Monday, June 6, 2022

oh yeah, get on down

 


♪ ♪ ♪♫♫


Please allow me to introduce myself

I'm a man - of wealth and taste

I've been around for a long, long year

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 at 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, ah yeah


(whoo whoo, whoo whoo)

I watched with glee

While your kings and queens (whoo whoo)

Fought for ten decades (whoo whoo)

For the gods they made (whoo whoo)


I shouted out, (whoo whoo)

"Who killed the Kennedys?" (whoo whoo)

When after all (whoo whoo)

It was you and me


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


Pleased to meet you

Hope you guessed my name, (whoo whoo) oh yeah (whoo whoo)

But what's puzzling you (whoo whoo)

Is the nature of my game (whoo whoo), oh yeah, get down, baby


whoo whoo, whoo whoo)

(whoo whoo)

(whoo whoo)

(whoo whoo) .........

Pleased to meet you 

Hope you guessed my name, (whoo whoo) oh yeah (whoo whoo)

But what's confusing you (whoo whoo)

Is just the nature of my game (whoo whoo) um yeah (whoo whoo)


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 (whoo whoo)


So if you meet me (whoo whoo)

Have some courtesy

Have some sympathy, (whoo whoo) and some taste (whoo whoo)

Use all your well-learned politesse (whoo whoo)

Or I'll lay your - soul to waste, um yeah (whoo whoo)


Pleased to meet you

Hope you guessed my  name - um yeah

But what's puzzling you

Is the nature of my game (whoo whoo) um mean it, (whoo whoo) get down


Woo, who (whoo whoo)

Oh yeah, get on down (whoo whoo)

Oh yeah (whoo whoo)

(whoo whoo, whoo whoo)

(whoo whoo, whoo whoo).......


Oh yeah!

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


Woo who (whoo whoo)

alright -


Oh, who who, oh, who who, (whoo whoo) oh, who who

Oh Yeah (whoo whoo)

Woo, who who (whoo whoo)

Ah yeah, a-what's my name


Tell me baby -- what's my name

Tell me sweetie -- what's my name


Woo, who, who (whoo whoo)

[ x 4 ]

Ah yeah!

whoo whoo

________________________________________

        All those "whoo whoos" - !  Stevie Nicks had to borrow some of those for her song, "Edge of Seventeen"...


It's a Rolling Stones song titled, "Sympathy for the Devil."

I understand the song as an allegory, saying that evil is in our world, watching for its opportunity to do harm.

The song is not suggesting that we literally have sympathy for the evil, it's written from the point of view of the evil, or the "devil" -- saying, 'Hey come on, I'm just doing what I do -- it's my job.'


It's a way of telling the story -- not an endorsement of evil.

        The song says he (the devil) was there guiding Pilate to betray Jesus; he pops up at St. Petersburg when they kill the czar and switch their government style to communism.  (Out of the frying pan and into the fire.)

        And in the verse where it says "blitzkrieg" -- that's the tactics used by Nazi Germany in the early years of World War II.  (The word blitzkrieg means "lightning war" in German.)


        (The devil, or hovering evil, pops up everywhere through history -- similar to Forrest Gump in the movie!  I imagine if the devil popped up in the movie Forrest Gump, Forrest would have quoted the t-shirt and said, "Not today, Satan!" and started running.

        Robin Wright:  "Run, Forrest!!")

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One can find "Sympathy for the Devil" on You Tube or elsewhere on the Internet and give it a listen.  It is a uniquely fascinating song, and danceable as well.

        (If you type in the song title, should probably also type in "Rolling Stones" too -- otherwise you might get some guy in his kitchen in Kenosha singing it to his dogs, or something....)


-30-

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