<Ul> <Li> file </Li> <Li> help </Li> </Ul> <P> "Sympathy for the Devil" is a samba rock song by the Rolling Stones, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards . Sung by Jagger, the song refers to the Devil, written in the first - person narrative, recounting atrocities committed throughout the history of humanity as if they were somehow "inspired" (or at least witnessed) by him . Although it has been deemed by some as "a homage", in reality, no admiration (or even sympathy, for that matter) is declared for the Devil in the song - other than his "own" request . It is performed in a rock arrangement with a samba rhythm, first appearing as the opening track on their 1968 album Beggars Banquet . Rolling Stone magazine placed it at number 32 in its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". </P> <P> "Sympathy for the Devil" is credited to Jagger and Richards, though the song was largely a Jagger composition . The working title of the song was "The Devil Is My Name", having earlier been called "Fallen Angels", and it is sung by Jagger as a first - person narrative from the point of view of the Devil, recounting his control over the events of human existence . </P> <P> In the 2012 documentary Crossfire Hurricane, Jagger stated that his influence for the song came from Baudelaire and from the Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita (which had just appeared in English translation in 1967). The book was given to him by Marianne Faithfull . </P>

Number of woo woos in sympathy for the devil