Who does the best Sympathy for the Devil?

[Taverner]

Feel free to add any others in here

[Orsino]

1. Bill Kristol. n/t

[NightWatcher]

2. there's no denying the original, but GnR's version is not half bad

[mitchum]

3. Laibach...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_zA7nukoZA

[TZ]

4. NOBODY..

Does it better than the Stones..I refuse to listen to any "remakes" of their music.

[mitchum]

5. It's my least favorite song from the Rolling Stones classic period...

it's kinda...dumb
Love Keith's lead, though

[Taverner]

6. Interesting. I think its their best.

Pretty much from that point into the seventies, their stuff is classic.

[mitchum]

7. Their other "demonic" or "Luciferan" songs have a sly humor to them...

but it seems that Jagger was trying to make some kind of overtly grand and profound statement with the lyrics. For me, it just doesn't suit them.

[Taverner]

9. But you gotta love the bongos and almost reggae beat to the tune

[SalmonChantedEvening]

8. Stones.

A song my brother fed my head when I was 14, and it ain't goin' nowhere.

Tell me baby
What's my name

[pokerfan]

10. yeah, Samba to be even more precise

The beat is based on a Samba rhythm. Says Richards: "Sympathy for the Devil started as sort of a folk song with acoustics, and ended up as a kind of mad samba, with me playing bass and overdubbing the guitar later. That's why I don't like to go into the studio with all the songs worked out and planned beforehand."

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=509

The lyrics were inspired by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_Margarita">The Master and Margarita, a book by Mikhail Bulgakov. In the book, the devil is a sophisticated socialite, a "man of wealth and taste."

Great song.

[mitchum]

11. I really enjoy the novel...

just as I enjoy "Lady Chatterly's Lover"
The latter work is where Jagger cribbed his embarrasing lyrics for the otherwise great sounding "Lady Jane"
Someone should keep Sir Michael far away from novels :)

[gmoney]

12. I can't document that they ever even did it, but the Afghan Whigs. (bonus points for Violent Femmes)

That is completely a song they should have covered, and maybe even did.

The Femmes didn't exactly cover it, but in their song "Hey Nonny Nonny" there's an instrumental breakdown part at the end, and about midway thru, they toss in the "whoo wooo" background lyrics from Sympathy, and it's just a transcendent moment for some reason.

[Taverner]

13. Well there is also no record of Belle and Sebastian covering it

But I love that version too

Very twisted