Country Music: The Devil Went Down To Georgia

Country music has various types of song types. One of these types of songs are ballad songs, ballad songs tell a story through the lyrics and the music. A famous ballad song from 1979 is “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by the Charlie Daniels Band. The song tells a story of a fiddler challenging the devil to a fiddle contest. Another ballad song from 2009 is “The Baptism of Jesse Taylor” by The Oak Ridge Boys. The song tells a tale of a troubled man who is baptized. Furthermore in 2012 Colt Ford and JJ Lawhorn came out with a ballad named “Answer to No One”. The song tells a story of typical country people and generalizes it for listeners to connect to. “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” is the most famous songs out of the three listed above.

The quartet originally sang the song in 1974 then re sung it in their 2009 album. The Oak Ridge Boys are a famous american country and vocal gospel quarter. The group that is still together now came together in the 60s. The Oak Ridge Boys were inducted into the country music hall of fame in 2015. The story of the song is of a man who is troubled and a sinner. Jesse Taylor is a drinker, un loyal, and always in trouble with the law. When the town baptizes him he finally becomes a better man because of religion. The song is categorized as in southern gospel music and pop along with country music. The song is a gospel song because of the religious themes and the quarter singing. It is also a pop classical song because of the piano and that the song was so good it crossed over into pop top hits. The instruments used in the song are an electric guitar and bass, mandolin, and keyboard. The electric guitar and bass are used to play background for the song and keep the beat going. The piano plays the rhythm of the song and leads the other instruments. The mandolin plays when the moments are sad. It represents people that would be crying or upset over Jesse Taylor’s actions. The meaning behind the song is that people are not morally good without god. Jesse Taylor was a bad neighbor, father, and husband before he was baptized. Once he was Jesse Taylor was morally good person, a good father and a

“Answer to No One” is a song about the lifestyle of country fans. Colt Ford is an american country and rap singer. Compared to Charlie Daniels, Ford is not afraid to say his political ideology. Ford is most notable for his ability to mix country music and rap. The song is a country rap country rock song. The instruments used are electric guitars, electric bass, fiddle, and drums. The electric guitar and drums give the song the beat for him to rap to and make it seem as a smash mouth song and aggressive. This gives the lyrics meaning and show when he sings the song he is mad. The fiddle on the other hand keeps the country sound in the song. The meaning of the song is to represent the political views of the country. At one point Ford says “I'm a republican voter” Throughout the song his political views are presented and the views of southern