# What’s puzzling you is the nature of my game **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2024, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-puzzling-you-is-the-nature-of-my-game/1006229 "2024-08-26T05:08:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-puzzling-you-is-the-nature-of-my-game/1006229/21 "2024-08-26T20:02:25Z")
Even if it wasn’t intended as such… It’s fascinating! it never occurred to me that the singer is God himself. It fits! That’s why we need sympathy for the devil. He does the time but never did the crime, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-puzzling-you-is-the-nature-of-my-game/1006229/22 "2024-08-26T20:42:17Z")
The answer to “who?” is “you”. It was humanity that did all that stuff; not the devil. The narrator is just a scapegoat contrivance of the deluded and complicit listener. You should have sympathy for the devil because the devil is you. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-puzzling-you-is-the-nature-of-my-game/1006229/23 "2024-08-26T21:45:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I think the real question is why troubadours were heading towards Bombay. Hah! I posted exactly the same question eons ago. Summary: it alluded to the hippie trail through Asia heading to India where seemingly some hippies lost their lives. > [@Q about a line in "Sympathy For The Devil"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-a-line-in-sympathy-for-the-devil/764060): > > I think I have all the historical allusions in the song down, but I always wondered about the line: “And I lay traps for troubadours, who get killed before they reach Bombay” What the heck does it mean? And to get on topic: I’ve never thought about the ambiguity in that line, I always assumedthat the listener is puzzled by the singer’s game, but the notion is great. I also find the interpretation that it’s told from God’s perspective fascinating. Shows what a great song it is, besides “Gimme Shelter” the best Stones lyrics IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-puzzling-you-is-the-nature-of-my-game/1006229/24 "2024-08-27T13:04:43Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Plus, he says that just after bringing up several contradictions: > > > Just as every cop is a criminal > > And all the sinners saints > > As heads is tails > > Just call me Lucifer > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > It’s fascinating! it never occurred to me that the singer is God himself. It fits! > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The answer to “who?” is “you”. It was humanity that did all that stuff; not the devil. From a biblical perspective, God and Satan are working together. Take [The Book of Job](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job%201&version=KJV)– God says ‘check out my servant Job-- so loyal and Godfearing!’. Satan says 'sure, when you’ve given him so much. If things really went south he’d curse your name". So God says “Ok, Satan, do your worst! Take away his riches, F up his life, and we’ll see”. The fate of Job essentially becomes a bar bet between God and Satan. > _And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand._ From a Taoist, Yin / Yang perspective, Good cannot be perceived as Good without the existence and knowledge of Evil. So God / Satan are essentially two sides of the same coin: > _As heads is tails just call me Lucifer._ From a metaphorical point of view, humans have equal capacity for good or evil. So we are essentially our own God and our own Devil, and each of those sides of us is constantly fighting for dominance. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-puzzling-you-is-the-nature-of-my-game/1006229/25 "2024-08-27T13:24:20Z")
> [@solost](#): > > and each of those sides of us is constantly fighting for dominance. _So these little guys on my shoulders are right?_ ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-puzzling-you-is-the-nature-of-my-game/1006229/26 "2024-08-27T13:26:30Z")
Well, it’s up to you to decide which one of them is right. But if they start agreeing with each other, watch out. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-puzzling-you-is-the-nature-of-my-game/1006229/27 "2024-08-27T16:14:41Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > So these little guys on my shoulders are right? The Slaad and the Modron? ---
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-puzzling-you-is-the-nature-of-my-game/1006229/28 "2024-08-27T16:45:47Z")
Have you considered the notion that the speaker is Lee Harvey Oswald, and the person being addressed is Sirhan Sirhan? (Maybe vice-versa.) “Who killed the Kennedys? After all, it was you and me.” Strangely, when looking up to see if I’d gotten the lyrics right, I found out the Stones started recording this song the day before Robert Kennedy was shot, and amended the lyrics to include his assassination. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-puzzling-you-is-the-nature-of-my-game/1006229/29 "2024-08-28T02:31:27Z")
Same way he could be present for the Hundred Years War and the life of Jesus and WWII and the killing of the Kennedys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-puzzling-you-is-the-nature-of-my-game/1006229.md?page=1)