Sympathy for the Devil

I've seen a few postings that suggest the song is from God's POV.

Pardon my frankness, but that's rubbish.

It's more than a bit of a stretch to interpret the point-of-view as being God's. There's just nothing to suggest that, and plenty that doesn't:

And I was 'round when Jesus Christ Had his moment of doubt and pain Made damn sure that Pilate Washed his hands and sealed his fate

It wasn't God who tempted Christ. Also, arguing that it's God speaking is arguing that God was responsible for the crucifixion, which is nonsense.

The song is pretty straightforward: It's the devil, bragging megalomaniacally about his participation in events HUMANS caused. The only time direct intervention is even implied is in the line:

I stuck around St. Petersburg When I saw it was a time for a change Killed the Czar and his ministers Anastasia screamed in vain

And then there's this verse:

I watched with glee as your kings and queens Fought for ten decades for the gods THEY made (emphasis mine)

Clearly a reference to the Hundred Years' War, during which England and France fought for the largest kingdom in Europe, all the while each side justifying its participation in the conflict on religious grounds.

The most interesting line in the song to me (and the only one about then-current events) is this:

I shouted out "Who killed the Kennedys?" When after all, it was you and me

Bobby was killed the night he won the California primary, June 6, 1968. This song was recorded in sessions in London 4-5 and 6-8 June, 1968. So the assassination literally occurred while this song was being laid down.

I thought at the time, and still do, that these lyrics were really about the Stones calling us out for consuming people like any other product marketed to the public, and who better to comment on this than a megastar? (People forget, but 1960 was really the first time the potential President was marketed like a breakfast cereal).

The Cult of Celebrity exploits, destroys and kills people. In that we're all complicit. And who knows this better than Mick Jagger?

I think another shading of meaning for this lyric is: Both Lee Harvey Oswald and Sirhan Sirhan were, in some ways, everymen. There was nothing particularly special about them, at least UNTIL they became killers. Before that. they'd been everymen, they were nobodies who could have been everybody or anybody.