Lyric discussion by Robert the Devil 

Cover art for Cross Road Blues lyrics by Robert Johnson

Lzphishhead -

Firstly, these lyrics allude to an old folklore that goes back far beyond the life and death of Robert Johnson; the belief that one could sell one's soul at a crossroad to the devil in return for something. Any artist or appreciator of art would tell you that most of understanding art is being able to read into inferences. Just because Johnson doesn't spell it out word for word, doesn't mean that it wasn't one of many intended meanings.

Secondly, if you had bothered to look into the myths, legends, and other songs of Johnson, you might have held your tongue before posting that admonishing reply. The myth (and I say myth instead of rumor intentionally, which I will get to later) was around even during Johnson's life time. It was most likely instigated by Son House's comment at the time that Johnson must have "sold his soul to the devil to play so good." It is not entirely presumptuous to say that Johnson fed off of this comment and turned it into a legend. This is why I say it is more than simple rumor. If you bother to look at some of his other songs, there is ample reference to the occult (i.e. "Hell Hound on My Trail" and "Me and the Devil Blues"). On top of further songs suggesting this deal with the Devil, there was the fact that he took up an acquaintance with Ike Zinnerman, a guitarist who was known at the time for practicing in graveyards, sitting atop tombstones. Guess what kind of stories became associated with that particular habit. Then, last but not least, there was the story of his death. The most prevelant theory about his death is that he was poisoned by the jealous husband of a woman with whom he was having an affair. It is believed that while he was able to live through the poisoning, his body, weakened from fighting off the poison, gave way to pneumonia. During his death, which was believed to have been preventable had a doctor been present, he sustained a high fever. There are stories that he talked about big black dogs attacking him as he died, and some stories even say that he began to howl like a dog himself, all of which, if true, were most likely due to fever induced hallucinations. However, when one hallucinates, much like when one dreams, the subconcious often plays puppetmaster to your hallucinations as much as outside stimuli, thus suggesting that he held some belief or fascination with the idea of having sold his soul to the devil.

In conclusion, with everything that went on both during Johnson's lifetime and after, it is far from idiotic to believe that his music at least had some iota of inference to the occult. In fact, I would go so far as to say it is entirely reasonable to believe that he had intentionally played upon these metaphors and allusions. However, what is short-sighted is to believe a man that was dubbed the "Grandfather of Rock 'N' Roll," inducted into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame, and cited as one of the greatest artists and guitar players of all time by many reputable sources, took no part in, if not entirely incapable of, instilling metaphors and indirect references into his lyrics.