MovieChat Forums > I, Desire (1982) Discussion > Reference to 'Sympathy for the Devil'

Reference to 'Sympathy for the Devil'


In the movie, "I, Desire" Naughton and Harewood made reference to "Sympathy for the Devil":
Harewood: "...Just as every cop is a criminal And all the sinners saints"
Naughton: "As heads is tails Just call me lucifer ’cause I’m in need of some restraint"
The first thing that comes to mind is, of course, The Rolling Stones. Then, one of the characters makes reference to a poet who inspired the Rolling Stones song. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the poet. I've attempted looking it up in the bookstore to no avail.
According to the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia:
It is often claimed that the lyrics were inspired by The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. At the beginning of Bulgakov's novel, an elegant stranger, later revealed to be Satan, says:

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

"Sympathy for the Devil" begins:

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

Was this correctly referenced in the movie, or did they attribute "Just as every cop is a criminal And all the sinners saints ..." to another author/poet other than Bulgakov?
I frankly can't remember...I turned the film off shortly after, it was a poor film in my opinion and a waste of time.
Being both a Stones fan and a literary fiend, I'd like to know the author/poet they made reference to after the quote, as I would like to read more of his work.

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It was Oliver Wendell Holmes.

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