I was recently thinking about this song, especially in light of all the public officials effectively selling their souls. I resented this song, because (from BSeed's post above)


"...the human who gets into a contest with a diety (even the devil) always loses unless he has divine help..."


Johnny "beats" the devil with no consequences, no personal cost. That always annoyed me. I think it needs either follow-up verses or an whole nother song about what happened next.

A possibility is like the "Twilight Zone" episode with the pool player who makes his deal to beat Minnesota Fats. The price he pays is that whenever another pool play challenges him, he has to wearily arrive to play the game. Forever. Until, perhaps, another pool player makes another similar deal with the devil. So whenever some ole fiddler says or thinks that they want to beat the best, Johnny has to be there with bells on. Wearily. Forever. Until...

Or, perhaps, Johnny discovers that to be able to afford the very expensive maintenance of the fiddle, he has to do demeaning tasks to pay to keep the fiddle up to spec.

Robert Johnson had to give up his eternal soul. According to this song, Johnny does not have to do this.


Saul