The Devil Went Down to Georgia Was first heard by the public in 1979, performed by the Charlie Daniels band.  30 years later it’s still popular.

The song’s roots are in a melody called “Lonesome Fiddle Blues.” Charlie took the song, raised it an octave, and set lyrics to it. The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, making The Devil Went Down to Georgia the band’s most popular hit. It’s the top all-time seller for songs with the state in the name.

The plot is something like this. The devil is having a slow time finding souls, so he travels to Georgia in desperation. He’s willing to make deals. He happens upon a young fiddler named Johnny, to whom he offers one of these deals. The Devil challenges Johnny to a fiddle contest. If Johnny wins he receives the golden fiddle upon which the devil plays. The assumption is that the fiddle is worth a fortune. If the devil wins, however, Johnny loses his soul.

The devil goes first, and he’s a hard act to follow. He performs with a host of demons in a big production that sounds like something out of a rock opera. It seems Johnny, a simple boy with a fiddle, is doomed. But Johnny’s simple and pure fiddle work is even better. When he’s finished playing, there’s no argument. The devil gives him the golden fiddle. Johnny goads the devil, telling him “I told you once you son of a gun I’m the best there’s ever been,” while challenging him to a rematch at any time. In the original version of the song, son of a gun was replaced by a more colorful phrase.

There have been countless remakes and parodies of the song. There’s a Spanish version called “El Diablo bajo a Georgia”. In the cartoon “Futurama” the heroes challenge the robot devil to a similar fiddle contest to save their robot friend. But after the robot devil plays they beat him in the head with the golden fiddle so they can escape. There’s a very clever music video of the song on Youtube titled “Primus – The Devil Went Down to Georgia”.  It includes a very clever animated version of the story. Even Charlie Daniels got back in on the fun by recording a sequel with Johnny Cash. It was called “The Devil Comes Back to Georgia”.

The Devil Went Down to Georgia  is a song that people sing.  Give it a try, you’ll know why the title has a ring.

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Filed under: Acoustic Guitar • Bluegrass Lyrics • Bluegrass Music • Bluegrass Musicians • Bluegrass Tablature • Dobro • Fiddle • Mandolin

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