Abstract
This essay explores the ways in which ‘Sympathy for the Devil’s’ narrator creates a self through autobiographical blues self-invention. By claiming physical proximity to, and responsibility for, catastrophic, global events across millennia, the narrator situates himself within a traditional blues culture where the devil—through Faustian barter or shadowy influence—wields considerable power. Through the analysis of the lyrical content, and the numerous in-studio performances of ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ captured in the Jean-Luc Godard documentary of the same name, this work considers how the Rolling Stones—and Mick Jagger in particular—advances romantic satanic blues mythologies while participating in autobiographical blues self-invention. I argue that ‘Sympathy for the Devil’s’ unreliable satanic narrator engages in fictionalized autobiographical blues self-fashioning, effectively writing himself into the Southern American blues tradition through tall tale telling and the strong impulse to self-name.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Beggars Banquet and the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Revolution |
Subtitle of host publication | 'They Call My Name Disturbance' |
Editors | Russell Reising |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 125-136 |
Number of pages | 12 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780203729830 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781138304758, 9781032082431 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 28 2018 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Arts and Humanities