The Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ Originally Sounded Like Brazilian Music
The Rolling Stones‘ “Sympathy for the Devil” changed a lot over the course of its creation. The Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts said the song sounded like Brazilian music at one point. In addition, Mick Jagger explained why the track wouldn’t have worked as a ballad.
The Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ was created by messing with congas
In the 2013 book 50 Licks: Myths and Stories from Half a Century of the Rolling Stones, Watts discussed the evolution of “Sympathy for the Devil.” “‘Sympathy for the Devil’ was tried six different ways,” he recalled. “I don’t mean at once. It was all night doing it one way, then another full night trying it another way, and we just could not get it right. It would never fit a regular rhythm.
“I first heard Mick play that one on the steps of my house on an acoustic guitar,” he added. “The first time I heard it, it was really light and had a kind of Brazilian sound. Then when we got in the studio we poured things on it, and it was something different.
“I could never get a rhythm for it, except one, which is like a samba on the snare drum,” Watts continued. “It was always a bit like a dance band until we got Rocky Dijon in, playing the congas. By messing about with that, we got the thing done.”
Mick Jagger felt the song worked because The Rolling Stones made it sound like dance music
During a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone, Jagger discussed the instrumentation of “Sympathy for the Devil.” He said the final version of song sounded like South American or African music. His opinion stands in contrast to Watts’, who felt the song’s Brazilian elements were removed.
Jagger compared “Sympathy for the Devil” to a samba. He said it was similar to dance music, and that it wouldn’t have worked as a ballad. In addition, Jagger felt the song would’ve been “pretentious” if it didn’t have such an “unpretentious groove.”
‘Sympathy for the Devil’ might’ve been a huge influence on British music from the 1990s
Jagger was right to say “Sympathy for the Devil” sounds like dance music. While the tune certainly draws from South American and African styles, it also prefigures the British dance music of the 1990s, specifically the subgenre known as big beat. Big beat songs often made expressive use of the piano like “Sympathy for the Devil” did.
In fact, the groove of “Sympathy for the Devil” arguably paved the way for one of the most famous songs from that scene: Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You.” Both The Rolling Stones and Fatboy Slim understood that dance music can be a vehicle for big emotions, even though it’s often dismissed by classic rock fans. Notably, The Rolling Stones released several remixes of the track in 2003. One of those remixes was by none other than Fatboy Slim.
“Sympathy for the Devil” is one of the best songs of the 1960s — and it wouldn’t exist without South American and African music.
