Songs about the Devil?
Robert Derrick
: I'm looking for (old) songs about the Devil,
: in any language. Any ideas?
:
: Jeroen Nijhof
My favorite song about the devil is called Fanitullen (sp?). Well, not
a song really, but a tune that I heard played on a (correct me if I'm
wrong) Hardanger fiddle, which has two sets of strings, one above played,
and one below droned. It is a story about, I think, the devil forcing
someone to play the fiddle until they dropped, or thd devil being
forced to play, or something like that.
But then, that's probably not what you had in mind.
There's "The Devil and the Farmer's Wife". For today, use Frankie
Armstrong's last verse:
That proves that the women are better than men
They can go down to Hell and come back up again.
Then there's one where the devil makes a deal with a man for wealth
and success, but one year later he will return, and if the man cannot
show the devil an animal that he cannot recognize, off to Hell he goes.
So his wife rolls in mud and dung and straw and feathers and just
general schmootz, and fools the devil. Don't remember the name of it.
Martin Carthy does this one.
Then there's the one where the woman finds that her betrothed is
seeing someone else on the side, so she disguises herself as the
devil, and scares him into being true, and marrying her. She tells
him the truth about it while she is in labor with there first
child. And he... thinks it is hilarious. Roberts and Barrand do this
one, and it's called "Kate and Her Horns".
But my favorite is this little anti-war ditty:
Down below, down below
Sat the devil talking to his son
Who wanted to go
Up above, up above
And he said, "Listen Lad,
Listen to your dear old Dad."
Stay down here where you belong
Folks up there say I'm the Devil
And I'm bad
But they've got folks
That are bigger devils than your Dad
They're breaking the hearts of mothers
Making butchers out of brothers
You'll find more Hell up there
Than there is down here below.
by Irving Berlin, as performed by Groucho Marx
--
rob derrick
ghost
>Jeroen Nijhof (nij...@th.rug.nl) wrote:
>: I'm looking for (old) songs about the Devil,
There's Billions! (& Billions & Billions...)
>Then there's one where the devil makes a deal with a man for wealth
>and success, but one year later he will return, and if the man cannot
>show the devil an animal that he cannot recognize, off to Hell he goes.
>So his wife rolls in mud and dung and straw and feathers and just
>general schmootz, and fools the devil. Don't remember the name of it.
>Martin Carthy does this one.
Devil and the Feathery Wife
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(Old)
House Carpenter (trad) *stay* married to the nice but boring
house carpenter (for he's a fine young man),
*take care* of your pretty little babe,
& *don't* believe your lost love can *really*
come back from the dead...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
(New)
Friend of the Devil (country/bluegrass standard)
Gonna start out running but I'll take my time
a friend of the devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before day light
I just might get some sleep
tonight
------------------------------------------------------------
(New)
(Can't think of the name) Peter Rowan's recent:
can't think of all the words, either, but its one of those
"a fortune for your soul" songs, & when the devil comes back to collect
but our hero doesn't want to go (surprise!), devil says
"I gave you a porsche and a VCR
I gave you every major credit card
(gave you) 13 illegal aliens
to manicure your yard"
------------------------------------------------------------------
(Old)
All those "devil challenges Johnny to a fiddle contest" songs
of which the hit "the Devil went down to Georgia" is a not very
interesting version.
Basically, devil hears there is a very good human fiddler somewhere,
shows up, challenges good human fiddler (always named Johnny, so if
you're not, forget it; no hope) to a contest for human's soul,
but, even though the devil *always* plays the more interesting *and* better
(but *evil*, as in, wicked good) stuff, & Johnny plays some wholesome
though agile licks you could dance to on Bandstand, Johnny wins
(gets to keep soul) because contest is *rigged*, is why!
-------------------------------------------------------------
(New)
The Old Dance (Step Outside) The Oyster Band
Is it the Original Snake or the Devil talking? I forget
Its the old dance
and a wicked dance too
step outside the law
play the tune on your damned old fiddle
it'll burn you up
like straw
------------------------------------------------------------------------
enough for now
ghost
>-------------------------------------------------------------
>(New)
>The Old Dance (Step Outside) The Oyster Band
>Is it the Original Snake or the Devil talking? I forget
>Its the old dance
>and a wicked* dance too
>step outside the law
>play the tune on your damned old fiddle
>it'll burn you up
>like straw
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*crooked, that should have been.
Am pretty sure it was Original Talking Snake, too, so song is out of
contention.
Repeat after myself:
Do not post in middle of night, do not post in early morning,
apparently, now, do not post in early evening, either.
Wait until time when all faculties are intact, whenever that is.
My copy of the recording is on very delinquent special-deal order, which
is no excuse for posting without having references ready.
Raise funds, send them right to me, & we can halt the folk process
*IN OUR LIFETIME!*.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Snake-related quote rest of world may not have heard:
Local political-commentator/loud-mouth Howie Carr on the town of
Revere, MA:
"Crookeder than a snake in a hurry"
Town officials want to have the paper in which his column appears banned
from the city limits, but for once he's right.
Walter Nelson
: Jeroen Nijhof
There's the old Irish standard, the chorus to which is...
Some say the Devil is dead, the Devil is dead, the Devil is dead,
Some say the Devil is dead, and buried in Killarney
Some say he rose again, he rose again, he rose again,
Some say he rose again and joined the British Army.
I don't remember the verses, but as I recall, it's mostly just a silly song,
and the verses don't particularly relate to Ol' Scratch.
Walter Nelson
beth diane garfinkel
>There's the old Irish standard, the chorus to which is...
>Some say the Devil is dead, the Devil is dead, the Devil is dead,
>Some say the Devil is dead, and buried in Killarney
>Some say he rose again, he rose again, he rose again,
>Some say he rose again and joined the British Army.
>I don't remember the verses, but as I recall, it's mostly just a silly song,
>and the verses don't particularly relate to Ol' Scratch.
In case anyone's that curious (I only know a couple):
Love will you marry me, marry me, marry me,
Love will you marry me and take me out of danger.
(to the same part of the tune:)How can I marry you, marry you, marry you,
How can I marry you for that you are a stranger.
(To the second part of the tune:) Why didn't you tell me so, why didn't
you tell me so,
Why didn't you tell me so before you did the harm, love?
Where's the harm I did to you, where's the harm I did to you,
Where's the harm I did to you but rolled you in my arms, love?
Katie has a sweet tooth, sweet tooth, sweet tooth,
Katie has a sweet tooth and likes the drops of brandy.
She drinks it in the bed, she drinks it in the bed,
She drinks it in the bed, it makes her hot and randy.
Beth
--
"Under the green wood tree/Who loves to lie with me/And tune his merry
note/Unto the sweet bird's throat/Come hither, come hither, come hither/
Here he shall see/No enemy/But winter and rough weather."
--William Shakespeare
cw...@pattie.wellesley.edu
someone meeting the devil--but the person was travelling
to the stable to see Jesus, so an angel intervenes and the
devil vanishes beneath the earth. It begins
En marchant vers l'etable
Ou dort l'enfant Jesu
J'ai rencontre le diable
Je l'ai bien reconnu!
La la la, la la, la la, la la (refrain)
Unfortunately I don't know where you could find it, but
I'd guess it's well known.
Caroline