Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote this song in 1968, and the Rolling Stones opened the album Beggars Banquet with the same track. It is as if Jagger becomes the devil (the narrative is written in the first person) and confesses to the numerous atrocities he has committed on earth. This list includes, for example, the trial and execution of Jesus Christ and the execution of the royal family. Jagger’s character demands not so much sympathy as respect for himself – indirectly pointing out that the blame for what he did lies with the song’s listeners, too.
It is no secret that the main source of inspiration for this hit was the book “The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov, which had just appeared in the West in English translation and was given to Mick by his girlfriend Marianne Faithfull. After “Sympathy for the Devil”, the musicians of the band were suspected of propaganda of Satanism, recalling the album Their Satanic Majesties Request, released a year before this release.