Please allow me to introduce myself: Autobiographical blues self-fashioning in 'Sympathy for the Devil'

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

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 languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationBeggars Banquet and the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Revolution
Subtitle of host publication'They Call My Name Disturbance'
EditorsRussell Reising
PublisherRoutledge
Pages125-136
Number of pages12
ISBN (Electronic)9780203729830
ISBN (Print)9781138304758, 9781032082431
DOIs
StatePublished - May 28 2018
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Arts and Humanities

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