The devil went down to Georgia
He was looking
for a soul to steal
He was in a bind
'cause he was way behind
He was willing to make a deal
When he came across
this young man
Sawing on a fiddle
and playing it hot
And the devil jumped up
on a hickory stump
And said,
''Boy, let me tell you what
I guess you didn't know it
But I'm a fiddle player too
And if you care to take a dare
I'll make a bet with you
Now you play pretty good
fiddle boy
But give the devil his due
I bet a fiddle of gold
against your soul
'Cause I think
I'm better than you.''
The boy said,
''My name's Johnny
And it might be a sin
But I'll take your bet
And you're gonna regret
'Cause I'm the best
that's ever been.''
Johnny, you rosin up your bow
And play your fiddle hard
'Cause hell's broke loose
in Georgia
And the devil deals the cards
And if you win,
you get this shiny
fiddle made of gold
But if you lose,
the devil gets your soul.
The devil opened up his case
And he said,
''I'll start this show''
And fire flew
from his fingertips
And he rosined up his bow
And he pulled the bow
across the strings
And it made an evil hiss
Then a band of demons
joined in
And it sounded something
like this.
When the devil finished,
Johnny said
''Well, you're pretty good,
old son
But just sit down
in that chair right there
Let me show you
how it's done.''
Fire on the mountain,
run boys, run
The devil's in the house
of the rising sun
A chicken in the bread pan
picking out dough
Granny does your dog bite?
No, child, no.
The devil bowed his head
Because he knew
that he'd been beat
And he laid that golden fiddle
on the ground
At Johnny's feet
Johnny said,
''Devil, just come on back
lf you ever want to try again
I've told you once,
you son of a bitch
I'm the best that's ever been.''
And he played.
Fire on the mountain,
run boys, run
The devil's in the house
of the rising sun
A chicken in the bread pan
picking out dough
Granny does your dog bite?
No, child, no