The Devil Went Down to Georgia
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| "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Charlie Daniels | ||
| from the album Million Mile Reflections | ||
| Released | 1979 | |
| Genre | Country | |
| Length | 3:37 | |
"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is a country song written and performed by the Charlie Daniels Band and released on their 1979 album Million Mile Reflections. The song is written in the key of D minor. Vassar Clements originally wrote the melody an octave lower, in a tune called "Lonesome Fiddle Blues". Charlie Daniels Band moved it up an octave and put words to it. The song's verses are closer to being spoken rather than sung. Satan's and Johnny's performances are played as instrumental bridges during the song.
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[edit] Plot
The song is a narrative about the devil, who comes to Georgia in desperation and "willin' to make a deal." He spies a young fiddle player named Johnny, who calls himself "the best there's ever been", and challenges him to a fiddle-playing contest. The terms are that if Johnny should win the contest, he will get a fiddle made of gold, but should he lose, he will forfeit his soul. Confident in his talent with the fiddle, Johnny accepts the challenge. The devil performs with the backing of a demon band, but is squarely beaten by the more talented Johnny. In the end, Johnny gets his golden fiddle, and with cocky bravado, even dares the Devil to return for a rematch.
The narrative is a derivative of the traditional "Pact with the Devil" motif, perhaps best known through the story of Faust. While Faust sees through the folly of Mephistopheles' contract, however, Johnny squarely defeats his foe, introducing a uniquely American twist on the traditional morality lesson.
[edit] Covers and other versions
The version that appeared on Million Mile Reflections includes the line I done told you once, you son of a bitch, I'm the best that's ever been, but the version played by many radio stations had the words son of a gun instead. The latter version, ostensibly a concession to family friendly interests, eventually became the more widely used version of the song.
A sequel to the song, "The Devil Comes Back to Georgia," was recorded by Daniels and fiddle player Mark O'Connor in 1993, featuring guest performances by Travis Tritt, Marty Stuart and Johnny Cash. In the sequel, Johnny has grown into a man, who is married and has a child. Hoping to take advantage of Johnny's sinful pride, the Devil challenges him to a rematch. The ending does not outright state the victor.
The song has been covered many times throughout the years, including versions by Sublime, Jerry Reed, Blues Traveler, Primus and Pomeroy. Toy Dolls did their version of "The Devil Went Down to Scunthorpe" in 1997, with the fiddles exchanged for guitars, and Those Darn Accordions released a cover in which Johnny was replaced with a girl named "Big Lou" and the fiddles replaced with accordions. The Levellers closed their breakthrough 1992 Glastonbury set with a punk rock cover of the song with Johnny's violin section played intact but the Devil's performance replaced with the riff from Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.
In the season four episode of The Muppet Show guest starring Alan Arkin, the Muppets performed their own rendition of the song with a Muppet Devil.
The Urbz has a minigame called Soul Music, and the dialogue that happens the first time you play it references the song: Red Man: Hey there pipsqueek! You think you can beat the Red man? Character: Rosin up your bow, Red man! ~after defeating him in a fiddle contest~ Red Man: Dang, I have to admit, you only won from that gold fiddle. Character: Come on back whenever you want, Red man, but I tell you what you son of a gun, I'm the best there's ever been!~
[edit] Adaptations
- On the Alabama 3 album Power in the Blood, there is a song called "The Devil Came Down to Ibiza", a dark song about the dangers of drugtaking in dance culture.
- The Clamdiggers released a song titled "The Devil Went Down to Newport", which relates the story of a surfing contest with the Devil. This song was covered in 1996 by Mono Puff.
- Filk singer and fiddler Heather Alexander does a song called "Faerie Queen" (music by Heather Alexander, lyrics by Philip R. Obermarck) which she describes as her response as a Celtic fiddle player to the many requests she gets to play "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". In this variation, a fiddler girl plays off against the Faerie Queen to win back her husband-to-be from the Faerie Queen's spell.
- American Comedy-Rock band Tenacious D's song "Tribute", which is a cross between "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and "Stairway to Heaven", chronicles a late-night encounter with a demon (played in the music video by Dave Grohl). He appears and tells them to "play the best song in the world/or I'll eat your souls". The demon is "done" when he hears them play "the first thing that came to [their] heads" and it is indeed the greatest song ever played. He then asks them if they "be angels".
- Also in Tenacious D's film/album The Pick of Destiny. The Devil is resurrected and Tenacious D becomes the last defense of the world when Jack challenges the Devil to a Rock-off which the Devil cannot refuse. In this version, If Tenacious D wins the battle, the Devil will have to 'take his sorry ass back to hell' and also he will have to pay their rent. On the other hand, if the Devil wins he will take Kage back to hell to become his little bitch. This is more similar to Tribute in the sense that you actually hear the two songs that the two participants play. The Devil preforms all the instruments in his part and preforms a metal masterpiece. After some inspirational words from JB, Kage begins to play and Jack starts to sing. Eventually they defeat the Devil in the Rock off.
- The Toy Dolls, a British punk band, made a version of this song called "The devil went down to Scunthorpe" in their 1997 album One More Megabyte. In this variation, the violins are replaced by electric guitars.
- An animated film version of the song, using stop-motion animation with puppets, was made by Mike Johnson in 1996. [1]
- The Israeli band Tslam recorded in 1982 a song inspired by "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", named "Satan Went Down to Bnei Brak" (Album: Tslam 2).
- In the Class of 3000 episode The Devil and Li'l D, Li'l D sells his soul to the devil, who takes the form of a large record producer named Big D. When Li'l D decides he wants his soul back from the devil, his lawyer suggests a fiddle contest. However, unlike in the original version of the story, Li'l D loses to the devil.
- The original Charlie Daniels Band version is used in the film Coyote Ugly and is also the signature song used at the chain of Coyote Ugly bars across the USA.
[edit] Parodies
In 2005 a punk band by the name of "A Human and His Stds" composed a cover of the song by the name of "The Devil Went Down to Santa Maria". In the song, the band has to play a punk rock show better than the devil to win a lifetime of beer or lose their souls. In the end, they lose after playing a 6 day, 6 hour, and 6 minute long show, but have no souls to give the devil.
The song was parodied in Fort Wayne, IN radio DJ, Travis Meyer's "The Devil Went to Jamaica" (often miscredited to David Allen Coe or "Weird Al" Yankovic). In this version, The Devil and Johnny engage in a marijuana-smoking contest, with the Devil betting $1 million against Johnny's marijuana.
Another parody of the song, titled "Cledus Went Down to Florida," was recorded by country music parodist Cledus T. Judd.
In the Futurama episode Hell is Other Robots, Leela accepts the Robot Devil's challenge to a fiddle contest with a golden fiddle to win Bender's soul, causing Fry to quip, "Wouldn't a solid gold fiddle weigh hundreds of pounds and sound crummy?" leading the Robot Devil to rationalize that it's "Mostly for show". However, the Robot Devil then goes on to play the fiddle in question exceedingly well.
Another parody, "Devil Went Down to Dundalk," was performed on Baltimore radio station 98 Rock. In it, The devil challenges Johnny to a race, with the prize being a local strip club.
The 2002 ApologetiX album contained "The Devil Went Down to Jordan", which recounts the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.
A parody from 2005 entitled "Sadako Came to the Arcade" was recorded by DJ Particle for her album Shiny Round Thing Inside, and featured The Ring villain Sadako Yamamura in place of The Devil. Sadako's challenge in this parody is a game of Dance Dance Revolution against a man who claims to be the best player of the game. There is no material prize in this parody, the winner simply gets to live. This parody also features drastically different instrumentals than the original. The instrumentals are an amalgam remix of songs appearing in Dance Dance Revolution.
Camper Van Beethoven's third album simply titled "Camper Van Beethoven" contains a song called "We love you" in which they "travel down to Georgia, we were lookin' for some fun; instead we met the Devil with a fiddle and a gun". The Devil joins the band.
In Stephen Lynch's song Beelz, the Devil says "Fuck Charlie Daniels, I don't care if he can fiddle" and then later in the song states "I would never be caught dead in Georgia".
There is also a techno-dance cover of this song performed by the Rednex, the techno-country band which became famous with the single "Cotton Eyed Joe".
Another variation was produced by a punk band called "Drain Bramaged" in which the devil and Johnny have a beer drinking contest with the prize of a golden keg. The devil has a gang of demons helping him but is still defeated by Johnny.
