• Radioactive Butthole@reddthat.com
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    1 day ago

    Johnny admits to knowing that taking the bet was a sin and commits it anyway. Johnny gets the golden fiddle, but the devil gets his soul in the end anyway. What’s 60 more years to an eternal being? The song can still be a cautionary tale you just need to finish it.

    • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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      13 hours ago

      Johnny admits to knowing that taking the bet was a sin and commits it anyway.

      No, he admits that it might be a sin.

      The boy said, “My name’s Johnny and it might be a sin
      But I’m gon’ take your bet, you’re gonna regret, I’m the best there’s ever been”

      • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
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        10 hours ago

        That means he’s acknowledging its a sin but he will do it anyways. You are thinking it says it might be a sin or might not, but thats not how the sentence goes.

    • Aqarius@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Point kinda holds, though. Ignoring the long-term consequences for short-term gain seems to also feature heavily in America.

      • _stranger_@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        The county was founded by generations of people who came here with little thought to long term consequences, so it tracks

          • _stranger_@lemmy.world
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            10 hours ago

            That was the second one. The first one was the Articles of Confederation. Lasted 8 years.

            Hell, even the constitution is like a handful of good ideas, some terrible ones, and a README about how to make a pull request to add more features.

    • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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      1 day ago

      Eh? The wager was Johnny either gets the fiddle or loses his soul, why would he go to hell anyway?

      No human is without sin, after all.

      • Radioactive Butthole@reddthat.com
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        13 hours ago

        Win or lose, taking the bet at all is a sin, and Johnny aknowleges this in the song. Plenty of protestants (the target audience) see this as reason enough to go to hell.

        Now you could argue about forgiveness or confession or whatever the fuck but the stage has been set for Johnny to go to hell even though he won.

        “Here’s your fiddle. See you in 80 years”.

        I think its a cautionary tale about using evil even when you think you’re good and right. The devil doesnt play fair, and always wins.

            • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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              10 hours ago

              Yes they did.

              Win or lose, taking the bet at all is a sin, and Johnny aknowleges this in the song. Plenty of protestants (the target audience) see this as reason enough to go to hell.

              […]

              “Here’s your fiddle. See you in 80 years”.

        • AugustWest@lemmy.world
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          13 hours ago

          Well, Daniels wrote a sequel in which the devil comes back to try again. That pretty much negates this theory.

          Also, Daniels wrote it in the middle of a recording session for the sole reason that he realized they forgot to write a fiddle song for the album they were recording. So I wouldn’t ascribe too much intention to anything.