The Devil Went Down To Georgia

The Devil Went Down to Georgia Was first heard by the public in 1979, performed by the Charlie Daniels band.  It's remained popular for nearly 30 years, and there's no sign that people will ever grow tired of singing it.

The Devil Went Down To Georgia

An older song called Lonesome Fiddle Blues provides the melody.  Charlie added the lyrics.  The Devil Went Down to Georgia became the most popular hit the band ever had.  The RIAA says that amongst songs with a state name in the title, this is the top seller of all time. 

It goes a little like this.  It's been a slow year so the devil travels to Georgia in search of souls.  He's willing to make deals.  When he meets a young fiddler he offers him a deal.  There will be a fiddle contest.  The devil puts up a golden fiddle.  It's worth a lot of money.  If the devil wins he gets Johnny's soul.

The Devil Went Down To Georgia

The devil goes first, and he's a hard act to follow.  He has a demonic backup band.  It seems as if Johnny is doomed.  Johnny, however, outplays the Devil.  Both Johnny and the Devil agree.  The devil hands over the Golden fiddle.  Johnny teases is the devil, telling him he's open for a rematch at any time.  Johnnie swears in the original version.

Remakes and parodies soon followed.  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.  Primus  posted a very good video of The Devil Went Down to Georgia on YouTube.  The story is well animated.  There was even a sequel by Charlie Daniels.  It was called “The Devil Comes Back to Georgia”.

The Devil Went Down 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.