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I always wondered if the sexual appetites of, say, JFK or Bill Clinton, really affected their ability to lead a country. I don’t believe their sexual indiscretions directly affect their ability to think about governmental policies. However, I do think that self-control counts for something in the soul of a leader. Weakness for any appetite in a potential candidate should give a voter pause. At the end of the day, I would rather have a pres-ident with a bit more self-control than Keith. Though, I will say that the world has seen leaders plenty worse.

But I must admit, I’m drawn to Keith. Ultimately, I believe that he sees that the questions of real importance are unanswerable. He resigns himself to dwell in the darkness, letting his soul run amok, controlling himself just enough to bang out a beautifully confused melody into the void. He’s a spirit worthy of tuning into as a reminder that control is ultimately an illusion. But I can’t live under his rule. My hope, illusory or not, is bound to the ones I love, and I want them safe.

In the end, I prefer Keef on the edge of town, playing at a juke joint. I want to keep him there always. And when I need my occasional fix, I’ll take a midnight ride to the edge of town, give a listen, and dance by the light of the darkness. Unlike Keith, I’ll be back before morning comes.

V

Undercover of the Knight

18

Sympathy for The Stones

MICHAEL BARILLI AND STEPHANIE ST. MARTIN

The brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over we realize this: that the human race has been roughly handled, but that it has advanced.

—VICTOR HUGO

Being a music lover draws a line between hearing and listening. The music we hear is merely background noise, a soundtrack of indifference. Yet taking the time to listen is the catalyst for a transformation—it can transform our language, transform our clothes, and even—sometimes—transform our values.

When The Rolling Stones released “Sympathy for the Devil,” they not only wrote a song that rocks, they wrote a song that reveals things about the human condition. At first glance, it’s a catchy, Forty Licks-worthy jam with some pretty funky instrumentals. But it’s more than that. In talking about the devil and human tragedies, The Stones proclaim the nature of evil and freedom, and man’s role in the tragedies of history.

Killing One “Traditional” Bird with Five Stones

We can remember our fathers telling us stories about how The Rolling Stones created “the devil’s music,” mostly because of their lyrics and performances. Many radio stations even outlawed their songs from the airwaves. (We are too young to have been around during the British Invasion and the outrage over The Stones and their lyrics—don’t judge us, but our memories are clearer of Britney Spears’ cover of “Satisfaction” than the original—which, yes, appalls us). Many teenagers of the 1960s weren’t allowed to listen to The Stones’ suggestive lyrics—mothers and fathers considered it “wrong.” Yet like anything else labeled taboo, teenagers always found a way to it. Many found refuge in their friends’ cars and places where there were “no parents allowed.”

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, and Brian Jones became the cornerstone for the counterculture of rock’n’roll. They had their own ideas and were not afraid to broadcast their take on the “adolescent angst” many Americans were feeling. Like a contagion, the Stones’ music triggered a fanatical response from their fans, sometimes, unfortunately, erupting in violence.

The Devil Went Down to Altamont

“Sympathy for the Devil,” cites certain historical tragedies—Jesus Christ’s trial and ultimate death, the deaths of the Royal Russian Family the Romanovs, the Holocaust, the Kennedy Assassinations, and the Hundred Years War—over what ironically seems to be a samba dance rhythm. Mick sings about these events in a taunting, provocative way, and The Stones’ live performances of “Sympathy