The Devil Went Down to Georgia

The song is an uptempo bluegrass song about the Devil's failure to gain a young man's soul through a fiddle-playing contest. The song begins as a disappointed Devil arrives in Georgia, apparently "way behind" on stealing souls, when he comes upon a young man named Johnny who is playing a fiddle, and quite well. Out of desperation, the Devil, who claims to also be a fiddle player, wagers a fiddle of gold against Johnny's soul to see who is the better fiddler. Although Johnny believes taking the Devil's bet might be a sin, he fearlessly accepts, confidently boasting that "I'm the best that's ever been."

The Devil plays first, backed by a band of demon musicians. When finished, Johnny compliments him and takes his own turn, in which he references, but does not perform, four old-time songs:

• "Fire on the Mountain", the name of an early 19th Century fiddle tune, and also the name of Daniels' 1974 album.
• "The House of the Rising Sun", a traditional American southern folk song,

(the latter two were lyrical references):

• "Chicken in the bread pan pickin' out dough", which was famously used in Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys' song "Ida Red".,[5] and
• "Granny does/will your dog bite, no child no",[5] but the lyrics alone pre-date this song.

Realizing he has been defeated, the devil lays his golden fiddle at Johnny's feet. Johnny then invites the devil to "c'mon back if y'ever wanna try again" before repeating his claim to be the best that's ever been.

The ballad's story is a derivative of the traditional deal with the Devil motif. Charlie Daniels has stated in interviews, "I don't know where it came from, but it just did. Well, I think I might know where it came from, it may have come from an old poem called 'The Mountain Whippoorwill' that Stephen Vincent Benét wrote many, many years ago (1925), that I had in high school."[6][7]

• The Levellers released a version of the song in 1991.[8]
• Although it is frequently misattributed to David Allan Coe or "Weird Al" Yankovic, musician Travis Meyer performed a parody entitled "The Devil Went Down to Jamaica", in which Johnny is recast as a Jamaican drug dealer who is challenged by the devil to a pot-smoking contest to see whose marijuana is best: his, or Johnny's.[9]
• On a 1980 The Muppet Show episode (Episode 420), the Muppet versions of the Devil and Johnny are portrayed in an opening number cover of the song.[10]
• The rap group K.M.C. Kru released a hip hop re-imagining of the song entitled "The Devil Came Up to Michigan" in 1991, featuring the devil and a deejay competing for a turntable of gold.[11]
• Steve Ouimette (with Ed DeGenaro and Geoff Tyson[12]) performed a cover of the song for the 2007 video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. This version uses electric guitars instead of fiddles, though the original lyrics are still performed. It is played as the conclusion of the game in a simulated guitar battle with the devil. Daniels objected to this version on the grounds that the devil may win the contest, which he referred to as "violating the very essence of the song".[13]
• Pop singer and electric violinist Michelle Lambert recorded a version of the song in 2015, and released a music video. In her rendition "Johnny" is replaced by "Michelle".[14]
• A cappella group Home Free recorded a version of the song in collaboration with Taylor Davis and Charlie Daniels playing fiddle, released in September 2015. The narration is performed by Home Free bass singer Tim Foust.[15]
• The rock band Blues Traveler often performs this song in concert, with John Popper playing the fiddle parts on harmonica.[16]
• Robot Chicken featured a composite parody of the song along with the animated series Spawn in episode 49 of season 3, where Malebolgia, an infernal lord, is challenged by Spawn to a fiddle duel set to a similar tune.[17]
• In the Futurama episode "Hell is Other Robots", Leela must challenge the robot devil in a fiddle-playing contest to win back Bender's soul.
• Funk metal band Primus covered the song and featured it on a CD-ROM that was included with the 1998 release of their EP Rhinoplasty.[18]
• British Punk band The Toy Dolls recorded a version called 'The Devil Went Down to Scunthorpe', which used a guitar duel instead of a fiddle duel between Johnny and the Devil.
• Christian parody band ApologetiX recorded a parody called "The Devil Went Down to Jordan" which records the Devil's attempt to tempt Jesus in the wilderness.
• British comedy folk band The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican recorded a version called 'The Devil Went Down To Barnsley', in which the devil has a fiddle duel with Bjorn Doonicansson.
• American nu metal band Korn recorded a cover of the song in 2020 which featured the band playing the devil and rapper Yelawolf as Johnny.[19]
• Canadian hard rock band Nickelback recorded a cover in 2020 with Dave Martone. This version uses electric guitars instead of fiddles, tuned down a whole step, and contains the original lyrics with slight changes.
• A metal version of the song was recorded by Leo Moracchioli for his YouTube channel, Frog Leap Studios. The video was publicly released[20] on July 17, 2020.

The original version of the song spent fourteen weeks on the Hot Country Singles charts in 1979, peaking at number 1 and holding the position for one week. It spent two weeks at a peak of number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.[21] The single was certified Platinum by the RIAA on December 20, 1989, for sales of over two million copies in the United States.[22] In 2003, the song was ranked at #69 on CMT's 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music, and #5 on CMT's 20 Greatest Southern Rock Songs in 2006. Since it became available as a download in the digital era, it has also sold 2.49 million digital copies in the US as of November 2019.[23] In June 1998, Epic Records re-released the song to country radio, but accidentally sent out the version in which the line "son of a bitch" was uncensored. This error was quickly corrected, and the song re-entered the country charts at number 62 for the chart dated June 20, 1998.[24] It spent seven weeks on the chart and peaked at number 60.[21]

In 1993, a sequel to the song, titled "The Devil Comes Back to Georgia", was recorded and released by Daniels and fiddle player Mark O'Connor, featuring guest performances by Travis Tritt (as the devil), Marty Stuart (as Johnny) and Johnny Cash as the narrator. The song can be found on Mark O'Connor's album, Heroes.

In the sequel, the devil, his anger still unabated ten years after his defeat at young Johnny's hands, decides to take up the boy's challenge to "c'mon back if you ever wanna try again". The devil is convinced that Johnny's sinful pride will be his undoing, so he takes back the golden fiddle he lost to Johnny, now married and with an infant son, and forces him to practice with his old fiddle before their rematch.

Though the lyrics of the song state that "Johnny's the best that's ever been", reiterating his bold claim in the original song, the sequel's lyrics do not reveal who won the rematch. However, the music video shows that Johnny again prevails.

• "Cross Road Blues"
• Faust
• "The Devil and Daniel Webster"
• "The Devil and Tom Walker"

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
• Listen to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" on YouTube