'Sympathy for the Devil,' the lead-off anthem from 1968's 'Beggars Banquet,' is the most adventurous and innovative track in the Rolling Stones' massive songbook.

Originally written by Mick Jagger as a slice of straightforward, Dylan-esque folk, 'Sympathy' was drastically revamped into a grand, densely layered opus, filled with samba-styled percussion, barroom piano lines, and relentless "whoo-whoo" backing vocals. 'Sympathy' also finds The Stones at their spookiest, constructed as a first-person history lesson from Lucifer himself. More than four decades later, it's difficult to pinpoint a more spine-tingling rock moment than Jagger's opening 'Please allow me to introduce myself / I'm a man of wealth and taste...'

 

Watch the Rolling Stones Perform 'Sympathy for the Devil'

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