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I like The Devil Went Down to Georgia because Satan straightforwardly loses. It’s not a situation where he’s bested by trickery like The Smith and the Devil or misunderstands his situation like Faust. The American is simply better than he ever could be.
Комментарии: 35
I remember someone saying that it might be the most American song ever written. If someone from any other country wrote that song, it would be a cautionary tale about pride and hubris, but instead he wins because he really is just that good.
The devil had to go down to Georgia, which implies that Georgia is lower than even hell itself
I love that the Americans made two songs based on the myth of Arachne, but instead of being a cautionary tale about hubris and divine vanity, they straight up beat the Devil and brag about it.
The story works because it plays to the Devil's Original Sin: his Pride. The Devil never thought a mortal could beat him, he just went up to this random Georga boy and assumed that he could beat him at fiddlin'. No scouting, no taking the time to gauge Johnny's skill, just let's GO. So of course the Devil loses.
The devil wins because he tricks Johnny into sin. 1. Gambling with his soul 2. The vanity to think he can beat the devil A gold violin is a small price to pay to corrupt a man
It’s not vanity though! He actually could beat the devil.
"I done told ya once, you son of a bitch, I'm the best there's ever been" is a bar and really needs to be on our flag.
It’s actually not that Johnny is better, the devil technically plays his part better. But he simply plays the violin like a fiddle while Johnny plays all the fiddle standards and is a true fiddler. It’s a class thing and a play off “culture is king” really.
Actually Satan wins because Johnny is so prideful that he enters into a contest with the Devil, then brags about it. Johnny even says, "it might be a sin". Because it is.
Johnny is buff as fuck if he can hold a solid gold fiddle.
The Devil cheated. It’s supposed to be a 1:1 “fiddle-off” but then the Devil plays and “a band of demons join in” … how is that fair?
Americans have a tendency to expect big talk to be backed up by big action. Other places don’t have this culture, which is why “hubris” is a common theme in stories like this
i've always loved this song
It is the pinnacle of American culture that we challenge Satan and win. This is why it is one of the greatest American songs of all time. That an everyday man can beat the devil in a fair fight. The hubris of American culture to believe that any fight can be won, any challenge can be beat.
no one talks about the fact that the reason he wanted a gold fiddle was for sexual purposes (sounding)
The entire song goes extremely hard
We Georgia boys are built different
The Devil and Daniel Webster is even better because the farmer gets all the benefits of his deal with the Devil before having second thoughts, retaining politically connected legal counsel, and successfully suing to avoid having to pay his debts. USA! USA! USA!
I also like the use of "the devil went down to Georgia" implying that Hell is in the north
Satan: "damnit, I lost" Archdevil: "damn, who was judging the competition?" Satan: "me." Archdevil: "..." Satan: "look he was a damn good fiddle player!"
The funniest part of tbe song to me is that the devil was behind on some quota. And of all places to be behind hes in the south like he was just being lazy😂
American Protestant Mindset
Another layer: In the music video for the Primus cover, they actually show Johnny throwing away the gold violin he wins from the devil while he happily keeps playing on his own. My favorite representation of a craftsman dedicated to his craft for no other reason than it’s fun
the devil is coping in the comments
I actually heard this song for iirc the first time the other day (obviously knew *of* it) and yeah it's pretty fire
I like it because Jonny calls the Devil a "Son of a bitch."
The devil obviously won. How could you possibly let go of your pride & ego after you “beat” Satan in a fiddle contest?
ngl he shouldn’t have made the devils part of the song the coolest part, because everytime i listen to this song, i just think “yea the devil won”
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing people they could beat him in a fair competition if they were good enough. That's the trap. The devil doesn't play fair.
Had a music professor point out the interesting implication that the part the devil plays is a funk song
the real message of the song is that Satan sucks so bad at playing the violin that he never once tried this trick in Europe or in a major city of the US. he had to go find some rural kid in his weight class and even then still lost. also the fiddle playing in this song sucks.
Johnny is so much better then the devil that even in a competition that the devil is both the judge of and that he cheats in (The devil summons backup performers), the devil accepts defeat
the devil going down to georgia implies the devil is a damn northern carpetbagger
the devil new he was an underdog, he only resorts to this because hes already behind his quota and is desperate, also why he gives such poor odds, probably 15 pounds of gold vs a soul (ie Johnny -150)
Not my idea, but it is the American folk tale. Every culture tells this exact story but the hero always loses and it's a lesson about pride before the fall. In America, Johnny wins because he's better than the Devil. So beautiful.
![The night before his award, Peter Thiel is asked: “So why do we always moralize new technologies [like AI]?” The answer is one of the scariest quotes I’ve ever heard. Thiel says it’s better to be “evil” than “bad… If you’re evil, maybe you’re kind of good, because least you’re getting something done.” He follows up with a comparison to Faust. This is what a Dark Tetrad personality sounds like. There is no conscience here, no care for humanity. Thiel is the closest approximation to biblical evil on the planet. “Yes, I'm gonna get in trouble for what I’m about to say, but I think we moralize way too much. And there's always a question, I like to ask, what is the antonym of good? And the moral antonym is evil. The functional antonym is bad. A Ferrari is an evil car because it doesn't get many miles per gallon. They are a trubby, is a bad car. It works less good than a golf cart. The former East German car. And so if you're evil, you're at least competent. And if you're evil, you're not bad. And therefore maybe you're actually kind of good because you're at least getting something done. And if you contrast the Faust books of moral versus good to, in moral those Faust, those the 16th century Faust story, Faust is a fake scientist. He's sort of like a magician, sort of a fake alchemist and it's bad science. And he goes straight to hell. In Goethe’s Faust, he has a pact with the devil and he sort of gets his knowledge by morally dubious means. But it always works out more for the best. And Goethe’s Faust gets redeemed. And I think it's better to be good than evil, or to be very clear. But perhaps I prefer Goethe’s Faust to Marlowe's Faust. And then the moral question, the moral question are society is, if we have all these good versus evil debates and we're just we're full of badness. It's most the time, those things are not even evil. They're not even good. They're just merely bad. And so if you're in a world where 99% of the businesses, companies, people, political leaders, business leaders are totally incompetent. That's the problem we should actually be talking about.”](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2103655165052219587/amplify_video_thumb/2103655096689348608/img/nq5DHjU8NqSirDNH.jpg)
