Mason - Post 2: The Lost Highway and the Devil in American Country Music

 We all know about "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by country musician Charlie Daniels, as it was mentioned before at the beginning of class. Well, country music is packed in with the Devil and demonic imagery, especially from the origins to the 1970s and 1980s.

To begin, we must look back to folk songs of the British Isles (and later of the South and Appalachia) that were later incorporated into country music. Examples of songs that mention the Devil or have demonic themes in this regard include "The Devil's Nine Questions", a Child ballad that is famously designated as Child Ballad 1 (under the name of "Riddles Wisely Expounded"). The ballads themselves are collected from across Europe, but especially in England, Ireland, and Scotland. That song itself dates back to at least the 15th century, and is still recorded often. A favorite recording of mine is Jean Ritchie's recording with Oscar Brand from the 1960s.

Later, and in common place in the country music scene during the early years, came songs describing sin, temptation, and the Fall of Man at the hands of both. Musicians like Hank Williams composed songs, like the song in the title of this post, that quiet refer to these ideas. They also assist as being "alerts" against moving to a life of sin. An excerpt from "Lost Highway" (recorded in 1949) is below:

Now, boys, don't start your ramblin' round

On this road of sin or you're sorrow bound

Take my advice or you'll curse the day

You started rollin' down that lost highway

As American society became more hyper-focused on "warding off" Satan and the demonic from our own soil, other songs, including the beautifully-written "Go to Hell" by Dolly Parton, showcased this preoccupation with rejecting Satan:

Go to Hell, go to Hell, go back where you belong 

Get thee behind me Satan, just leave me the Hell alone 

Take your wars and your politics, your lust and your greed 

And go to Hell in a handbasket 'cause heaven waits for me

Even now, that preoccupation remains, even across genres.

Are there other songs you guys know of that deal with similar themes? Are we as a society moving away from that? Let me know what you think!