Gonzo Devil

I wanna come back to the actual song Sympathy for the Devil which is the focus and starting point for this blog.

Hunter S. Thompson's semi-autobiographical novel from 1971 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, describes how Thompson's alter-ego Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo drives to Las Vegas, first to cover a dessert race - The Mint 500 - and later to cover a national convention on the dangers of drug abuse. The two characters load up the trunk of the huge car they've rented with most of the psychoactive drugs known to man. The story follows the protagonists drug-induced haze through Las Vegas, brutally depicting drug culture and America after the initial euforism of the flower power revolution of '68.


On the road to Las Vegas in a great red convertible, the couple are constantly listening to Sympathy for the Devil on a transistor radio - over and over again, for, as Raoul Duke puts it:
"maintain our rhythm on the road" and as a "kind of demented counterpoint to the radio."

In the film adaptation from 1998, director Terry Gilliam also wanted to use the song, but was unable to secure the rights, so instead he has Johnny Depp (Playing Raoul Duke) whisper the line "No sympathy for the Devil".