studio – Literally
During the recording sessions at London’s Olympic Studios, French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard was present, filming footage for his art film One Plus One (also known later as Sympathy for the Devil).
Godard’s cameras captured the band experimenting, evolving the song in real time. But during filming, an electrical fault triggered a fire on set. The control room literally caught fire. Cables melted. Smoke filled the studio. The band was shaken — but not stopped.
Some saw it as a bad omen. Others, like Richards, laughed it off as the Devil saying hello.
⚡ Controversy on Arrival
When the song was released later that year, many accused the Stones of Satanism. Christian groups picketed their shows. Some media outlets painted the band as corrupters of youth.
The band denied it. “It’s a song about the darkness in man, not the Devil,” Jagger explained. “Lucifer is just a character — a narrator.”
But the controversy only fueled the song’s legend. The timing didn’t help — just a year later, the Altamont Free Concert tragedy unfolded while the Stones were performing. Though Sympathy for the Devil wasn’t being played when the violence broke out, rumors tied the two together. The mythos was set.
🎤 Live Power – And the Devil Never Left
Despite all the controversy, “Sympathy for the Devil” has become one of the Stones’ most enduring live staples. From stadiums to intimate theaters, the chant of “woo-woo” echoes every time the band hits the first note.
Each time it’s performed, the song is reborn — a theatrical incantation that transforms Jagger into a sinister ringmaster, inviting us all to look inward and ask: If the Devil walked among us… would we even recognize him?
🎧 Why It Endures
More than 55 years later, the song still sparks debate. But it also continues to thrill. Its mix of seductive rhythm, provocative lyrics, and fearless point of view makes it unlike anything else in rock music.
It’s not about worshipping evil — it’s about acknowledging it. And in doing so, confronting the worst parts of history: war, betrayal, genocide, and cruelty — all told by a smooth-talking, well-dressed Devil.
“Sympathy for the Devil” reminds us that evil doesn’t always snarl. Sometimes, it smiles and sings in 4/4 time.
🎵 Final Thought
The Stones took a risk — creatively, spiritually, even physically — to bring this song to life. And they were nearly burned (literally) in the process.
But in doing so, they gave the world a haunting, unforgettable anthem that still dances on the edge of danger.