On the one hand, Charlie Daniels himself only died in 2020. On the other hand, The Devil Went Down to Georgia was released as a single in 1979 — which is rather before my time.
We’ve been over this. I’m 25.
And as far as you’re concerned, I always will be.
Which is probably why my first experience with The Devil Went Down to Georgia was actually in Guitar Hero III, where, fittingly, it was basically the game’s final boss theme, where it turns out your band’s manager was actually a demon and then you had to guitar-duel him for your soul.
Thing is, while the Guitar Hero version is a perfectly serviceable cover, I actually prefer Charlie Daniels’ Country-Western version.
Maybe I’m just a sucker for a good fiddle solo…
All in all, the premise of The Devil Went Down to Georgia is pretty self-evident. The Devil, um, goes down to Georgia and was immediately struck by by the rugged natural beauty of the Caucasus.
Wait. Wrong Georgia.
Queen Tamar of Georgia (c. 1160-1213)
as depicted in a fresco at Vardzia Monastery.
Image via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
Why don’t I just let Mr. Daniels explain it?
The Devil went down to Georgia
He was lookin’ for a soul to steal
He was in a bind ’cause he was way behind
And he was willing to make a deal
When he came across this young man
Sawin’ on a fiddle and playin’ it hot
And the Devil jumped up on a hickory stump
And said:
“Boy, let me tell you what,
I guess you didn’t know it, but I am a fiddle player too
And if you’d care to take a dare, I’ll make a bet with you
Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the Devil his due
I’ll bet a fiddle o’ gold against your soul ’cause I think I’m better than you.”Lyrics via Genius.
What ensues is your standard Chess Game with Death-esque contest of wits/skills with a supernatural enemy.
And it, uh, goes poorly for the Devil…
The Devil bowed his head because he knew that he’d been beat
And he laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny’s feet
Johnny said, “Devil, just come on back if you ever wanna try again
I done told you once, you son of a [gun], I’m the best there’s ever been”Lyrics via Genius.
It’s a surprisingly happy ending for a Deal with the Devil story, likely influenced by Charlie Daniels’ own outspoken Christian beliefs. In fact, Daniels only agreed to do a sequel — known as The Devil Comes Back to Georgia — on the condition that Johnny would win again.
And it’s not exactly surprising that a song about a dude literally fiddling like his soul depends on it has some awesome fiddle work.
Not being a musician, I can’t really say that the song’s been an influence on me in that way, but the story of the song certainly says. Something about the “Fiddle Contest with Supernatural Force” premise is really amusing to me. It’s been a go-to for when I’ve taken writing classes. In high school, we had an assigned where we had to rewrite a Fairy Tale.
I chose Godfather Death and then changed the ending to the guy challenging Death to a fiddle contest, then booking it to Tahiti while Death was distracted by his own epic fiddle solo, then consoled himself after being outwitted by launching into another epic fiddle solo.
He really likes Experimental, Free Form Folk-Rock, okay?
And speaking of epic fiddle solos:
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