Are you guys familiar with the song "The Devil Went Down To Georgia"? Well, if not, stop reading now and listen to it, so this makes sense. In fact, if you haven't heard it in a while, you probably should go listen to it again, because that will help with this post. Well, not really. But if you just listened to it, does it really matter at this point?
Anyway, there's a line in the song that goes "Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the Devil his due. I'll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul 'cause I think I'm better than you." This is where my questioning begins.
According to a couple quick Google searches and some rough (and I mean rough) calculations, I got a rough estimate on how much that fiddle would be worth, which turns out to be about $1100 dollars with modern gold values. That's really not that much. Which leads me to my point: The Devil is one tricky bastard. Sure, we all know that the Devil is a con artist, and conniving, and clever as all, well, Hell, but I don't know if we really realize how bad he is. He convinced a man to wager his soul, what many faiths propose to be either the core of human identity or the ticket into paradise in the afterlife, over about 7 20 hour work weeks on minimum wage. That's really not a hefty sum.
And yet, I wonder if the trickery of the Devil travels farther then just fiddles and souls. Imagine this: a man walks up to you with an apparently golden fiddle, and claims that he just defeated the Destroyer of the World, the Prince of Evil, in a fiddling competition. How would you react? Most likely, you'd find it hard to believe him, and probably just shrug him off (probably because the implications from his truthful story are terrifying). Since $1100 really isn't that much anymore. it would seem that bragging rights are the real prize from the duel with the Devil, but if Johnny goes on to brag about all of this, he'll probably wind up in a looney bin, or a small confined room with steel bars on one side. And that's the Devil's ultimate plan there. He destroys a man who can beat him (or who apparently can beat him) by making him seem insane, and prevents him from spreading his amazing talent, and all because of Johnny's decisions and choices. Crafty. Very crafty.
I Do Not Fear The Night
I do not fear the night
When dark things come out
And shadows play on seeds of doubt
I do not fear the night
Where evil loves to lurk
Hidden as the sky is murk
I do not fear the night
With lonely path or trail
And a crying desp'rate wail
I do not fear the night
I heed no nightly sound
In dark, my heart's unbound
I do not fear the night
When fear's a shaded dream
Instead I fear the day
When everything is seen.
-JD Galuardi
Anyway, there's a line in the song that goes "Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the Devil his due. I'll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul 'cause I think I'm better than you." This is where my questioning begins.
According to a couple quick Google searches and some rough (and I mean rough) calculations, I got a rough estimate on how much that fiddle would be worth, which turns out to be about $1100 dollars with modern gold values. That's really not that much. Which leads me to my point: The Devil is one tricky bastard. Sure, we all know that the Devil is a con artist, and conniving, and clever as all, well, Hell, but I don't know if we really realize how bad he is. He convinced a man to wager his soul, what many faiths propose to be either the core of human identity or the ticket into paradise in the afterlife, over about 7 20 hour work weeks on minimum wage. That's really not a hefty sum.
And yet, I wonder if the trickery of the Devil travels farther then just fiddles and souls. Imagine this: a man walks up to you with an apparently golden fiddle, and claims that he just defeated the Destroyer of the World, the Prince of Evil, in a fiddling competition. How would you react? Most likely, you'd find it hard to believe him, and probably just shrug him off (probably because the implications from his truthful story are terrifying). Since $1100 really isn't that much anymore. it would seem that bragging rights are the real prize from the duel with the Devil, but if Johnny goes on to brag about all of this, he'll probably wind up in a looney bin, or a small confined room with steel bars on one side. And that's the Devil's ultimate plan there. He destroys a man who can beat him (or who apparently can beat him) by making him seem insane, and prevents him from spreading his amazing talent, and all because of Johnny's decisions and choices. Crafty. Very crafty.
I Do Not Fear The Night
I do not fear the night
When dark things come out
And shadows play on seeds of doubt
I do not fear the night
Where evil loves to lurk
Hidden as the sky is murk
I do not fear the night
With lonely path or trail
And a crying desp'rate wail
I do not fear the night
I heed no nightly sound
In dark, my heart's unbound
I do not fear the night
When fear's a shaded dream
Instead I fear the day
When everything is seen.
-JD Galuardi
"Pain is for the living. Only the dead don't feel it." - Harry Dresden, White Night
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