Electric gallows
For those of us who tend to overthink pop culture stuff (one of mine is, why didn’t Dorothy just turn the hourglass over?), I offer Mike Benedetto’s treatise on “The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia.” He definitely clears up some questions I know I already had about the song, and brings up new ones at that. Great stuff.
Well, I used to really like that song. Now all I will ever think about is Mama’s Family.
But, too, too funny. Especially the part about returning Springer’s phone call.
It wasn’t the hourglass itself that was going to kill Dorothy, so turning it over wouldn’t help. The hourglass was just a timer, giving her an indication of how long she had before the witch would come back to kill her. Presumably, the witch was off somewhere cooking up a potion or something to kill her with. (“These things have to be done delicately.”) And anyway, it was just a dream.
I’m not sure which frightens me more:
The fact that someone analyzed the song
The fact that I read the whole damn thing.
Seemed like the right thing to do given that I’m heading back home (GA) tomorrow morning…
I’ve always wondered. Dave Barry said he and Vicki Lawrence were on a talk show and he asked her what the song meant. She said “I have no idea.”
Now can someone tell what Billy Joe McAllister threw off the Tallahatchee Bridge? (If this is common knowledge, I missed the discussion.)
Billy Joe threw himself off, because he couldn’t deal with his homosexual longings.
____________
I go now.
Aw, thanks, Adam. My next plan is to analyze the influence of O’Henry on “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).”
Or maybe I should have that shot now.
O. Henry, that is.
I don’t think so, Matt. The female narrator’s mother says somebody saw Billy Joe & a girl “who looked a lot like you” thowing something off the bridge, and then, after Billy Joe’s demise, narrator spends a lot of time throwing flowers off the bridge. Seems like a lot of water under that particular bridge.
Oh wait — sounds like Matt is right. Never mind.
Aaaand those of us who stared at the title “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” and tried vainly to get “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” out of our heads and then could only remember some bad, bad Mark Hamill film just kinda quietly slunk away.
(Hi Adam!)