The Devil Went Down to Georgia: What Really Happened

Once Upon a Time…

There was a boy named Johnny. He was an extremely talented fiddle player. Many considered him to be a prodigy. There was no one better than him in the entire world, and he knew it. This gave him a quality of extreme self confidence to the point where several people considered him to be a prick. He didn’t care what others thought though. He was good, and that is all that mattered.

One calm southern day, Johnny decided to take his fiddle and head to the woods to play. After practicing for a few hours, he saw a young man in a suit staring at him. ‘Who the hell is this freak?’ Johnny thought to himself. The man seemed flustered, like he was running late for something. Suddenly, the man smiled and jumped onto hickory stump.

“Hello lad,” the man greeted in a thick British accent. “I am the Devil. I am in a bit of a rush I’m afraid, but I was wondering if you would be willing to make a deal. I bet you didn’t know it, but I am a fiddle player too. You see, I have this gold fiddle. If you can beat me in a face off, I would be more than willing to give it to you. However, if I win, I get your soul.”

The Devil then proceeded to go over to a case lying nearby and open it up. Inside was a sparkling gold fiddle. It was the most beautiful instrument Johnny had ever seen. He was terrified at the thought of losing his soul, but he could not back down from a musical challenge. Taking a deep breath, Johnny replied, "My name's Johnny and it might be a sin, but I'll take your bet, you’re gonna regret, 'cos I'm the best that's ever been."

The Devil stared at the young boy in astonishment. ‘Do all Georgians rhyme like this? Bloody hell, they certainly are an odd group of people,’ he reflected.

“Alright, I’ll go first. Allow me to introduce my band. First we have Alastair on electric guitar. This little girl here is Lilith… isn’t she precious? She plays spoons. Here is Azazel-good old Yellow Eyes- on drums! And last but not least is Balthazar on bass.”

“Wait! How come you get a band?” Johnny yelled in outrage.

The Devil laughed and stated, “I’m bloody Satan! Lucifer! Beelzebub! The Morning Star! Who are you? Little Johnny the fiddle player of Georgia, that’s who! You are not important enough to get a band. Besides, if you are as good as you say you are, you don’t really need one, do you?”

With that the Devil rosined up his bow and ordered his band to play. The performed a haunting tune, but that was not what scared Johnny. What terrified him was that they were good. Very good. A moment later the Devil took center stage and began to play. Johnny was blown away. When the song was finished Johnny tried to act tough, but couldn’t help but ask, “How did you get so good at fiddle?”

“Kid,” the Devil informed him, “I was once the Angel of Music. It was my job.”

“You didn’t tell me you were the Angel of Music. If I knew that I never would have agreed to this!”

“I was a lawyer too, so don’t try to get out of the deal. You still have to go and play, or else you forfeit and I get your soul.”

Sighing, Johnny strongly declared, “"Well you're pretty good ol' son. But if you'll sit down in that chair right there, I’ll show you how it’s done."

‘Again…the rhyming. What is the point of it? It’s getting kind of old.’ The irritated Devil thought while Johnny rosined up his bow. Then Johnny began to play. The music was exquisite, and the Devil himself had to admit he was outstanding, but definitely not better. Balthazar sat down, bored, and began to read. Lilith came over to see what he was reading, but he pushed her out of the way.

“I’ll tell my boyfriend!” she whispered angrily. “Samael will kick your ass.”

“I am sooo scared,” Balthazar replied sardonically. Sticking her tongue out, she marched away to play with Alastair.

“Ali, Balthy is being mean to me!” Lilith whined. Alastair looked at the disgruntled demon. Balthazar was usually the easiest one to taunt, after all, his name is Balthazar. But when he was angry, you did well to leave him alone.

“Come on,” Alastair whispered. “Let’s go over to Yellow Eyes and play Candyland.” Lilith immediately brightened up, and the three went off to the side to play. It soon became apparent that the only one listening to Johnny’s song was the Devil himself. When the song ended, the Devil picked up his gold fiddle and sadly laid it on the ground before Johnny. Bowing his head in shame, he said,

“You win Johnny. I can’t believe it, but you win. Good job.”

Johnny replied, "Devil just come on back if you ever want to try again. I told you once, you son of a bitch, I'm the best that's ever been." The Devil nodded forlornly and he and his band left. Johnny triumphantly took the golden fiddle and ran back home.

Meanwhile, the band of demons grumbled in outrage to the Devil.

“How could he win?” Yellow Eyes inquired. “You were better than him. You destroyed him! Why did you let him go?”

“Ya!” Alastair agreed. “I don’t get it. The kid was fair enough, but there was no way he actually beat you.”

The Devil refused to answer their questions and marched on. Balthazar was still disinterested and kept reading. After continued heckling, Balthazar finally decided to put an end to it and speak on behalf of the Devil.

“Do you ever shut up? Obviously Lucifer won! Do you honestly believe he lost a fiddle contest to a twelve year old boy? He’s the bloody Angel of Music! He knows what he is doing. The boy made a deal with the Devil. A deal!!! What happens to people who make deals?”

“They…go to hell?” Lilith answered timidly.

“Yes! They go to hell! Lucifer still gets Johnny’s soul. He won! Johnny just gets to live a while longer and build up an ever larger record to use against him. It’s bloody brilliant.”

“Were you in on this, Balthy?” Yellow Eyes asked.

“Of course I was. We Brits stick together.”

The Devil laughed maniacally. Balthazar was right about the plan, and to make it better, the plan had worked…

Many years had gone by, and Johnny was considered to be the greatest fiddle player in history. He had fame, fortune, and a golden fiddle he had won from the Devil. Life was good. One night after performing a concert and Carnegie Hall, he decided he wanted to return home to Georgia. He had not been there in ages, and rather missed it. By the next day, he was home. After spending time with his family, he decided to visit the area of the woods where he had won his golden fiddle in the first place.

The clearing was different. It was once beautiful, with trees and flowers some signs of life. Now, everything was dead. There was no sign of life at all. ‘What happened?’ Johnny thought miserably. Suddenly, it began to downpour. Johnny was slightly startled, but strong rain was an almost daily event down in Georgia. It wasn’t anything new to him. Johnny heard a menacing roll of thunder that bode the beginning of a wild storm.

Now he was nervous. He had not gotten himself into a fun situation by any means. He decided the best thing to do would be to get out of the clearing as quickly as possible. Grabbing his fiddle, he began to run. Tragically, he was struck by lightning a moment later. His heart quickly gave out, and he died.

The Devil had Johnny’s soul at last.

THE END