Feature Song: “Sympathy For The Devil”
This just might be my all-time favorite Stones song, but I will kindly ask you not to hold me to that admission. It is the opening track from their 1968 album, Beggars Banquet, and is credited to Jagger and Richards, although it is largely a Jagger composition. On the song, Jagger sings as “the devil” in a kind of first-person narrative, who boasts of his role in each of several historical atrocities, repeatedly asking the listener to “guess my name.” The lyrics focus on these atrocities from Satan’s point of view. The song was originally written with a line asking, “Who shot Kennedy,” but after Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination on June 6, 1968, the line was changed to reference both assassinations (“who shot the Kennedys”). In the 2012 documentary Crossfire Hurricane, Jagger stated that his influence for the song came from both Baudelaire and the Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita (translated into English in 1967). The song has a very hypnotic, samba groove that neither speeds up nor slows down, but rather maintains a constant groove, which has been described as hypnotic. The live “official video,” included below, is said to be one of their best performances of this song. I have no idea who said this, or if it was said by more than one person, but my feeling is that it is pretty damn good!
As I am sure you can well imagine, the song has been covered quite a bit over the years in a wide variety of styles and genres. Bryan Ferry (1973), Jane’s Addiction (1987), Guns N’ Roses (1994), Ricky Lee Jones (2013) have all made the song their own. Even The London Orchestral Symphony (2002) had a go at the song. In keeping with the “busking” theme I started last post (DUTC# 31, Markus K) and wanting to showcase a performance of the song that I felt matches, or at least emulates the energy in the Stone’s example featured here, I have chosen a group of “street” musicians that I discovered not that long ago: The Big Push. These four immensely talented and energetic musicians from Brighton, England met while busking individually on Ship Street, which is just off the main drag that runs through the center of Brighton. They are a charismatic indie rock and roll collective fronted by Romain Axisa (guitar and vocals), Gorran Kendall (guitar and vocals), Ren (bass and vocals), and Glenn Chambers (drums). Although they have gone on to perform at different venues, busking is deeply embedded in the band’s blood, as they feed of the crowd’s close proximity to their eclectic and vibrant performances.
They perform both originals (written by the three front men) and covers, and when they started posting their videos on YouTube, earning them millions of views, the crowds for their busking shows grew exponentially. There is a great deal going on in their sound, and they have managed to build their own brand of rock and roll music that emanates from and embodies the raucous and passionate energy that they bring to their busking setups. All of this is clearly on display in their cover of “Sympathy For The Devil.” Enjoy!
The Rolling Stones “Sympathy For The Devil.” Live, official video 1968.
The Big Push “Sympathy For The Devil.” Live from the streets of Brighton, Sept. 2019.
Los Angeles 2023
The Big Push are great, and oozing with charisma! Watched a few more of their videos, and they’re really talented musicians.
They certainly are!
You certainly have the knack for finding great street performances. That’s not an easy song to cover and their energy helps pull it off. A great live clip from the Stones, a band not to be missed but back in the day they must have been something to see.
Thank you. It is not an easy one to be sure. Yeah, I saw a lot of great acts back in the day, but unfortunately not the Stones.
This live performance by the Stones made my eyes pop! So good. And the Big Push are incredible. Their energy is, well, energizing!