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Posted on 08/03/2026 9:29:24 PM PDT by nickcarraway
You’d be surprised just how much the story of the devil is embedded within the story of rock ‘n’ roll.
It all goes back to the Bible. There is a passage in ‘Ezekiel 28:13’ that essentially says the musical ability that people have has been bestowed upon them by God: “The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created”.
This is a pretty universal ideology throughout most religions, not just Christianity, which is why so many faithful devotees choose to rejoice in song. However, the story of the devil and his subsequent influence on music is predominantly reserved for Christianity. Lucifer was believed to be the head of God’s choir, so when he fell from heaven and took up residence in hell, it was then believed that he started making music that rebelled against God and his teachings.
Throughout history, there have been musicians who have been said to have made a deal with the devil in a bid to try and get some kind of unique ability. Niccolo Paganini was a violinist who was constantly accused of as such, which, for many, explained why he had such a ghost-like complexion. Not to mention, the so-called inventor of jazz, Ferdinand ‘Jelly Roll’ Morton, had devilish accusations thrown at him, as did the blues musician Robert Johnson.
However, despite a lot of musicians from different eras being accused of trading their souls for musical ability, these accusations were most prominent within the world of rock. It seems that there isn’t a rock band on the planet who were unable to escape accusations that they were secret satanists and that their music was an attempt to pollute the unassuming minds of the public.
Because of how much Satan’s image is entwined within the world of music, he creeps up in genres that span generations, be it the blues, folk, punk, rock, heavy metal and more. People also use his image in a bid to sell records or appear shocking, and they like to add him as a character in songs about overcoming adversity. One of the most famous examples of this in modern music is Tenacious D’s song ‘Tribute’. On that track, Jack Black and Kyle Gass are walking down a “long and lonesome road” where they bump into the devil, who demands that they play the best song in the world to save their souls.
It’s a comedic story, as the band sings about how they performed the best song in the world, but can’t remember it, and so wrote this other song as a tribute. This isn’t the only song Tenacious D have written which has a narrative attached; in fact, they have more songs which do have a story attached than don’t, to the extent that they wrote an entire musical about the perils of rock and the devil. You could call them the best at it, but Jack Black would challenge you on that.
Another track that incorporates the devil is the classic ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’, an epic about a young man who challenges the devil to a fiddle battle. When the man wins, he keeps his soul and gets a shiny golden fiddle. It’s a great track by the Charlie Daniels Band that has been covered by different musicians in different genres, and it’s also a song that Jack Black calls one of the best narrative-driven tracks of all time.
“There’s a great tradition of doing battle with Satan in rock’n’roll music, and before rock’n’roll […] And of them all, I think ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’ is probably the most powerful, iconic version of that story,” he said, “Well yeah, we did it, but they did it first. And they were definitely a big influence on Tenacious D. Would we have done ‘Tribute’ if we had never heard ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’? It’s doubtful. We definitely needed that jam to show us the way.”
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I remember hearing this song as a child, I took the song's meaning as straightforward. But I heard it again as an adult, and I thought, Oh, the devil won not Johnny. The devil tricked him. He wasn't trying to win a fiddle contest, the devil got him to dive head first into pride.
You know, Pride goes before destruction, God opposes the proud, Pride leads to disgrace, The LORD detests all the proud of heart; they will not go unpunished.. I could go on, but you get the point.
—————-
No, I do not and I was a adult when the song came out.
Are you really trashing the Christian Charlie Daniels?
Occam’s razor works for me.
I don't get were you said I was trashing anyone. By that logic, I could ask if you are trashing the Bible.
I just said the story of the song meant something completely different.
A. I can think of at least one popular (back then) group that was never accused of being dictated by the Devil’.
The Archies! Their biggest hit? “Sugar. Sugar”.
B. Most songs are stories or parts of stories.
Any good story needs, if not a Villain, then a formidable
Antagonist, or a source of ‘ungovernable energy’.
Two examples the later:
*Fever, by Peggy Lee, 1958. Rip Roaring Sensuality, using the very minimal of notes. Peggy was a superb songwriter and performer.
*My Way, as sung by Frank Sinatra. 1969. To this day, that song energizes and inspires.
You’d have to have zero appreciation of music to think the Devil won - his fiddle playing sucked compared to Johnnie’s.
How about the Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”?
Ezekiel 28:13,
.
Here we are after 75 years of
Electric music.
.
Jack Black with his ‘SaxaBoom’
I means something different to you. Since you are the world’s number one authority of your own opinion, that’s fine.
Your comment reminded me of a college literature class I took. We had to read and “analyze” short stories.
The instructor was obviously some sore of sexual deviant because every one of his analysis reflected his pervert mindset.
I couldn’t even force myself to think in his twisted mindset so naturally I received a poor grade.
I read the stories as written, not to apply my own pre-conceived notions.
I take Charlie Daniels song as a great song of a classic showdown.
You are vastly overthinking this one.
And that whole piece was nonsense.
No thanks.
Good point Nick! Only Christ can beat the Devil, not us
Oh Brother...
Where Art Thou ?
.
“The Man of Sorrow”
.
We wrestle Not with Flesh and Blood
But.....
If you actually listen to the words, it's a history song on how the Devil caused all these events. It is not praising the devil. I grew up in a fundie Baptist church and they see the "satanic" in everything.
A “Fundie”-—
.
The satan was created with musical instruments,Fine Jewels and a Beauty We can’t imagine! We as humans were created From the Dust of the Earth But with
‘The Breath of God’ which is What satan was lusting after and will never have.
But the Devil had a better Bass player
One of the first steps in my christian journey was to get out of my head the greatful dead’s song “A friend of the devil is a friend of mine”
or ‘Hell in a Bucket’?
“My Way” is almost antithetical to Christianity.
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