While a lot of people here may have spent hours rawking out and pulling buffoonish poses to Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, it's safe to say that country rock musician Charlie Daniels wasn't quite as enthusiastic. Firstly, the guy is 71, and if performing high kicks and the splits is beyond us flexible twenty-somethings, it's probably going to be unrealistic for anyone who qualifies for a free bus pass. Secondly (and a lot more relevantly), he's not too chuffed about how one of his songs, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," has been presented by Legends of Rock.According to an entry by the musician on his blog, the song in question is "a lighthearted novelty about a fiddling contest between a country boy and the devil and the devil always loses," but try telling that to Guitar Hero III. Instead, the game has players competing on the song with old Beelzebub himself, in a face-off which the devil can win. Insert outraged gasps here!
Anyway, this is the main sticking point for Daniels, who accuses developer Neversoft of "perverting my song," and huffs that he's "disgusted with the result." He also describes the game as having "a dark side, complete with grotesque monsters on stage with the band, strange, eerie lighting effects and all manner of weird things popping up on the stage," and reckons it's "not the healthiest thing in the world for young, impressionable minds to be exposed to."
As it happens, Daniels' complaints look set to fall on deaf ears, because he sold off the publishing rights to the track. Nevertheless, his diatribe is worth a read, if only for a chuckle.
[Via Kotaku]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-07-2008 @ 5:14PM
wiifan93 said...
nobody wanted his stupid song on guitar hero anyway, so he can die. ;P
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4-07-2008 @ 5:24PM
bhengh said...
Wow, that's a little harsh. So he doesn't like the game. I don't think he insulted your mother or anything.
4-08-2008 @ 10:06AM
LiqwidZero said...
I heard the preview that Joystiq posted up a long while back, and even I thought the song was bastardized so bad that my ears felt like they were being raped.
I will never get those minutes back from my life. And, yes, curiosity most definitely killed the cat.
4-07-2008 @ 5:20PM
Joe H said...
I actually like the cover of it on Guitar Hero, but I think he's overreacting just a bit
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4-07-2008 @ 5:30PM
vidGuy said...
"a dark side, complete with grotesque monsters on stage with the band, strange, eerie lighting effects and all manner of weird things popping up on the stage,"
Wait, isn't that the whole point of rock shows? If anything, he should realize that, while the game 'devil' may win sometimes, most gamers will eventually beat the devil, thereby experiencing the emotion and novelty of doing so firsthand. That's gotta be worth something in his crazy world that never has any "eerie lights".
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4-07-2008 @ 5:32PM
Jumbo said...
Wow...
If he didn't want kids losing to a devil while his song plays in the background, he should have retained the rights.
Sucker.
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4-07-2008 @ 5:49PM
Ninegauger said...
Well, at least he's right. I mean, those stupid battle modes are a perversion of Guitar Hero... and the fact that the Devil (or Tom Morello or Slash) can win is bull-shit.
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4-07-2008 @ 5:59PM
Roto13 said...
"He also describes the game as having "a dark side, complete with grotesque monsters on stage with the band, strange, eerie lighting effects and all manner of weird things popping up on the stage," and reckons it's "not the healthiest thing in the world for young, impressionable minds to be exposed to.""
He wrote a song about SATAN GATHERING SOULS. An 8-ball leather jacket and a pair of shades isn't going to corrupt anyone more than the idea of gambling your soul for a golden fiddle.
Also, the vocals in the original version suck ass, so nyah.
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4-07-2008 @ 6:01PM
Jeff said...
jeez... he made the song, and has some emotional attachment to it. ...Now it's being used in a way he doesn't like, and *GASP* he says so in his BLOG.
isn't that exactly the purpose of having a blog? to say things about stuff? especially about stuff to which you have an emotional attachment? even more so when you see that thing being used in a way that you don't like? ...for christ-sakes, he's not suing or anything, just voicing his opinion *as the person who created the damn song.*
I couldn't give a shit about guitar hero, and i think this guy has every right to say what he wants to, and that in many ways he has a point. ...it's too bad the game creators don't give a shit about the musicians, so long as the copyright owners / publishing-right-holders get a cut of the money, they're happy. In an imaginary world, it would have been cool for the game publisher to actually get the artists involved and let them have some input on how their song gets used. ...but we don't live in that imaginary world, so this guy posted his thoughts on freakin' blog. He's not going to hurt your precious games. lay off the smarminess.
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4-07-2008 @ 6:14PM
Abscissa said...
"In an imaginary world, it would have been cool for the game publisher to actually get the artists involved and let them have some input on how their song gets used."
In an imaginary world, all musicians would know enough about good game design that none of their demands about how the song is used would ever be bad ideas within the context of a videogame.
I do like the idea of getting the artists involved, but the reality is, unless the game developers were contractually guaranteed final say, then that would just be asking for all sorts of trouble. It would effectively end up being a "design by committee" where the majority of the committee is operating outside the realm of their expertise.
4-07-2008 @ 7:25PM
Max Headroom said...
Right on Jeff. I'm glad someone on this site has a little sense.
4-07-2008 @ 10:02PM
vidGuy said...
In a logical world, you would have realized that if HE has the right to complain about something on his blog that we should have the right to counter his arguments on another BLOG. It works both ways you know, so I will continue to be smarmy if I feel like it.
4-07-2008 @ 11:47PM
Jeff said...
@vidGuy
there's a difference between "countering his argument" and writing a crappy cartoon picture of his point, with phrases like "and he huffs that..." ...then calling his opinion a diatribe ("a forceful and bitter attack"? really?)
I'm all about "countering arguments" ...but to me, this is just bizarre reactionary smarminess. (which, if we extend your "everyone gets free speech" comment, i have the "right" to call this article what i believe it to be.) Continue to be smarmy, and i'll continue to say "lay off the smarminess" when i feel it's appropriate. ...until one of us gets tired or bored. :)
you know what? i'm already tired and bored.
4-07-2008 @ 6:05PM
Croove55 said...
That's funny. He calls it his song in the article. You see, where I come from, when you sell something, you no longer OWN it.
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4-07-2008 @ 10:03PM
vidGuy said...
Licensing is different than ownership.
4-07-2008 @ 10:38PM
J rod said...
It's still his song. He created it.
4-07-2008 @ 10:57PM
Croove55 said...
Okay, I'm a complete idiot. my bad.
4-07-2008 @ 6:16PM
mykie said...
I'm on Charlie's side.
His song is just one of many things Activision "perverted" in the latest GH installment.
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4-07-2008 @ 6:33PM
Macroy said...
Along with the gameplay?
4-07-2008 @ 6:50PM
Dan said...
The music industry is pretty ruthless on artists. I doubt he had much of a choice. Personally, I don't agree with him... but as an artist, I think he should have the right.
In Europe, there are stronger protections for the moral rights of artists. So even if they sell off the rights to profit from the work, they can still stop it from being used in grotesque ways (e.g.: political advertisements)
Artists are by their nature protective of their works. I chuckle. But I know as a musician, I'd probably talk for 2 hours about the perversion of it all.
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4-07-2008 @ 6:50PM
AshStampede said...
When i first played it, at about the 3 or 4 gig I detected where the "story" was going and hoped I'd play his song. them bam! stupid cover. I actully want the original,not performed by him but not a rock fest cover.
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4-08-2008 @ 8:45AM
Ghen said...
I like the cover. It is Guitar hero after all, not fiddle hero.
4-07-2008 @ 6:51PM
Brento said...
Charlie got himself Born Again so that explains his anger at the devil one upping him. Though it doesnt explain his stupidity in selling off the rights to the song. Ya would figure everyone knew better after seeing the Beatles do this years before.
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4-07-2008 @ 6:53PM
Mountain lion link said...
I'll say this now, "Fuck all of you that want to hate Charlie Daniels and his opinion." While I'm not agreeing with religious stance that he is secretly making, I do agree about the "not the healthiest thing in the world for young, impressionable minds to be exposed to." Since the three previous Guitar Hero games have sucked in my opinion and have just been pathetic attempts to get more non-gamers to purchase games.
Really South Park summed it up the best, "YOU ARE GAY."
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4-07-2008 @ 7:36PM
Akbar Fazil said...
I suggest Charlie (and everyone here for a good laugh) read "THIRTY-NINE QUESTIONS FOR CHARLIE DANIELS UPON HEARING "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" for the First Time in 25 Years."
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2005/8/16moe.html
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4-07-2008 @ 7:50PM
Sven8705 said...
Wait wait wait... Charlie Daniels has a blog?
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4-07-2008 @ 11:49PM
Jeff said...
hahah i know.
blogging at 71.
I know people who, at only 30, "still can't figure out all this internets stuff." :P
4-07-2008 @ 8:31PM
idiot said...
I'm the devil...
I love metal...
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4-08-2008 @ 3:13AM
the_thriller said...
Man... I've said it before...
This isn't the first time that a rock version of this song has come out. It's just the first time that it's been mainstream.
The Toy Dolls do a version called The Devil Went Down To Scunthorpe, which is better as it's an actual song with emotion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Dolls
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4-08-2008 @ 11:39AM
TheCoats said...
Well- as funny as that was - VERY!!! - I have to say some people (especially older generation) just dont get video games and think that it makes people bad people through magic!!!!!
......I would bet 100 dollars he would have voted for Mike Huckabee!!
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4-08-2008 @ 2:12PM
FrankTheCrank said...
They tried to kill the METAL! But you can't kill the METAL!!!
Tenacious D rulz!!!
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4-08-2008 @ 5:33PM
ono1124 said...
hello
What's the song titel on Guitar-Hero tv commercial ?
The first and second please
;)
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4-09-2008 @ 8:28AM
Ed Ostling said...
Reality to Mr Daniels... devils dont exist, and the power button can turn off the scary beasties.
/devils as antagonists? in my video games?
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