The lyrics focus on atrocities in the history of mankind from the Devil's point of view.

The trial and death of Jesus Christ ("Made damn sure that Pilate washed his hands and sealed his fate"),

European wars of religion ("I watched with glee while your kings and queens fought for ten decades for the gods they made"),

The violence of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the 1918 shooting of the Romanov family
("I stuck around St. Petersburg when I saw it was a time for a change/Killed the Tsar and his ministers/Anastasia screamed in vain"),

and

World War II ("I rode a tank, held a general's rank when the blitzkrieg raged, and the bodies stank").

After Robert F. Kennedy's death on 6 June 1968, the line was changed to "I shouted out 'Who killed the Kennedys?'"

Kennedy’s executive order 11110

Sympathy For The Devil