Myths and MusicDaemons and Devils in blues and rock

Vesa Matteo PiluduHelsinki

Department of Comparative Religion

University of Helsinki

Exú (Salvador, Brazil)

Exu’s colors: red and black

Exú - Carybe

Traditional trickster Is uncontrollable, unpredictable But it is possible to ask him

favours

Dominantly male, but also female, strongly human and emotive, full of desires

It is dangerous for his human-like behaviour … but isn’t evil

He is the mediator, the bridge between humans and divinities

He must called before all the others divinities to avoid “confusion”

Exú

Exu (known as Eleggua in Cuba and Legba in Haiti) is the owner of the roads and doors in this world.

He is the repository of axé (life energy).

The colours red and black or white and black are his and codify his contradictory nature.

In particular, Exu stands at the crossroads of the human and the divine, as he is a child-like messenger between the two worlds

Exú is also connected to sacrifices and offer

Eshú l'arôye!

If Exú is respected, he ”opens the doors” and it is helpful

If isn’t considered, he could cause every kinds of catastrophes

He isn’t only good or bad, it depends on the situations

Exú ceremony - padé

The exú ceremony is called padé It consist of an offer of vegetals to Exú

… and it is performed before the real ceremony, to avoid “confusion” during the ritual

CD Filhos de Gandhi, track 3: “sire de exú”

Exú (Salvador, Brazil)

Tecno and Rap - Exú

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqXQavT72s8

Theo Werneck and Paula Pretta's music

Rappa (Brazil): Lado B Lado A

Se eles sao Exu Eu sou Yemanjá Se elem matam bicho Eu tomo banho de mar (…)

Nao abro mao da mitologia negra Pra dizer: Eu nao pareco com com voce (…)

Eu soh guerreiro, sou trabalhadorEh todo dia vou encararCom Fé em Deus e na minha batalha (...)

If they are Exú I’m Yemanjá If they kill a beast I swim in the sea (…)

I’m not renouncing to the Black Mythology

To say: I’m not like you!

I’m a warrior, a worker Fighting every day With faith in God and in my battle

(…)

Exú = crossroads’ god Yemanjá= Sea goddess Free translation: Vesa Matteo

Piludu

Exú and the crossroad’s Devil

The figure of Exú, Elegguá, Legbá … the god of the crossroads popular in the Afro-American religions … became the Devil or Satan of the crossroads in the blues and in North American popular music

The Blues’ Devil is different from the ambiguous, tricky but also generous Exú …Satan is clearly only a negative figure

In the puritan and protestant United States the moral distinctions should be clear: there is good and bad, black and white, profane and sacred, Sunday and Friday

Symbols according to the existential semiotics

The symbols are changing their meaning often, especially in oral and popular culture …

The world of existence isn’t static

According to Eero Tarasti (Existential semiotics, 2000 – Fondamenti della semiotica esistenziale, 2008)

the symbols are mobile, flying as the objects in a Chagall painting

Cross Road Blues (Take 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd60nI4sa9A&feature=related

I went to the crossroad fell down on my knees I went to the crossroad fell down on my knees

Asked the Lord above "Have mercy, now save poor Bob, if you please”

Mmmmm, standin' at the crossroad

I tried to flag a ride Standin' at the crossroad I tried to flag a ride Didn't nobody seem to know me everybody pass me by

Mmm, the sun goin' down, boy dark gon' catch me here oooo ooee eeee boy, dark gon' catch me here

I haven't got no lovin' sweet woman that love and feel my care

You can run, you can run tell my friend-boy Willie Brown You can run, you can run tell my friend-boy Willie Brown

Lord, that I'm standin' at the crossroad, babe

I believe I'm sinkin' down

What Lord?

The ”Lord” of the Crossroad is probably a kind of Elegua, Exú or Legba (Afro-American gods of crossroads and doors) … some supernatural being that could help during the night

Even so, Robert Johnson use the generic world ”Lord”, indicating also the Christian God

Another lord of Crossroad in the Afro-American folclore is the Devil … but a call to the Devil asking for help is a nonsense, as the Devil is clearly a negative figure in the Johnson’s and Blues men's songs

Even so, legends about a secret path between Johnson and the Devil are “classic” of blues literature .

Nature and Robert Johnsonby: Carter Neil

To us being by the side of a road at night may contain a bit of fear, but to a Black man in the Delta in Johnson's time this was a terrifying position to be in.

After dark a Black man could be considered to be a threat by a White man and could be beat up, or worse without any evidence of wrongdoing.

Robert Johnson and Satan at the Crossroad

In the Delta of the Mississippi River, where Robert Johnson was born, they said that if an aspiring bluesman waited by the side of a deserted country crossroads in the dark of a moonless night, then Satan himself might come and tune his guitar, sealing a pact for the bluesman's soul and guaranteeing a lifetime of easy money, women, and fame.

They said that Robert Johnson must have waited by the crossroads and gotten his guitar fine-tuned.

Crossroads of Highways

It is said that Robert Johnson made his pact with Satan at the crossroads of Highways 49 and 61 in Clarksdale, Mississipi

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson, 1911-1938, the most influential Delta blues artist of all

King of Delta Blues

Granfather of Rock

The original folk legend talk about another Johnson: Tommy

“So you sit at the crossroads. Out of the darkness, there comes a sound in the distance. A large black man appears, playing a guitar. He takes your instrument, gives you his, and for a moment you play together. Your fingers dance across the strings and begin to bleed. The man tunes your guitar and hands it back to you. He walks away into the darkness. You strum a chord, pick a note, and it occurs to you that you can play anything, absolutely anything you want. You also know that the devil will come back for your soul, and he will come back sooner rather than later.”

"That's the way I learned to play anything I want," Tommy Johnson told his brother LeDell.

Tommy may have sold his soul first, or said that he did, but Robert Johnson, who was not related to Tommy, is the more notorious “soul-swapper”

Satan and the musicians

The story of a musician that learn to play from a devil, a spirit or a daemon is present in every culture

Plato wrote as the best artist and especially the musicians shoud be possessed by a daimon

In Finland the best pelimanni (folk players) were told to have learnt the art from a devil or a water spirit

Paganini was called the Devil’s Violinist

Paganini’s many adventures and extraordinary indulgences apparently sparked off stories of his being in league with the devil and that he had even been imprisoned for murder.

"The devil was at his elbow!" was the claim made to explain his technical prowess at the violin.

Someone even swore that he saw the devil directing Paganini’s arm and guiding the bow!

As a result, his burial in consecrated ground was actually delayed for 5 years.

Robert Johnson: Me and the Devil Blues

Animated Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MCHI23FTP8&feature=related

Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door Early this mornin', ooh

when you knocked upon my door And I said, "Hello, Satan," I believe it's time to go.“

Me and the Devil was walkin' side by side Me and the Devil, ooh was walkin' side by side

And I'm goin' to beat my woman until I get satisfied

She say: “you don't see why that you will dog me 'round”

spoken: Now, babe, you know you ain't doin' me right, don'cha

She say you don't see why, ooh that you will dog me 'round

It must-a be that old evil spirit so deep down in the ground

You may bury my body down by the highway side (spoken:) Baby, I don't care where

you bury my body when I'm dead and gone

You may bury my body, ooh down by the highway side So my old evil spirit can catch a

Greyhound bus and ride

Blues spirits, blues feelings, blues music

Blues illness

The blues are also evil spirits causing bad and depressive feelings

There are many kind of blues: loneliness blues, walking blues

Blues recovering

Playing the blues music and singing about the blues spirits, the blues singer is able to drive blues spirits away

It’s a kind of musical exorcism and self analysis

Robert Johnson: Hellhound On My Trail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC4M4eQlz5I

got to keep movin' I got to keep movin'

blues fallin' down like hailblues fallin' down like hail

Umm mmm mmm mmm

blues fallin' down like hailblues fallin' down like hail

And the days keeps on worryin' me

there's a hellhound on my trailhellhound on my trailhellhound on my trail

If today was Christmas Eve If today was Christmas Eve

and tomorrow was Christmas Day If today was Christmas Eve and tomorrow was Christmas Day

spoken: Aow, wouldn't we have a time, baby?

All I would need my little sweet rider just to pass the time away, huh huhto pass the time away

Robert Johnson: Hellhound On My Trail

You sprinkled hot foot powder, mmm mmm, around my doorall around my door

You sprinkled hot foot powder all around your daddy's door, hmm

hmm hmm It keep me with ramblin' mind,

rider every old place I goevery old place I go

I can tell the wind is risin' the leaves tremblin' on the tree

Tremblin' on the tree I can tell the wind is risin' leaves tremblin' on the tree

hmm hmm hmm mmm All I need's my little sweet

woman and to keep my company, hey

hey hey hey my company

Preachin' Blues (Up Jumped the Devil)

Mmmmm mmmmm I's up this mornin'

ah, blues walkin' like a man I's up this mornin' ah, blues walkin' like a man

Worried blues give me your right hand And the blues fell mama's child

tore me all upside down Blues fell mam's child and it tore me all upside down travel on, poor Bob just can't turn you 'round The blu-u-u-u-ues is a low-down shakin' chill

spoken: Yes, preach 'em now. Mmmmm mmmmm is a low-down shakin' chill

You ain't never had 'em, I I hope you never will

Well, the blues is a schin' old heart disease

spoken: Do it. now. You gon' do it?

Tell me about it. Let the blues is a low-down achin' heart disease Like consumption killing me by degrees

I can study rain oh, ohm drive, oh, oh, drive my

blues I been studyin' the rain and I'm 'on drive my blues away Goin' to the 'stil'ry stay out there all day

From: Disease Imagery in Johnson's Preaching Blues by: Adriana C. Rissetto

The speaker … states that he can "study rain/oh, oh, drive, oh, oh, drive my blues" in the same way that a scientist would scrutinize a bacteria culture in order to ascertain a cure to the disease.

Here the rain resembles a vaccination in which a small amount of the virus is introduced into the patient's blood in order to build up an immunity

the speaker studies the rain, a symbol of depression, to build up "an immunity" to the effect of the blues on him.

However, eventually he rejects this in favor of the distillery, a quick and easy pain killer which offers immediate, albeit temporary, relief.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~music/BLUES/rissetto.html

Nature and Robert Johnson by: Carter Neil

When he says "I been studyin' rain..." he is doing more than using the image of rain to reinforce an idea of isolation.

He is telling the listener that he has knowledge about loneliness gained through a study of it, through an intense relationship to it.

His use of the word "study" further serves to validate his attempt in the song to "preach" the Blues since a preacher must know what he's talking about.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~music/BLUES/neil.html

ROBERT JOHNSONIf I Had Possession Over Judgment Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KgYk5FFMhg&feature=related

If I had possession over judgment dayif I had possession over judgment day

Lord, the little woman I'm lovin' wouldn't

have no right to pray

And I went to the mountain lookin' far as my eyes could seeAnd I went to the mountain lookin' far as my eye could seeSome other man got my woman and the -'a lonesome blues got me

And I rolled and I tumbled and I cried the whole night longAnd I rolled and I tumbled and I cried the whole night long

Boy, I woke up this mornin' my biscuit roller goneHad to fold my arms and I slowly walked away

(spoken: ) I didn't like the way she doneHad to fold my arms and I slowly walked awayI said in my mind, "Yo," trouble gon' come some dayNow run here, baby set down on my kneeI wanna tell you all about the way they treated me

Robert Johnson: Life and Legend

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RAcer5QVMs&feature=related

Robert Johnson STOP BREAKIN DOWN

Short film about Robert Johnson told through the eyes of Son House

Clip 1 This clip shows a young Robert learning how to play then as a 27

year old man playing at Three Forks the night of his death http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7OivLt6wwU&feature=related

Clip 2 This clip shows Robert as a young and terrible guitar player. It shows

one of the reasons why he later became great...the crossroads myth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPrjzohMjcA&feature=related

Clip 3 This clip shows Robert as a young man studding hard, learning how

to play the guitar from Ike Zinneman. The locations are a street corner and rent party. The last scene is a flashback to the crossroads

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNLdrqHqWOg&feature=related

Robert Johnson and the hellhounds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-PQ3z9M2U0&feature=related

This is a part of Supernatural TV films, "Crossroad Blues", season 2

Interwiews: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y__fi7SAhJQ&NR=1

Devil's Roadmap Featurette: Crossroad Blues Film

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y__fi7SAhJQ&feature=related

Film: Crossroads (1986) duel: Steve Vai

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0QKbnCDW94&feature=related

The women of the film Crossroads

Has the typical characteristics of Pomba Gira (sensual, gypsy looking) and the hoodoo woman of the blues (femme fatale, expert of love spells, creates love blues and desperation in men)

On Robert Johnson Part 1

Calt, Stephen. "Robert Johnson Recapitulated." Blues Unlimited 86, November 1971.

Charters, Samuel. Robert Johnson. New York: Oak Publications, 1972.

Cowley, John. "Walking Blues." Blues Unlimited 106, February-March, 1974.

Ferris, Tim. "Robert Johnson." Rolling Stone. February 4, 1971. Greenberg, Alan. Love In Vain: a Vision of Robert Johnson. New

York: Doubleday, 1983. Groom, Bob. Robert Johnson. Knutsford:Blue World, 1967. Groom, Bob. "Robert Johnson: The Man Behind the Music." Blues

World 4, November, 1965. Groom, Bob. "Standing at the Crossroads: Robert Johnson's

Recordings." Blues Unlimited 118-121, March-October 1976. Guralnick, Peter. "In Search of RobertJohnson." Rolling Stone,

March 26, 1976.

On Robert Johnson Part 2

Guralnick, Peter. Searching for Robert Johnson. New York: Dutton, 1989. Iglauer, Bruce. "Reconstructing Robert Johnson." Living Blues 5, Summer

1971. Lomax, Alan. The Land Where the Blues Began. New York: Dell, 1993. Marcus, Greil. Mystery Train. NewYork: Dutton, 1975. Mosley, Walter. RL's Dream. New York: Norton, 1995. Palmer, Robert. Deep Blues. New York: Viking, 1981. Pearson, Barry Lee and Bill McCullogh. Robert Johnson: Lost and Found.

University of Illinois Press, 2003. Schroeder, Patricia R. Robert Johnson, Mythmaking, and Contemporary

American Culture. University of Illinois Press, 2004. Shines, Johnny. "Remembering Robert Johnson." American Folk Music

Occasional 2, Oak Publications, 1970. Wald, Elijah. Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the

Blues. Armistad Press, 2004. Welding, Pete. "Hellhound On his Trail: Robert Johnson." down beat, Music

'66. Wolf, Robert. Hellhound on my Trail: the Life of Robert Johnson, Bluesman

Extraordinaire. 2004.

Robert Johnson, blues and rock folklore

The topics of the Robert Johnson’s lyrics and legend (hoodoo, love spells Devils, blues spirits) are extremely popular in

blues lyrics

Rock music, practically born from blues, herded all this folklore themes, that has been reinterpreted in an original way by several authors

The “damned” but sensual and fascinating Robert Johnson became also a kind of “model” for blues and rock stars

John Lee Hooker & Jim Morrison ( The Doors ) Roadhouse Blues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxJpFM10yxI&feature=related

Jim Morrison Possesed by Devils Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D99UQfzceiI&feature=related

Website about blues lyrics and hoodoo

http://www.luckymojo.com/blues.html#why

Santana: Black Magic Woman, 1970 Album: Abraxas, Author: Peter Green

Got a black magic womanGot a black magic womanI’ve got a black magic woman

Got me so blind I cant seeThat she’s a black magic womanShe’s trying to make a devil out of me

Don’t turn your back on me babyDon’t turn your back on me babyYes don’t turn your back on me baby

Stop messing round with your tricks

Don’t turn your back on me babyYou just might pick up my magic sticks

Got your spell on me babyGot your spell on me baby

Yes you got your spell on me babyTurning my heart into stone

I need you so bad, magic womanI can’t leave you alone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WCc025HH0E&feature=related

Joe Cocker: Civilized ManSongwriters: Alter, Louis / Delange, Eddie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEFA31Gt8T8&feature=related

You made me need youNeed you so badWould you believeAnd never so mad, oh yeahDouble cross me once, and never cross me againNow you're running 'round looking for some sympathyWell you know as well as I that we're history

You're lucky, I'm a civilized manYou're lucky, I'm a civilized manOh yeah, a civilized man

A poison arrow, right from the startRight down to zero, you went for my heartOh yeahYou've been hoodoo, voodooStart the fire again

Now you ask me to forget all you've brought me toWhen you know as well as I you've got it coming to you

You're lucky, I'm a civilized manYou're lucky, I'm a civilized manOh yeah, a civilized man

SOLD IT TO THE DEVIL by Merline (The Yas yas Girl) Johnson

I sold my soul, sold it to the Devil and my heart has turned to stone

I sold my soul, sold it to the Devil, and he won't let me alone     I'm hateful and I'm evil, I carries a Gatling gun     I drink carbolic acid, be darned if I will run

But I sold it, I have sold it Sold it to the Devil, and my heart has turned to stone.

Female Hoodoo

HOODOO BLUES by Bessie Brown

I'm on the war path now, I'm mean and evil I vow, Some woman stole my man, to get even I've a plan.

Gonna sprinkle ding 'em dust all around her door Gonna sprinkle ding 'em dust all around her door Put a spider in her dumplin', make her crawl all over the floor

Mojo Hands for women and men

MOJO HAND BLUES by Ida Cox

I'm going to Louisiana, to get myself a mojo hand I'm going to Louisiana, to get myself a mojo hand 'Cause these backbiting women are trying to take my man

MOJO HAND by Lightnin' Hopkins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNDJF4azgog&feature=related

I'm goin' to Louisiana, and get me a mojo hand I'm goin' to Louisiana, and get me a mojo hand I'm gonna fix my woman so she can't have no other man

Cold ground was my bed last night, rocks was my pillow too I woke up this morning,

          I'm wondering, "What in the world am I gonna do?" I lay down thinking, "Buy me a mojo hand."

HOO DOO BLUES by HARRY CHATMON

I'm the old hoodoo, works with white mojo (=white magic hoodoo)I'm the old hoodoo, works with white mojo, I can get a woman a man, anywhere I go.

A woman come to me, beggin' and cryin', "Someone have done went and took that man of mine;" "Listen, sweet mama, looked at your hand, Go back home and control your man."

(…) I'll tell you one thing, sweet mama, what you'll have to do,

Go down town and get you a old horseshoe. Come back home and fix it up over your front door, Bet you five dollars your man'll never leave home no more.

Lightnin’ Hopkins: Black Ghost Blues

Black ghost, black ghost, please stay away from my doorBlack ghost, black ghost, will you please stay away from my doorYeah you know you worry po' Lightnin' so now, I just can't sleep no more

Yeah you know I go to dreaming first night, black ghost is all po' Lightnin' can seeI go to dreaming first night, black ghost is all po' Lightnin' can seeYou know that's why I begin to wonder why you keeps on worryin' me

Black ghost is a picture, and the black ghost is a shadow tooWhoa black ghost is a picture, and the black ghost is a shadow tooYou just can see him, but you can't hear him talkin'Ain't nothin' else that a black ghost can doBlack Ghost Blues!

THE JINX BLUES [No. 1] by Son House

Well, I got up this mornin', jinx all 'round           jinx all 'round, 'round my bed,

Know I thought about you and, honey, and it like to kill me dead (…) You know the blues ain't nothing but a low down shaking,

          low down shakin', achin' chill (…) Well, blues, blues, is a worried heart,

          is a worried heart, heart disease (…) Know, 'clare the woman you be lovin', man, is so doggone hard to

please (…)Mmm, I rather be outdoors, walkin' up,           walkin' up, and down the road (…)

I said, look a here, darlin', honey, don't you try to cry no more, Well, when I leave this time, I'm gonna hang crepe on your door

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r62FNK3JCqs

Son House "Death Letter Blues"

Son House "Death Letter Blues" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdgrQoZHnNY

Cassandra Wilson "Death letter" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFvnT0X9eFQ

I got a letter this morning, how do you reckon it read?"Oh, hurry, hurry, gal, you love is dead"I got a letter this morning, how do you reckon it read?"Oh, hurry, hurry, gal, you love is dead"

Son House "Death Letter Blues"

I grabbed my suitcase, I took off, up the roadI got there, she was laying on the cooling boardI grabbed my suitcase, I took on up the roadI got there, she was laying on the cooling board

Well, I walked up close, I looked down in her faceGood old gal, you got to lay here till Judgment DayI walked up close, and I looked down in her faceYes, been a good old gal, got to lay here till Judgment Day

(…) Oh, some people tell me the worried blues ain't bad

It's the worst old feelin' that I ever hadSome people tell me the worried blues ain't badBuddy, the worst old feelin', Lord, I ever had

Hmmm, I fold my arms, and I walked away"That's all right, mama, your trouble will come someday"

SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS - I Put A Spell On YouRecorded also by Nina Simone, Nick Cave, Natasha Atlas and many more …

SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=mR81PGlBeqE&feature=related

'I Put A Spell On You'. Nina Simone (1968)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORSzfw8FE-o&feature=related

I put a spell on youcause you're mine

You better stop the things you doI ain’t lyin’No I ain’t lyin’

You know I cant stand itYou’re runnin’ aroundYou know better daddyI cant stand it cause you put me down

I put a spell on youBecause you’re mineYou’re mine

I love yaI love youI love youI love you anyhowAnd I don’t careIf you don't want meI'm yours right nowYou hear meI put a spell on youBecause you're mine

I ain't superstitious – Willie Dixon 1962 recorded also by The Rolling Stones (1978)

Well, I ain't superstitious, black cat just cross my trailWell, I ain't superstitious, oh the black cat just cross my trailDon't sweep me with no broom, I might get put in jail

When my right hand itches, I gets money for sureWhen my right hand itches, I gets money for sureBut, when my left eye jumps, somebody's got to go

(…) Well, the dogs are howlin, all over

the neighborhoodWhoa, the dogs are howlin, all over the neighborhoodThat is true sign of death, baby, that ain't no good

Willie Dixon(William James Dixon)July 1, 1915 - Jan. 29, 1992

Skip James - Devil Got My Woman 1966

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB2POWSnStU

I'd rather be the devil, to be that woman manI'd rather be the devil, to be that woman manAw, nothin' but the devil, changed my baby's mindWas nothin' but the devil, changed my baby's mind

I laid down last night, laid down last nightI laid down last night, tried to take my restMy mind got to ramblin', like a wild geeseFrom the west, from the west

The woman I love, woman that I lovedWoman I loved, took her from my best friendBut he got lucky, stoled her back againAnd he got lucky, stoled her back again

Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil 1968 Beggars Banquet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpNoniDH6IY

Please allow me to introduce myselfI’m a man of wealth and tasteI’ve been around for a long, long yearStole many a mans soul and faith

And I was ‘round when Jesus ChristHad his moment of doubt and pain

Made damn sure that PilateWashed his hands and sealed his fate

Pleased to meet youHope you guess my nameBut what's puzzling youIs the nature of my gameI stuck around St. PetersburgWhen I saw it was a time for a change

Killed the czar and his ministersAnastasia screamed in vain

I rode a tankHeld a generals rankWhen the blitzkrieg ragedAnd the bodies stank

Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil

Hope you guess my name, oh yeahAh, what's puzzling youIs the nature of my game, oh yeahI watched with glee

While your kings and queensFought for ten decadesFor the gods they madeI shouted out,Who killed the Kennedys?

When after allIt was you and meLet me please introduce myselfI'm a man of wealth and taste

And I laid traps for troubadoursWho get killed before they reached Bombay(…)

Just as every cop is a criminalAnd all the sinners saintsAs heads is tails

Just call me Lucifercause I'm in need of some restraintSo if you meet meHave some courtesy

Have some sympathy, and some tasteUse all your well-learned politesse

Or Ill lay your soul to waste, um yeah

Sympathy, The Master and Margarita

Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste

These opening lines reflect Jagger's direct inspiration by The Master and Margarita, with the book opening with the similar

"'Please excuse me,' he said, speaking correctly, but with a foreign accent, 'for presuming to speak to you without an introduction'"

Richards suggested changing the tempo and using additional percussion

Bruce Sprinsteen – YoungtownLP: The Gost of Tom Joad 1995

Here in north east OhioBack in eighteen-o-threeJames and Danny HeatonFound the ore that was linin' yellow creek

They built a blast furnaceHere along the shoreAnd they made the cannon ballsThat helped the union win the war

Here in YoungstownHere in YoungstownMy sweet Jenny, I'm sinkin' downHere darlin' in Youngstown

Kept 'em hotter than hellI come home from 'Nam worked my way to scarferA job that'd suit the devil as well

Taconite, coke and limestoneFed my children and made my payThen smokestacks reachin' like the arms of godInto a beautiful sky of soot and clay

Well my daddy come on the 0hio worksWhen he come home from world war twoNow the yards just scrap and rubbleHe said, "hem big boys did what Hitler couldn't do"These mills they built the tanks and bombs

Bruce Sprinsteen – YoungtownLP: The Gost of Tom Joad 1995

That won this country's warsWe sent our sons to Korea and VietnamNow we're wondering what they were dyin' for

From the Monongaleh valleyTo the Mesabi iron rangeTo the coal mines of AppalacchiaThe story's always the sameSeven-hundred tons of metal a dayNow sir you tell me the world's changedOnce I made you rich enoughRich enough to forget my name

When I die I don't want no part of heavenI would not do heavens work wellI pray the devil comes and takes meTo stand in the fiery furnaces of hell

The lyrics ego want to be punished as Robert Johnson in Me and the Devil blues

Bruce Springsteen - Devils and Dust 2005

I got my finger on the triggerBut I don't know who to trustWhen I look into your eyesThere's just devils and dustWe're a long, long way from home, BobbieHome's a long, long way from usI feel a dirty wind blowingDevils and dust

I got God on my sideAnd I'm just trying to surviveWhat if what you do to surviveKills the things you loveFear's a powerful thing, babyIt can turn your heart black you can trustIt'll take your God filled soulAnd fill it with devils and dust

Well I dreamed of you last nightIn a field of blood and stoneThe blood began to dryThe smell began to riseWell I dreamed of you last night, BobbieIn a field of mud and boneYour blood began to dryAnd the smell began to rise(…)Now every woman and every manThey wanna take a righteous standFind the love that God willsAnd the faith that He commandsI've got my finger on the triggerAnd tonight faith just ain't enoughWhen I look inside my heartThere's just devils and dust

Iron Maiden The number of the beast, 1982

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSPirTVKm9U&feature=related

Woe to You Oh Earth and Seafor the Devil sends the beast with wrathbecause he knows the time is shortLet him who hath understandingreckon the number of the beastfor it is a human numberits number is six hundred and sixty six

I lived alone my mind was blankI needed time to think to get the memories from my mind

What did I see? Could I believe? That what I sawthat night was real and not just fantasy

Just what I saw in my old dreams were theyreflections of my warped mind staring back at me?

The number of the beast, 1982

'Cause in my dreams it's always there the evil face that twists my mind

and brings me to despair - Yeah!

Night was black was no use holding back'Cause I just had to see was someone watching me

In the mist dark figures move and twistwas all this for real or just some kind of hell

6-6-6 the Number of the BeastHell and fire was spawned to be released

Torches blazed and sacred chants were praised

as they start to cry hands held to the sky In the night the fires burning bright the ritual has begun Satan's work is done

The number of the beast, 1982

666 the Number of the Beast Sacrifice is going on tonight

This can't go on I must inform the law Can this still be real or some crazy dream but I feel drawn towards the evil chanting hordes they seem to mesmerize me...can't avoid their eyes

666 the Number of the Beast 666 the one for you and me

I'm coming back I will return And I'll possess your body and I'll make you burn

I have the fire I have the force I have the power to make my evil take its course

The number of the beast isn’t satanistic

The texts tells about an inner struggle against an evil power

The theme is quite similar to the Delta blues’ ones

Metallica: Loverman (Nick Cave)LP: Garage Inc

There's a devil waiting outside your door(How much longer)There's a devil waiting outside your doorIt is bucking and braying and pawing at the floorAnd he's howling with pain andcrawling up the walls

There's a devil waiting outside your doorHe's weak with evil and broken by the worldHe's shouting your name and he's asking for moreThere's a devil waiting outside your door

Forever, Amen Till end of time Take off thatdress I'm coming down I'm your lovermanCause I am what I am what I am what I am

L is for LOVE, babyO is for ONLY you that I doV is for loving VIRTUALLY all that you areE is for loving almost EVERYTHING that you doR is for RAPE meM is for MURDER meA is for ANSWERING all of my prayersN is for KNOWING your loverman's going to be the answer to all of yours

Nick Cave: Loverman 1994

I'll be your loverman! I got a masterplan

To take off your dress And be your man

Seize the throne Seize the mantleSeize the crown

Cause I am what I amWhat I am what I am I'm your loverman!

There's a devil lying by your sideYou might think he's asleepbut look at his eyesHe wants you, baby, to be his brideThere's a devil lying by your sideLoverman! Loverman!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1WXVG7h0bM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Tl18T38P4&feature=related

Metallica: Loverman (Nick Cave)LP: Garage Inc

Loverman! Till the bitter endWhile empires burn down

Forever and everand ever and ever

Amen I'm your lovermanSo help me, baby So help meCause I am what I am what I am what I amI'll be your loverman!

There's a devil crawling along your floorThere's a devil crawling along your floorWith a trembling heart, he'scoming through your doorWith his straining sex in his jumping paw

There's a devil crawling along your floorAnd he's old and he's stupid andhe's hungry and he's soreAnd he's lame and he's blindand he's dirty and he's poorGive him more

(…)

I'll say it againL is for LOVE, babyO is for O yes I doV is for VIRTUE, so I ain't gonna hurt youE is for EVEN if you want me toR is for RENDER unto me, babyM is for that which is MINEA is for ANY old how, darlingN is for ANY old time

Skip James: He is a mighy good leader

Skip James: He is a mighy good leader

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnapiTta51k&feature=related

John Lee Hooker & Santana - The Healer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_8kkuekS5A&feature=related