"THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA" IS THEOLOGICALLY
UNSOUND
Thurs. Sept. 7th, 2023
The Devil Went Down to
Georgia
This morning as I was in my car, the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" came on the radio, and I thought again about how theologically unsound that song is. The song was recorded by the Charlie Daniels Band and released in 1979, and began its career as a radio song at that time.
Wikipedia credits the songwriting to Charlie Daniels and five others, the members of his band at the time. But Wikipedia adds that the melody is from an earlier song by Vassar Clements called "Lonesome Fiddle Blues." So if it were classical music, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" would be described as a theme and variations based on "Lonesome Fiddle Blues," with a new text.
But it's the words to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" that are theologically unsound. The song describes how a cocky young man from Georgia beat the Devil at a fiddle-playing contest. The Devil challenges Johnny (the cocky young man) to a fiddle-playing contest: "I'll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul 'cause I think I'm better than you." After both have had their turn playing their fiddles, "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."
Problems with the Text
1. The Devil will never admit he's been beaten, to anyone other than God. The Devil is a cheater, but he is also a maker of false claims, and he sticks to his false claims come hell or high water. He will insist loudly until long after you are dead that if people clapped louder for your fiddle-playing, the fiddle-playing contest was stolen.
2. The Devil is musically portrayed in the song as a lousy fiddler. Also theologically unsound! Theology and history teach us that the Devil is a Wagnerian musician who can make Valkyries ride, and besides, he doesn't have to "have" talent -- he can suck the talent out of human musicians -- for however long he needs to suck it out -- and make our talent sound like it came from him.
3. The Devil can make your violin strings snap any time during your demon-stration of how good a fiddle player you are.
Georgia Exceptionalism
Your neck of the woods can no more produce a fiddle-player who can out-fiddle the devil than anybody else's neck of the woods.
The Devil for Atheists (a Plot Summary)
In essence, the Devil is the spirit or clan mascot (totem) of making bad choices -- and not just bad choices, but disastrous choices -- choices that make you lose both your tangible possessions and your good name. Choices that limit your options for the rest of your life.
Whether the spirit of making bad choices is an independent power in the world -- an opponent of God, as Christians usually see it -- is simply not relevant. Temptation is a distinctive and important feature of our world, regardless of whether a spirit stands behind it.
"Give the devil his due" means "Do not underestimate temptation as a force for evil in the world we live in."
On Cockiness
Isaiah 30:15 says in part "in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." Bragging to someone more powerful than you are that you can play fiddle better than they can ("I'm the best there's ever been" says Johnny to the Devil) will lead to disaster.
In conclusion, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is not just a tall tale -- it is not a story about men wearing umbrellas on their feet because a young and inexperienced cloud got wedged in a cave underground, and is raining upwards out of frustration. It is a song which dishes out lousy advice.
Frank Newton
