this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2025
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But did he lose? He tricked Johnny into a deal for his soul using both greed and pride. I’d say the devil won alright.
I'm not a christian so maybe I'm not getting it, but the deal is very clear fiddle vs soul. The devil even if he threw the contest still lost, johnny keeps his soul and gets a physically valuable but musically useless fiddle...
There are 7 deadly sins: pride, greed, wrath, sloth, gluttony, lust and envy.
The pride happens when Johnny tells the devil that he’s the best that’s ever been. The greed is playing for a fiddle of gold. Even Johnny acknowledges that when he says, “It might be a sin but I’ll take your bet…”
So the devil lost the fiddle contest, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t win Johnny’s soul. It’ll just take a little longer; what’s time for someone immortal like the devil?
The devil is a trickster that will do whatever he can to get you to sin against God. And he did go to Georgia to steal a soul, after all.
"The devil bowed his head cuz he knew that he'd been beat and laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet."
Competition has always been a fine part of being a human. Betting as well. I'm still wondering which Roman family has Jesus' fine robe.
The devil lost. He conceded.
The song is written as if it’s told by an onlooker. To suggest that the devil lost is an assumption that the devil is honest and plays by the rules.
I used to think like this, but then I discovered the sequel song which would be utterly unnecessary if the devil actually won the first time. Technically the song is by a different artist, but Charlie Daniels played on the track and I'm going to count that as canon.
Lyrics
Johnny won. The bet was he gets the golden fiddle or loses his soul. He got the fiddle.
If you meant the fact he did a deal in the first place, yeah, not a good look.
I mean, could the devil have actually won and handed him the fiddle as a gift, to confuse him into thinking he wouldn't burn in hell when he died? That way it comes as a fun surprise
It's an American tale of pure gumption winning out in the end. And of course it starts with greed. :)
Sins are forgivable in many religions.