I don't like a lot of Rolling Stones work but this is one of my favorite songs. The lyrics just stick with me, and seem so insightful and deep compared to so much being put out at the time (compare to Lennon's stuff around then, for example).

"'Sympathy for the Devil' in all its variations represents the Boomers acme and epitaph."

I cannot disagree with any point of your assessment.

As a Boomer (cohort of '53) this song has always frightened me.

What frightens me the most is that it is indeed an anthem, a rallying cry, a laughing, mocking rejection of the culture that raised us.

And yes: The Devil laughs not in the fireballs over Hiroshima or Nagasaki, but in the flames of the Baltimore CVS, by which light his children danced.

Two things:
1) Some of us took it as a warning, others as an anthem.

2) Is it me, or is Keith Richards beginning to look a lot like Leonard Nemoy?

"Nimoy" dammit!!

Smacks of Screwtape Letters, yes?
Boomer of 48,

Look at the difference...
https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=AsWR0CTWazQ

All them Rolling Stones look like the Egyptian embalmers got ahold of 'em.

I watched the videos of the bikers beating on that guy with Mick mincing around "c'mon people. people, cool it" as if he could part the Red Sea; and Sympathy in the background.
This was a symbolic turning point for the Hippies and Summer of Love, all that gooey crap. Reality didn't creep in, it landed with a THUD like a dead possum tossed on the kitchen table.

Aw, whatsa matter man, that a bummer, uh?

What I like about the Stones is the exact thing people criticize them for,,,,

continuing to be consumable past their expiration date.

They make no pretense at being anything other than themselves.

No plastic surgery, none of this I am a lesbian trapped in a mans body bullshit. They are unapologetic about who and what they are. I love it.

Long Live the Stones...

Bill Henry

A lot of folks look at the Stones or any other band that was hot back in the day and they feel uncomfortable.

"Jeez, lookit how old they are!" brings up the suggestion that, yes, we are old too.

The quality of the music we heard back then was enhanced by drugs, social groups and media hype.
While the music hasn't changed, we have. My taste in music has shifted as I get through the decades.
No, I haven't become a Perry Como fan but I tend towards less, um, energetic tunes.
And I pay attention to music of yore, mostly jazz, that has held place from way before Herman's Hermits and will still be in place long after the folks that actually listened to Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs are in nursing homes watching Wheel of Fortune.

Just as with literature and art, the good stuff has no expiration date and the crummy stuff fades away like the flavor of the month. Er, last month.
There was (is) a big fan base of Deadheads, worshipping Gerry Garcia and his cohorts but as the musicians themselves die the energy dwindles.
When Mick Jagger finally lays down to die we'll see how long the magical mystery continues.

Wild Horses and Sister Morphine get my vote.

I have always considered this song as a rightful condemnation of Satan rather than an affirmative anthem. The devil is demanding respect and bragging about himself and all his accomplishments. Yet, it is the very things that he is bragging about that should make us turn away: Communism and Nazism of the 20th century (100MM deaths?), 100 Years War between England and France of Middle Ages, death of Kennedys, etc. Human suffering and deaths caused by the actions of sinful men and women. The lines referenced, “"Just as every cop is a criminal / And all the sinners saints", are Screwtape comments as previously noted. Police are a societal good. Satan views them as bad. Sinning is not our inherent calling but the path that pleases Satan. Probably without the Rolling Stones realizing it, God is using Jaggers/Richards to convey truth. Another favorite with strong theological underpinnings is “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. “You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.” What is that but “God Provides”? God doesn’t cause bad things to happen, but He always brings good out of it; even the works of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Hank, it's refreshing to read such an optimistic and hopeful comment. A lot of us don't realize that it is God's world; we're just living in it.

Psalm 100 King James Version (KJV)
1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
selah

I always took 'Sympathy for the Devil' as a warning of how the dark one is there 24X7, right in front of you, hawking his wares for all to partake, and at the same time noting clearly who he is. 'Pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name.' not.

You can't always get what you want was a bit of
balm that got me past being dumped unceremoniously.
I would have done anything for her, and finally did, I walked away.

Goat's Head Soup, Satanic Majesties, Dancing with Mr. D? I was a huge fan for years, and really a dedicated advocate of debauchery and sin for most of my life. That devil stuff? I'd just laugh it all off. "You guys are nuts!" I'd say, with a dismissive wave. Nowadays, with the dope-pusher-in-Chief on the throne and things just a-spiraling out of control, my thoughts turn to the Pied Piper and then to my beautiful Grandchildren and Godchildren and I wonder...speaking of which, I recently saw a video clip of Jimmy Page. My how clear and supple his skin looked for a man his age.