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On top of all this is Mick as an exceptionally articulate and expressive devil who, let us say, really enjoys his work. And don't forget the frenzied, high pitched 'woo-wooooo' vocal harmonies from the natives. Then there is Keef expressing Satan's personal joy through the famous razor sharp shards of guitar solo. Start with the basic rhythm section - congo rhythms and maracas and such, then add some honky tonk piano. Charlie Watts, the drummer of the band, described it as follows: «The combination of instrumental colors is pretty awe-inspiring. Like in the novel Satan dances a cheerful victory dance on the ruins of human civilization. The band worked with rather unusual instruments for a rhytm & bluesband - like congas and maracas - and after a long process of (re)working it became a samba, which Jagger called "hypnotic" and Richards even «insane». The atmosphere and the construction of the song fit also perfectly with the book. In February 1920 she would have been dredged up from the river in Berlin, totally ragged, and suffering from amnesia. Rumors have persisted of her possible escape. Killed the Tzar and his ministers, Anastasia screamed in vain.»įor your information: Anastasia is youngest daughter of the czar presumed to have been murdered with her family in July, 1918. Petersburg when I saw it was a time for a change Made damn sure that Pilate washed his hands and sealed His fate.»Īnd it continues at the beginning of the second stanza with famous events from Russian history which are explicitly or indirectly commented by Bulgakov in the novel. «And I was around when Jesus Christ had His moment of doubt and pain It starts with the first stanza matching perfectly with the feelings described by Woland when he talks about Pilate:
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The song starts with «Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste», which parallels strongly the introduction of Woland to Ivan and Berlioz in Michael Glenny's translation: «Please excuse me, for permitting myself, without an introduction.» And then follow more references to sentences from The Master and Margarita. There are many remarkable similarities between Sympathy for the Devil and Bulgakov's novel. Faithfull, who was Jagger's girlfriend at that time, said during an interview with Sylvie Simmons from the magazine Mojo in 2005: «I got Mick to read 'The Master and Margarita' and out of that, after discussing it at length with me, he wrote that song». But later he said it was inspired by The Master and Margarita, which Marianne Faithfull would have offered to him as a present. At first, he said it was based on a poem of Baudelaire. Sympathy for the Devil is one of the few Stones songs which Mick Jagger wrote alone, without the help of his buddy Keith Richard.