Primus The Devil Went Down To Georgia

The Devil Went Down to Georgia – A Quick Glance

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The Devil Went Down to Georgia is a popular song released in 1979 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 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. The RIAA says that amongst songs with a state name in the title, this is the top seller of all time.

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 starts. Demons come from hell to help him put on a rock ‘n roll extravaganza. Johnny may be in trouble. Johnny’s work with a simple fiddle is even better. The devil can’t argue. The devil gives him the golden fiddle. Johnny teases is the devil, telling him he’s open for a rematch at any time. In the original version of the song, son of a gun was replaced by a more colorful phrase.

Remakes and parodies soon followed. “El Diablo bajo a Georgia” is a Spanish version. The cartoon Futurama features a contest between the main characters and the robot Devil. 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. Daniels named it “The Devil Comes Back to Georgia”.

The Devil Went Down to Georgia was sung by Charlie Daniel’s band. And if you heard ‘em sing it when it was done you’d give them boys a hand.