Poetry Train Monday - 32 - Sympathy For The Devil

As some of you may know, I've just returned from a New Year's trip to Toronto to spend final days with my father-in-law, David Smith. He passed away in the early morning on January 2nd. My mother-in-law, brother-in-law, husband and myself were all at the hospital with him when he moved on.

I'd barely registered the loss of my grandmother on Dec. 1st when Brad and I flew out on Boxing Day. His dad had enjoyed a magnificent Christmas Day, and Brad had talked to him and everyone on the phone. But when my sister-in-law picked us up at the airport, she told us, "Dad's in the hospital. He fell."

Brad and I looked at each other - we both knew that was the end. We spent the following week at the hospital, spending time with his dad and one another. It was tough, really tough for my father-in-law. But his doctor looked at him with admiration on his face. "You're a warrior," he told him. And he was.


The morning he passed away, we climbed into the truck - his pride and joy which I was honored to drive, because he'd shown me its little quirks on my last trip and I knew he was happy to lend it to me. I turned on the ignition and the radio came on. As we headed for home in the stunned silence of our loss, I heard Mick Jagger singing Sympathy For The Devil.

This held great significance for me, since I have a history of gaining insight from songs that play at these highly emotional times. My father-in-law's dad was a hard man. I've never heard a single person from Brad's family say one good thing about him. He treated my father-in-law horribly, not only as a boy growing up but all through his life. In fact, my father-in-law was so relieved when his dad died, he had a personal life-altering moment. After developing a drinking problem, he never touched another drop once his dad was buried.

When I began meeting Brad's family - first as a friend, then later as a girlfriend - Brad's dad had been clean and sober for awhile. But I learned about the struggles he'd had with the granddad, and how it had been for Brad to have a father who drank. I always found my father-in-law to be a shy, sweet giant of a man. He was generous and caring to us, which he displayed despite all he'd been through with his own father. I always admired David and felt very lucky to have him as my second dad. The courage he displayed in his final days will always stay with me.

So it may come as no surprise that I took the song to heart when I turned on the ignition and Mick Jagger's voice filtered through the truck. I felt that a reunion had taken place on the other side. And that David now has the insight to understand what made his own father such a harsh man in life.


Sympathy For The Devil

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for long, long years
Stole many a man's soul and faith

And I was 'round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game

I stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain

I rode a tank
Held a general's rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
Ah, what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah
(woo woo, woo woo)

I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made
(woo woo, woo woo)

I shouted out,
"Who killed the Kennedys?"
When after all
It was you and me
(who who, who who)

Let me please introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached Bombay
(woo woo, who who)

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
(who who)
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby
(who who, who who)

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's confusing you
Is just the nature of my game
(woo woo, who who)


Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
'Cause I'm in need of some restraint
(who who, who who)

So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
(woo woo)
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I'll lay your soul to waste, um yeah
(woo woo, woo woo)

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, um yeah
(who who)
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, um mean it, get down
(woo woo, woo woo)

Woo, who
Oh yeah, get on down
Oh yeah
Oh yeah!
(woo woo)

Tell me baby, what's my name
Tell me honey, can ya guess my name
Tell me baby, what's my name
I tell you one time, you're to blame

Oh, who, woo, woo
Woo, who, woo, woo
Woo, who, who
Woo, who, who
Oh, yeah

What's my name
Tell me, baby, what's my name
Tell me, sweetie, what's my name

Woo, who, who
Woo, who, who
Woo, who, who
Woo, who, who
Woo, who, who
Woo, who, who
Oh, yeah
Woo woo, woo woo

- Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, 1968

El Angel Caido statue at the Fountain of the Falling Angel by Ricardo Bellver
Parque del Buen Retiro, Madrid, Spain