The Best Songs About the Devil
Worship Satan? Looking for that perfect song to honor him? That’s cool. We got you covered. We have a long list of Devil songs for you to choose from. But you know what? Even if you don’t worship Beelzebub, Old Scratch, or whatever you like to call him, there’s likely to be a song here just for you anyway. Songs about The Devil span many artists and many genres over many years. Tons of songs have been written about The Devil. Lots and lots of songs. So many songs about The Devil. So, so many…
What does The Devil mean to you? Is he a symbol of the shadows of your subconscious? Is he the scapegoat for all that’s wrong in the world? Is he the antithesis of good in the universe? Is he your lord and master? You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want. But whatever the case may be, we invite you to relax, get comfortable, and enjoy this comprehensive list of songs about the Devil. Some are thoughtful and poetic, some are danceable, while others simply honor him. Whatever The Devil means to you, you’re sure to find just the right song.
Race with the Devil by Gene Vincent
What we have here is the story of a man who’s lived an evil life (so they say) and he knows it. As such, his bad deeds are going to catch up to him and he is going to have to answer for them. The Devil, in this case, represents his un-repented sins and guilty conscious. No matter how he tries to deny them, they are always getting closer, closer, closer. There is no outrunning his shadow.
But I’ll out run the devil on judgment day, I said
Move, hot-rod, move man!
Move, hot-rod, move man….
A-hear come the devil doin’ a-hundred and one
Move, hot-rod, move man!
Move, hot-rod, move man!
Move hot-rod, move me on down the
the line …
Nightmare of a Woman by Deke Dickerson
He can’t stand her. The woman in his life is wretched. He questions why God would put such a woman on the earth and begs The Devil to please fix the mistake God made and rid the world of her evil in this high energy rock-a-billy classic.
Bad times I have not forgotten
Girl you left a bad taste in my mouth…
Why did he make her
Well, I asked the devil to kindly take her
How I ever got involved
I will never know
But this nightmare of a woman’s got to go…
Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones
The Devil is just saying hi in this song. He is introducing himself, reminding us that he is alive and well and just kind of hanging around keeping himself amused while influencing world affairs.
I’m a man of wealth and taste
I’ve been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man’s soul and faith
And I was ’round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what’s puzzling you
Is the nature of my game…
The Devil Went Down to Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band
For many, this is the classic Devil song of our time. The Devil, looking for sport, challenges a country boy to a fiddle playing competition. You probably know how it ends, but *SPOILER ALERT* if you don’t. The country boy wins. His prize? A fiddle made of gold.
He was in a bind ‘cos he was way behind: he was willin’ to make a deal.
When he came across this young man sawin’ on a fiddle and playin’ it hot.
And the devil jumped upon a hickory stump and said: “Boy let me tell you what:
“I bet you didn’t know it, but I’m a fiddle player too.
“And if you’d care to take a dare, I’ll make a bet with you.
“Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the devil his due:
“I bet a fiddle of gold against your soul, ‘cos I think I’m better than you.”
The boy said: “My name’s Johnny and it might be a sin,
“But I’ll take your bet, your gonna regret, ‘cos I’m the best that’s ever been…”
…The devil bowed his head because he knew that he’d been beat.
He laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny’s feet.
Johnny said: “Devil just come on back if you ever want to try again.
“I told you once, you son of a bitch, I’m the best that’s ever been…”
The Devil’s Right Hand by Steve Erle
Denial. Pure denial. Who needs personal accountability when you have the devil to blame things on? Guns don’t kill people. The devil does… with your right hand… assuming you are holding a gun with it. Why did you pick up that gun in the first place? Perhaps the devil made you.
Mama said the pistol is the devil’s right hand…
Caught a miner cheating I shot the dog down
Shot the dog down, watched the man fall
Never touched his holster, never had a chance to draw
The trial was in the morning and they drug me out of bed
Asked me how I pleaded, not guilty I said
Not guilty I said, you’ve got the wrong man
Nothing touched the trigger but the devil’s right hand…
You’re the Devil in Disguise by Elvis Presley
The devil is disguised an angel. He thought she was cool, but it turned out she wasn’t. It happens. This song is very much to the point- “woman, you are the devil.” It’s simple bubblegum pop fun. Sometimes that is all a song needs to be. Not all songs need to have deep meaning, like “In the Ghetto.” Just sing along, that’s all Elvis is asking of you.
Walk like an angel
Talk like an angel
You’re the devil in disguise
Oh yes you are
The devil in disguise
Oh yes you are
The devil in disguise
Oh yes you are
The devil in disguise…
Here is a song about coming to terms with your shadow side. The shadow side is that part of you that maybe you don’t want to acknowledge, or perhaps has gone unacknowledged. What happens when you accept your shadows? You become whole. The devil can represent these shadows. By accepting them, you beat the devil because they no longer have a hold on you. This is a very deep, poetic song.
Back when failure had me locked out on the wrong side of the door.
When no-one stood behind me but my shadow on the floor,
And lonesome was more than a state of mind.
If you don’t wanna join him, you got to beat him.
I ain’t sayin’ I beat the devil, but I drank his beer for nothing.
Then I stole his song.
To the things that I am sayin’, prayin’ someone’s gonna hear.
And I guess I’ll die explaining how the things that they complain about,
Are things they could be changin’, hopin’ someone’s gonna care.
But I’ve got to feed the hunger in my soul.
And if I never have a nickle, I won’t ever die ashamed.
‘Cos I don’t believe that no-one wants to know.
Devil Without a Cause by Kid Rock
The ego as represented by the devil. The devil, being all that he can be to badass means that to be just like the devil, as Kid Rock asserts that he is in this song, means that he too is all that he can be in being badass, or in this case, notorious. By being as badass as the devil, he suggests he will attain significant popularity. He will “go platinum” in other words, just like the devil did. Did the devil ever “go platinum?” He must have. Why else would Kid Rock make such a big deal about it?
Up that ass for the nine eight (nine eight)
Never fake, shake, straight from the Great Lakes
Seven years on wax comin correct
Flat out you diss me punk
That’s when I pull a strap out
And I get to buck-buck-bucking…a fuck-fuck-fucking your hoes
Cause they know who’s runnin’ this shit, Top Dog I’m the C-E-O
Role model, your mother-fucking H-E-R-O
My motto, Be Cool…Keep Pimpin
Don’t sleep, we roll deep in a Lincoln
Four Vogues on a hundred spokes
We bust Biltmore Beavers and Top Dog Coats
We float like butterflies, sting like queen bees
Strapped with A-K’s straight from the Chinese
What the fuck’s goin on in the D
Bunch of white boys pimpin like the K-I-D
And it’s all good I got love for my honkeys
We roll thick kick ass like donkeys
Anybody fuck’s with you and I’m gonna mack ’em
Devil without a cause…I’m going platinum
I’m going Platinum
I’m going Platinum
We’re going platinum
Devil without a cause…I’m going platinum
Uh
Devil…Devil…
Devil in a Sleeping Bag by Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson and the band are on tour and things are not going well. This tour is in fact, a horrible, horrible experience. The worst ever. It is worse than Hell. It is so miserable, in fact, that not even the devil is having a good time. How miserable do things have to be that even the devil is suffering? That pretty much sums up life on the road with Willie Nelson in this song.
We were headed home in Austin
Caught pneumonia on the road
Taking it home to Connie and the kids
A wheel ran off and jumped a railroad
Then ran through a grocery store
If you want to buy a bus I’m taking bids
And the devil shivered in his sleeping bag
He said traveling on the road is such a drag
If we can make it home by Friday we can brag
And the devil shivered in his sleeping bag…
Devils and Angels by Toby Lightman
Nothing stays the same. Change is hard to face sometimes, no matter how inevitable it is. We get used to things being a certain way, be they a relationship, friendship, career, home or whatever. When we are comfortable and content, it is easy to say the angels are with us. But what happens the minute something changes that disturbs our established comfort? We immediately blame the devil. Sometimes.
…’Cause I used to have angels
They used to watch over me
When love was not a stranger
But love ain’t what it used to be
And I don’t want these devils
They’re knocking at my door
So, I can’t love you no more
No more…
Devil’s Haircut by Beck
The city is getting to him. Maybe it’s too intense for him to handle. This isn’t the life he is used to, and he’s giving in to it. He’s going to conform. He’s going to get a “Devil’s Haircut.”
And everywhere I look
There’s a dead end waiting
Temperature’s dropping at the rotten oasis
Stealing kisses from the leperous faces
Mouthwash jukebox gasoline
pistols are pointing
At a poor man’s pockets
Smiling eyes ripping out of his sockets
Got a devil’s haircut in my mind
Got a devil’s haircut in my mind
Got a devil’s haircut in my mind…
He is on the run from the law. His crime, it is suggested, is polygamy. But maybe there is more to it than that. Who knows? Anyway, when you are a criminal, society treats you as the lowest of the low? Who do you have to count on? The devil? The friend of the devil? But when these are your only friends, you have to ask, “Who can I trust?” The devil. He’ll loan you what you need, money or whatever, but he’ll take it right back from you. Do you ever get ahead when you count on the devil?
Didn’t get to sleep that night ’til the morning came around
Set out runnin’, but I take my time
A friend of the Devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before daylight
Just might get some sleep tonight
Ran into the Devil, babe, he loaned me twenty bills
Spent the night in Utah in a cave up in the hills
I ran down to the levee, but the Devil caught me thereTook my twenty dollar bill and he vanished in the air…
Evil. Pure evil. That’s what this woman is. That’s what she is, and she ain’t nothing else. Here we have the devil as represented by the feminine form. Woman as the evil destroyer of man. Who needs personal accountability when you can blame your problems on the devil, whatever form he or she may take? This guy needs to take responsibility for his own actions and not use the devil as a scapegoat so much.
Be careful of them neighborhood strays
Of a lady with long black hair
Tryin’ to win you with her feminine ways
Crystal ball on the table
Showing the future, the past
Same cat with them evil eyes
You’d better get out of there fast
With evil on her mind
Beware the devil woman
She’s gonna get you
She’s just a devil woman
With evil on her mind
Beware the devil woman
She’s gonna get you…
It was dark there was dirt all around
But I gather you can figure that
And I’ll lead you where you might find yourself
Better if you follow me
You’ll meet the devil at the bottom of a wishing well
You know you better give him something
Give him something good
Like everybody else he’s misunderstood…
You muthafucka’!
We challenge you, to a rock-off!
Give us one chance to rock your socks off.
The Demon Code prevents me,
From declining a rock-off challenge.
What are your terms? What is the ca-ha-hatch?
And also you will have to pay our rent…
[JB] Trust me Kage, its the only way.
[KG] What are you talking about?
He neither complain nor did he groan but was determined to start a hell of his own
Where he could torment the souls of men without being chained in a prison pen
So he asked the Lord if he had on hand anything left when he made this land
The Lord said yes there’s a plenty of hand but if I left it down by the Rio Grande
The fact is ol’ boy the stuff is so poor
I don’t think you could use it as the hell anymore
But the devil went down to look at the truck
And said if he took it as a gift he was stuck
For after lookin’ that over carefully and well he said this place is too dry for hell
But in order to get it off his hand the Lord promised the devil to water the land
So trade was closed and deed was given and the Lord went back to his home in heaven
And the devil said now I got all what’s needed to make it good hell and he succeeded…
No, I did not make no deal
So don’t wait for me to die
a hellhound driving limousine
He’s got a fire breathing demon driver
who is life satanic fiend
He’s got a black goatee and javalina teeth
and a rattlesnake on his sleeve
He’s got pointy red boots with diamond studs
And a smile made to deceive
weren’t so simple, no
when I jumped out, on that road
got no love, no love you’d call real
got nobody, waitin’ at home
runnin’ with the devil
(hold on. hold on, i’m runnin’! ah, yeah!)
runnin’ with the devil
(uh! uh! come on, one more time) …
Could I believe?
That what I saw that night was real and not just fantasy
in my old dreams
were they
reflections of my walk man staring back at me?
it’s always there
the evil face that twists my mind and brings me to despair
was no use holding back
‘Cause I just had to see
was someone watching me
In the mist
dark figures move and twist
was all this for real
or just some kind of hell
6-6-6 the Number of the Beast
Hell and fire was spawned to be released…
Devil Got My Woman by Skip James
Man! How messed up does a woman have to be for the man in her life to rather be the devil than be with her?
I’d rather be the devil, to be that woman man
Aw, nothin’ but the devil, changed my baby’s mind
Was nothin’ but the devil, changed my baby’s mind
I laid down last night, tried to take my rest
My mind got to ramblin’, like a wild geese
From the west, from the west
Woman I loved, took her from my best friend
But he got lucky, stoled her back again
And he got lucky, stoled her back again.
He’s laying it on the line. He’s got fire in his hands. You know what to expect from him. If you don’t want to get burned, stay back. If you can handle the heat, come close. Sounds simple enough.
In my hand
If you don’t want a fire
Step out of my light
Walk on by
Just look away
‘Cause if you’re on my path
You’re better off deadDevil’s plaything
In my hands
If you don’t want pain
You don’t understand
Got a light
Shines on me
If you wanna touch flames
Then Come unto me…
Devil Town by Daniel Johnston
How could she not know he was living in a Devil Town? How could he not know he was a vampire? Wow. Sometimes we have to stop and really do some soul searching, don’t we?
I was living in a Devil TownDidn’t know it was a Devil TownOh, Lord, it really brings me down
About the Devil Town
And all my friend were vampires
Didn’t know they were vampires
Turns out I was a vampire myself
In the Devil Town I was living in a Devil TownDidn’t know it was a Devil Town
Oh Lord it really brings me down
About the Devil Town.
Devil’s Whorehouse by The Misfits
They live on the dark side and are proud of it. When they sin, they sin good.
When I sin, I sin for sure
Come alive in the house that screams
Come alive in the house that screams
This is the devil’s whorehouse
Night time for beating backs
Said this is the devil’s whorehouse
Night time for midnight masses
When I sin, I sin real good
When I sin, I sin for sure…
Chase the Devil by Eagles of Death Metal
Here we have the story of a man looking for a woman, a good and slutty woman.
I’m ready to roll,
You know I’m getting ready to do it
I gotta feeling on a Saturday night
I’m gonna bow for a woman
Who could help me chase the devil, oh yeah
I’m gonna chase the devil tonight
I’m gotta feel it and I feel real good
I gotta feeling on a Saturday night
I wanna bow to the woman
Who can help me chase the devil
Yeah, help me chase the devil tonight
Get down!
Gonna chase the devil tonight…
The devil is a man. Yeah! Devil Man! Devil Man! The devil is among us. He is. Look around. That’s him over there- Devil Man!
…Yeah, inbreed the witches and worship the dogs – deformed and fuck?n lazy!
Damn yourself and choke on my name I?d love to love ya baby!
Deadringer rats swinging in the trees – immaculate conception
Bury me an angel, god, I need some inspiration! yeah!
Devilman – devilman, calling devilman running my head, yeah!
Devilman – devilman, calling devilman running my head, yeah…
The Ballad of Thunder Road by Robert Mitchum
The classic moonshine ballad that tells the story of the movie Thunder Road. The father makes the whiskey. The son drives the load. The law is out to get them. The devil is thirsty. This is the story of Thunder Road.
Let me tell the story, I can tell it all
About the mountain boy who ran illegal alcohol
His daddy made the whiskey, son, he drove the load
When his engine roared, they called the highway Thunder Road.
Sometimes into Ashville, sometimes Memphis town
The revenoors chased him but they couldn’t run him down
Each time they thought they had him, his engine would explode
He’d go by like they were standin’ still on Thunder Road.
And there was thunder, thunder over Thunder Road
Thunder was his engine, and white lightning was his load
There was moonshine, moonshine to quench the Devil’s thirst
The law they swore they’d get him, but the Devil got him first…
…Roarin’ out of Harlan, revvin’ up his mill
He shot the gap at Cumberland, and screamed by Maynordsville
With T-men on his taillights, roadblocks up ahead
The mountain boy took roads that even Angels feared to tred.
Blazing right through Knoxville, out on Kingston Pike,
Then right outside of Bearden, they made the fatal strike.
He left the road at 90; that’s all there is to say.
The devil got the moonshine and the mountain boy that day.
The Devil Made a Masterpiece by Johnny Horton
The devil’s finest creation – the woman that did him wrong. Truly, the devil’s masterpiece.
The devil made a work of art when he created you.
He used the moon beams for your hair
the sky for eyes so blue.
From the fires he made your lips
to promise things untrue.
He knew he had a masterpiece when he created you…
Down Bound Train by Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry made this song out of an old poem called Hell Bound Train. George Thorogood later took inspiration from the same poem and recorded it using its original title. It is the story of a man repenting his sins, having dreamed he was headed for Hell on a train. A very visual, very moving piece.
Had drank so much he could drink no more,
So he fell asleep with a troubled brain
To dream that he rode on that down bound train.
And brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp,
And imps for fuel was shovelling bones
While the furnace rang with a thousand groans.
The devil himself was the engineer,
The passengers were most a motley crew,
Rich men and lost beggars in rags
Handsome young ladies and wicked old hags.
As the train rushed on at a terrible pace
Sulphuric fumes scorched their hands and face,
Wider and wider the country grew
Faster and faster the engine flew,
Louder and louder the thunder crashed
Brighter and brighter the lighting flashed,
Hotter and hotter the air became
Till their clothes were burned with each quivering refrain.
Then out of the din there came a yell
Ha ha said the devil we’re nearing home,
Oh how the passengers shrieked with pain
They go to Satan with this down bound train.
The stranger awoke with an anguished cry
His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high,
He fell on his knees on the bar room floor
And prayed a prayer like never before.
And the prayers and vows were not in vain
For he never rode that down bound train.
Tie a Knot in the Devil’s Tail (Cowbow Standard)
A bunch of bored cowboys find the devil and just to fuck with him, they tied knots in his tail. Ha ha ha. Good joke.
…Say he you ornery cowboy skunks you better hunt your holes
For I’ve come up from hells Rim Rock to gather in your souls
Says Sandy Bob old devil be damned we boys is kinda tight
And ya ain’t gonna get no cowboy souls without one hell of a fight
So Snady Bob punched a hole in his rope and he swang her straight and true
And he lapped it onto the devils’ horns and he taken his dallies too
Now Buster Jiggs was a reita man with his gut line coiled up neat
So he shakes her out and he built him a loop and he lassoed up the devil’s hind feet
Well they stretched him out and they tailed him down while the iron was gettin’ hot
And they cropped and swallow forked both his ears and they branded him up a lot
They pruned him up whit a dehorning saw and they knotted his tail for a joke
And then rode off and left him there neck to a blackjack oak
So if your ever up high in the Sierra peaks and you hear one hell of a wail
You’ll know it’s that devil a bellerin’ about them knots tied in his tail.
