Paradise Lost, The Devil Went Down to Georgia, re-litigating pop culture’s most famous fiddle duel.
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666 for The Devil
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Now it may not be wise to glean religious insight from youtube comments, but… Below the video of The Devil Went to Georgia by the Charlie Daniels Band, I ran across a reply that I found particularly interesting: a sort of fan theory. It claimed that in this duel between Johnny and the Devil, despite his conciliatory actions at the end, the Devil did actually win. Many people seem to think his solo is stronger or more interesting, but that is beside the point in this fan theory… because simply in succeeding to lure Johnny into a fiddle duel, he deceived the young fiddler into a sin: pride, a sin the devil knew well. (not to mention cursing)
Now this youtube theory sparked some debate. If it matters, the author of the song, Charlie Daniels does not buy it. He has publicly claimed that Johnny’s solo in his opinion is better because it’s less noisy. “You can’t hum the devil’s solo”, he said. Secondly, he released a sequel, in which the devil returns to Georgia to try again, which of course would not happen if he already succeeded in luring Johnny into the trap of pride.
So in the Charlie Daniels cannon, this fan theory is dubious. But the devil is a master of deceit — could not it be possible that Charlie Daniels himself was fooled into singing the tale of a successful satanic escapade: earning a living on its royalties all the while, believing the moral of the story to be the opposite?
The argument I found most fascinating against this fan theory, was that, sure, the devil is a deceitful figure who is trying to collect and damn souls, but in stories of this ilk, especially in the deep south, the devil is good for his word. If he strikes a deal, for some inexplicable reason he must keep up his side. He is deceitful, sure, but defeated by a sharp mind. It’s an odd positioning. Fully evil, except bound to his own honesty.
The Devil is a fascinating figure, and I think for that reason he shows up a lot. In poems and literature, in film and of course, in music. Long after Milton’s devil in Paradise lost convinces Eve to eat the forbidden apple, a democratized version of this character still roams the earth, corrupting souls, often arising in moments of hypnosis, by saying the right thing at the right time, through the stomping feet in a barn, a driving downbeat in a juke joint, through the hellish crackle of an electrified guitar… In these stories, Satan almost always enters through the ear.
So, with that in mind, we are going to litigate pop culture’s most famous fiddle duel. Listen to the episode and vote. Thanks for listening, and choose wisely…
tags, topics and mentions: The Devil Went Down to Georgia, The Devil and the fiddle, garden of eden, apple of knowledge, fiddle duel, american idol, violin contest, the devil vs johnny, paradise lost, john milton, charlie daniels band, violin, fiddle, the devil, devil music, bluegrass and the devil