# "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" - Who was better: Johnny or the Devil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2018, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941 "2018-11-22T12:20:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/21 "2018-11-23T01:41:55Z")
I can’t believe anybody is backing Johnny. He sounds like every fiddle player ever. The Devil’s stuff is fascinating. Besides, the whole point of the song is that Johnny is playing good old fashioned country stuff that’s better than that [del]liberal[/del] new-fangled rock garbage. How can I accept that? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/22 "2018-11-23T02:56:30Z")
Johnny. Half the devil’s solo is some totally new groove that his backing band plays, and all he does is play some kind of tremolo slide up the strings and some, I admit, somewhat interesting run down the strings, ending up sounding like some kind of fiddle thrash metal, but Johnny plays to the music and serves the song, so Johnny wins. Devil and his band are just showing off some bullshit different-for-the-sake-of-being-different crap that has no place in the song. It’s like they said “fuck this song, let’s just play something else.” Granted, Johnny’s stuff is fairly standard bluegrass fiddle, but at least he’s playing to the genre. I feel like somebody should give Johnny a spirited defense here. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/23 "2018-11-23T03:04:09Z")
Fah. In his tight, concise 45-seconds, the Devil lays out the future of fiddling, showing the direction it must take to survive in the current musical environment. It is the equivalent of some random episode of Ed Sullivan having the following lineup: Pat Boone The Beatles Rosemary Cloony 2 are talented and play to the song of their day. Another is the future. I vote for the future, I vote for the Devil. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/24 "2018-11-23T03:17:26Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Fah. In his tight, concise 45-seconds, the Devil lays out the future of fiddling. The Devil only plays for 20 seconds of it. Ran out of ideas rather quick. “Hey! I got a great solo idea! Let’s go up the neck of the fiddle, and end by going right back down!” Yeah, genius that. OK, not that Johnny’s solo isn’t somewhat cliche itself, but this ain’t no future of fiddling here. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/25 "2018-11-23T07:14:18Z")
I always thought that The Devil’s fiddle playing was much more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/26 "2018-11-23T07:18:29Z")
The devils section is not only far the best part of the song, it is one of the best parts in all of music. The poll results are mystifying. It seems you have been seduced by the Johnny. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/27 "2018-11-23T07:22:43Z")
A worthy parody: [The Devil Went To Jamaica](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL8api3iVYw). ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/28 "2018-11-23T11:13:12Z")
Frankly I found them much of a muchness. Both were talented in a superficial, showy way but neither were remarkable. Paganini would have kicked both of their asses. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/29 "2018-11-23T11:47:28Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > Just like “Rock the Casaba” is a metaphor for slavish devotion to one form of music, likening it to religious fundamentalism. _and the temple band took five, the crowd caught a whiff, of that crazy casaba jive_ Your spellchecker was hungry? It turned a fortress into a melon (cashbah, not casaba). ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/30 "2018-11-23T12:18:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Johnny plays to the music and serves the song, so Johnny wins. Devil and his band are just showing off some bullshit different-for-the-sake-of-being-different crap that has no place in the song. _What_ song? Are we getting meta here? Do Johnny and the devil realize they’re characters in someone else’s song? (Man, I’d be really pissed to find out that’s all I was. Especially if I’m the devil - whoa, I’m not the Lord of the Underworld, I’m just lord of a fake underworld inside a three-minute pop song! Once the song’s over, where do I go? Hope this song gets a lot of airplay!) ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/31 "2018-11-23T14:08:32Z")
To hell with Johnny. A few more points: Johnny claims to be the best there’s ever been. Roy Clark and Earl Scruggs would have eaten his lunch. He was lucky that the devil wasn’t at full capacity (remember he was in quite the bind and below his quota of soul repossession as stated in the first verse). The devil gets style points for the visual of fire blowing from his finger tips while rosining his bow. That goes a long way if we’re looking at the overall gestalt of the devil’s performance and minor imperfections in technique should be overlooked: Cite: Gene Simmons, Entire Career. Johnny’s total lack of sympathy and taste after he won. The devil was already in a compromised state of mind and in all likelihood conceded victory while in a state of duress -again caused by the bind of not meeting end-of-quarter performance objectives. Here’s the kicker though: the devil acknowledges the loss and gives up the golden fiddle with a show of deference. What does Johnny do? Repeats his “best there ever was” boast and then resorts to profane name calling (I won’t repeat the epithet here as children might be reading.) I say again, Johnny’s a crud and in the eyes of an impartial judging consortium, the devil wins hands down. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/32 "2018-11-23T14:14:20Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > _What_ song? Are we getting meta here? Do Johnny and the devil realize they’re characters in someone else’s song? > > (Man, I’d be really pissed to find out that’s all I was. Especially if I’m the devil - whoa, I’m not the Lord of the Underworld, I’m just lord of a fake underworld inside a three-minute pop song! Once the song’s over, where do I go? Hope this song gets a lot of airplay!) Oh, actually good point. Didn’t think of that. Hmmm… I may be swayed to give the point to the devil. Sorry, Johnny. So much for my spirited defense. Taken on their own without the outside context of the song, while a bit brief, the devil’s solo is the one I’d like to hear more of. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/33 "2018-11-23T14:15:22Z")
Nitpick: Profane name-calling would be perfectly accurate and appropriate, in this context. But what Johnny actually engaged in was obscene name-calling. (am I the only one who still recognizes the distinction between profanity, obscenity, swearing, and cursing?) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/34 "2018-11-23T15:30:53Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Well, my son, The Devil won, but not the way you said. > See, Johnny’s loss, it was, of course, the fact he’d took the bet. Hey, that was my thought. The devil bought Johnny’s soul for the price of a gold fiddle which, to the devil, has to be pretty much chump change. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/35 "2018-11-23T16:00:28Z")
Devil wins: Fire blew from his fingertips Johnny loses for his Ad Hominem insults ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/36 "2018-11-23T16:18:38Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > To hell with Johnny. > > A few more points: > > Johnny claims to be the best there’s ever been. Roy Clark and Earl Scruggs would have eaten his lunch. He was lucky that the devil wasn’t at full capacity (remember he was in quite the bind and below his quota of soul repossession as stated in the first verse). > > \ Johnny claimed to be the best that’s ever been _on a fiddle_. Clark and Scruggs were known for guitar and banjo playing. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/37 "2018-11-23T16:47:15Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > That’s not absolutely true, the Devil is showcasing _some_ skill, not the least of which is the ability to get decent sound out of an instrument crafted of metal. The song is not actually explicit that the devil plays his piece on the golden fiddle. It’s possible he was carrying two fiddles, or he just materialized the golden fiddle after he lost. Also, Johnny lied. The devil is not in the House of the Rising Sun, he’s standing right next to Johnny. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/38 "2018-11-23T22:15:11Z")
Like the ending guitar solos of _Freebird_, I’ve always thought that Johnny’s fiddle playing just sounded like the same riff played over and over. The Devil at least did something “different”. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/39 "2018-11-23T22:25:12Z")
I would argue since the Devil played part of his part on an [electric guitar, not the fiddle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnepPZChA5U), that he lost since he wasn’t playing the same instrument he challenged Johnny on. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941/40 "2018-11-23T22:32:38Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > The Devil - no contest. > > Taken as a whole and not just viewing the fiddle part, the devil’s has a groovy, driving bass line and some some solid guitar work. And while it might be argued that using the Band of Demons as his back-up band might be cheating, it’s the devil for chrissake, what did you expect? It was a fiddle plying contest. Why should the devil’s entry be “taken as a whole”? I bet you can barely remember the devil’s fiddle playing and mostly remember the groovy bass and guitar parts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-who-was-better-johnny-or-the-devil/824941.md?page=3)