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.
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.
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.
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.
From a biblical perspective, God and Satan are working together. Take The Book of Job– 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.
So these little guys on my shoulders are right?
Well, it’s up to you to decide which one of them is right.
But if they start agreeing with each other, watch out.
The Slaad and the Modron?
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.
Same way he could be present for the Hundred Years War and the life of Jesus and WWII and the killing of the Kennedys.