# What did Johnny play to beat the Devil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072 "2006-11-28T14:50:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072/21 "2006-11-28T19:07:46Z")
_“I told you once, you son-of-a-bitch, I’m the best that’s ever been.”_ Johnny may have won the contest, but the Devil got him in the end on a Pride rap. 😃 ---
**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 28, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072/22 "2006-11-28T19:12:21Z")
No, the devils bit is best. But if we imagine that Johnny is playing bits from other songs we don’t even hear, then it makes sense that Johnny wins. ---
**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 28, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072/23 "2006-11-28T19:12:51Z")
[QUOTE=CapnPitt] I thought Judge Mills Lane disqualified the Devil when the band of demons jumped in. Clearly with the demon backing group, the Devil had a patently unfair advantage. [/QUOTE] I disagree. While some supernatural beings seem to possess some musical talents (angels are known to be proficient harp players, fairies can generally produce a pretty good falsetto) not so with your ordinary band of demons. Anyway Judge Lane never mentioned any of that in the pre-fight instructions. > [@](#): > > from \*\* thwartme\*\*: Listen again, my friend. I think you’ll find that the Devil was quite clearly playing disco. Automatic disqualification. Really? I suppose that’s open to interpretation but there was certainly nothing in the ground rules that specifically stated certain inferior genres of music would be grounds for automatic dismissal from the contest. And I would have liked to have seen Daniels include that one in snappy lyric form. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072/24 "2006-11-28T19:18:51Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] _“I told you once, you son-of-a-bitch, I’m the best that’s ever been.”_ Johnny may have won the contest, but the Devil got him in the end on a Pride rap. 😃 [/QUOTE] I’m pretty sure Johnny says that line. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072/25 "2006-11-28T19:26:27Z")
[QUOTE=Gfactor] This guy raises a few good points: [Thirty-Nine Questions for Charlie Daniels Upon Hearing “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”](http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2005/8/16moe.html) [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > 1. If the Devil went down to Georgia 'cause he was looking for a soul to steal, why does he arrange what appears to be an honest competition? DUH! It’s because he was in a bind and he was way behind and he was willing to make a deal. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072/26 "2006-11-28T19:32:53Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] One more question–in the “Bluegrass Messenger”, it says that _Granny does your dog bite_ “also is a floating title”. What does this mean? [/QUOTE] WAG: It means that the title is one that has “floated” among different songs. \*E.g., \* [Folk Music Index - Gra to Gre](http://www.ibiblio.org/folkindex/g08.htm#Grawiyod) _and see_, > [@](#): > > the title itself “Granny Will Your Dog Bite” is also a floating title attached to several tunes. > **[GRA GAL MACHREE (Gradh Geal Mochroidhe)](http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/GRA_GRAPE.htm)** ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072/27 "2006-11-28T19:46:46Z")
I don’t recall the song well enough to judge whether the Devil or Johnny won, but I do think they’d both be bested by just about any real bluegrass fiddler imaginable - it sounds like they had to _work_ to get the fiddle parts to sound that bad. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072/28 "2006-11-28T20:21:52Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] I’m pretty sure Johnny says that line. [/QUOTE] Pride is a sin, thereby resulting in Johnny spending eternity in The Hot Place. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072/29 "2006-11-28T20:22:21Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] I’m pretty sure Johnny says that line. [/QUOTE] Which is why Johnny lost his soul. Overweening Pride is one of the [Seven Deadlies](http://www.bookofratings.com/sins.html), remember? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072/30 "2006-11-28T20:57:57Z")
[QUOTE=minlokwat] Am I the only one who thought the devil actually won? [/QUOTE] No, you’re not. [QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] I’m willing to accept that they couldn’t fit the entire competition into a four-minute pop tune, so we only hear _excerpts_ of each player playing. In the “real” competition, Johnny would play, or at least sample, each of the songs mentioned. [/QUOTE] Fair enough. Still, if the excerpt is the best of what Johnny played, I’d demand a recount. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072/31 "2006-11-28T21:19:43Z")
I don’t know if you can watch it if you’re not a subscriber, but I just watched the music video (a live by the band performance) on Yahoo Music. Do a search on videos. The song ends with the son-of-a-bitch line, so I’m not sure if the devil would’ve gotten Johnny’s soul or not in the end. ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072/32 "2006-11-28T21:34:24Z")
[QUOTE=minlokwat] I disagree. While some supernatural beings seem to possess some musical talents (angels are known to be proficient harp players, fairies can generally produce a pretty good falsetto) not so with your ordinary band of demons. Anyway Judge Lane never mentioned any of that in the pre-fight instructions. Really? I suppose that’s open to interpretation but there was certainly nothing in the ground rules that specifically stated certain inferior genres of music would be grounds for automatic dismissal from the contest. And I would have liked to have seen Daniels include that one in snappy lyric form. [/QUOTE] Helloooo…your so-called “ordinary” band of demons is the only explanation for disco. A loving and merciful creator would never have thrust that upon us. Demons, I tell you, demons. On as serious a note as I can muster, doesn’t Johnny obviously win because the lyrics go something like “the devil laid the golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny’s feet because he knew that he’d been beat.” The Devil, prideful as he is in legend, wouldn’t readily admit defeat, I wouldn’t reckon. Further, greedy as he is, I don’t think he’d easily part with a gin-u-wine Golden Fiddle unless he’d lost. Actually, deal or no deal, I think if he’d lost, he’d just have vaporized Johnny and sent him on to his eternal reward, not even giving him the chance to say the oh so awesome son-of-a-bitch line. Then again, I might be overthinking this. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072/33 "2006-11-28T22:02:01Z")
[QUOTE=CapnPitt] On as serious a note as I can muster, doesn’t Johnny obviously win because the lyrics go something like “the devil laid the golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny’s feet because he knew that he’d been beat.” [/QUOTE] We know Johnny wins, but the Devil’s solo is obviously better. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-johnny-play-to-beat-the-devil/382072.md?page=1)