Devils and angels
A devil and an angel set in the same picture, the familiar figures of good and evil placed side by side in one image, as in The Albatross, Patient Zero and Cruel Summer. Related cases belong with Heaven, Deals with the devil, or Spirits and demons.
Putting a devil beside an angel unsettles moral judgement. The pair can overturn a verdict, as when the woman called a devil turns out to be the rescuer. It can split how someone looks from what they do, a halo worn over harm. Or it can put good and evil in the same scene with neither in charge, the devils setting the risk going while the angels only watch.
Appears in 3 songs
“About the devil on his shoulder under his halo”
The old picture of temptation puts a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. Here both belong to one man: the devil sits on his shoulder, right under his own halo. The halo is what everyone else sees, and the bridge says why: he has charmed her family and friends, and he seems to shine. The speaker, who had him first, knows what sits underneath. Which of the two you see depends on how close you have got.
“The devil that you know Looks now more like an angel”
The angel simile marks the song's transformation, the speaker who was cast as a devil/albatross/temptress is now revealed as angelic, a heavenly rescuer rather than a hellish destroyer. Uncle Jerry identifies 'like an angel' as a simile, noting the shift from metaphor to simile in the final chorus.
“Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes”
Devils and angels gather round a gambling table. The devils roll the dice and set the risk going, and the angels roll their eyes but do not step in. Temptation acts while judgement only watches, and the reckless summer is free to run.