Sympathy for the Devil

I started running again now that the weather is getting warm. Yesterday I did about 2.5 miles in about 25 minutes and was struggling. Today I did 3 miles in about 30 minutes and felt pretty good. I'd like to get to 4 miles in 30 to 32 minutes comfortably. Running with music helps a lot.

Speaking of music, I realized I have 2 songs that have been on my playlists recently that tell tales of the triumph of man over evil beings in musical competition:

Tribute, Tenacious D
The Devil Went Down to Georgia, Charlie Daniels Band

In Tribute, JB and KG defeat the shiny demon by meeting his demand that they play the best song in the world. They played the first thing that came to their heads, and it just so happened to be the best song in the world. I take no issue with the story.

But in Charlie's tale, the Devil squares off against Johnny head to head, and after hearing Johnny play, the Devil bows his head as a concession of defeat. What is going on here?? That doesn't sound like the Price of Darkness that I know and love. Johnny's chops were definitely impressive, but Satan and the band of demons layed it down pretty damn good. Come on guy, at least put the decision to a 3rd party! I'd vote for you.

I guess that's the problem though - you couldn't really find impartial judges like me. Most mortals would be so terrified of the Devil that they would be too scared to decide against him. And any that aren't afraid of him probably are going to be biased against him. Then the immortals are already going to have well-established allegiances to Heaven or Hell, so you wouldn't be able to trust their objectivity. This situation must have been what it was like trying to pick Olympic figure skating judges during the Cold War.

See, in Tenacious D's ballad, there was a clearly defined objective goal. There is one single best song in the world, and thats what they played. In fact, upon hearing it, the fallen beast assumed that Jack and Rage Kage must have been angels to have have played it. The power and genius of Tribute is that we never actually get to hear the greatest song in the world, because they couldn't remember it after that fateful night. The best song in the world is like Keyser Soze, achieving mythical status because you never really know exactly what happened.

I suppose it is possible that Johnny and Satan had some mutual understanding about how the winner would be objectively decided, but that seems improbable. The major flaw is that we the listeners get to hear the fiddle contest, which opens its outcome to debate based on our subjective preferences. I think the Devil won.

Regardless, the Devil knew that he'd been beat. And he laid the golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet. I guess its good to know that the Devil is exceedingly honest in his business dealings, because the way this poker thing is going I might have to make a few wagers with him myself...



NAY! WE ARE BUT MEN!

ROCK!!