The Truth about the Caroll County Accident?
Tiny Dancer
And so the word went out from sp...@costs.us.all:
>I don't know if this C&W song came out in the 70's or earlier but I
>remember hearing it on a K-tel album I owned (chartstoppers or
>something). Anyways I never sould figure out the story. Exactly what
>was the truth about the Caroll county accident?
My news server doesn't show any other messages, so forgive this if it's a
repeat, here's the lyrics:
Carroll County Accident
Recorded by Porter Waggoner
Carroll County's pointed out as kind of square
The biggest thing that happens is the county fair,
I guess that's why we thought it such a big event,
What we call the Carroll County accident.
The wreck was on the highway just outside the line,
Walter Browning lost his life and for a time
It seemed that Mary Ellen Jones would surely die,
But she lived long enough for her to testify.
Mary Ellen testified that he flagged her down,
Said he was sick and could she drive him into town,
No one ever doubted what she said was true,
'Cause she was well respected in the county too.
I went down to see the wreck like all the rest,
The broken glass the bloody seats the tangled mess,
But I found something no one else had ever seen,
Behind the dash in Mary's crumpled up machine.
A little match box circled by a rubber band,
And inside the ring from Walter Browning's hand,
It took awhile to figure out just what it meant,
The truth about the Carroll County accident.
By dark of night I dropped the ring into a well,
And took a sacred oath that I would never tell,
The truth about the Carroll County accident,
For the County ordered Dad a marble monument,
Yes, I lost him in the Carroll County accident.
So, as best as I can figure out, the singer's father was having an
affair with this Mary Ellen tramp ;-) What *I* could never figure out
was why the heck Dad got himself a marble monument for dying
in a car crash! Was he a big deal in town? Loved the tune at the
time I had it, wore it out practically, goodness only knows why.
Cheers,
TD
Webmistress of The Sesame Street Lyric & Sound Archives
http://www.nelsonbay.com/insanity/tiny/sesame1.html
well somebody had to do it!
hip...@delosnet.com
Yeah one would imagine in a county that's described as "square" that the
marble monument was because he was someone important... a war hero? a
former mayor?
Taking the ring off to have sex with a tramp is a bit extreme. Anyway, I
have the song on a Dolly Parton double album. It's the one that includes
such favorites as YOU'RE GONNA BE SORRY, BIG WIND, MULE SKINNER BLUES and
my all time favorite, D*I*V*O*R*C*E!
Dolly! Dolly!! Dolly!!!
Evelyn Paul
It was Ode to Billy Joe. He committed suicide by jumping off a bridge.
They later turned it into a movie with Robbie Benson
sp...@costs.us.all wrote in article
<354b27f...@news.edmonton.agt.net>...
> x-no-archive: yes
Tickz
"Although I guess the basic theme is the same I don't really think there was a
connection between these 2 stories, was there? I suspect both songs were
somehow based on true stories though."
Caroll County is also mentioned in "Ode to Billy Joe", as in ..."put a frog
down her back at the Caroll County picture show". That is if I am remembering
it correctly. Busy county!
Marie Braden
BZZT! The truth about the Carroll County Accident was that Walter
Browning and Mary Ellen Jones were having an affair. The Singer had
found his/her DAD's wedding ring in a matchbox inside the car......
--------
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Charles P. Hobbs
sp...@costs.us.all wrote:
>
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> Thanks to all who replied. I think I get the gist of the story now,
> but why did Mary Ellen have to testify? Was there a trial? Why?
> It was just a car accident, they happen every day.
>
> Also I guess sex scandals were more unheard of when this song came
> out. The sinning going on in this song seems rather tame by todays
> standards, doesn't it? Not that I want to get into a discussion on
> morals here, just an observation:)
I don't remember when the Carroll County Accident song came out, but
I do remember another old song about an even bigger scandal. . .one
sung by Tex Ritter about a rather interesting hotel fire. . .
Scott Starr
glintasandra...@gmail.com
They would have been going the wrong way if they were running away.
space...@gmail.com
> And so the word went out from sp...@costs.us.all:
>
> >remember hearing it on a K-tel album I owned (chartstoppers or
> >something). Anyways I never sould figure out the story. Exactly what
> >was the truth about the Caroll county accident?
>
artd...@gmail.com
The carrol county in ode to billy joe is in Mississippi...
Ok it's not the singers father that died but i believe the county deputy as it seems he knew how to investigate and where to look for evidence...
This may be why there are no longer railroads in carroll county.
artd...@gmail.com
.
Had an aunt and uncle in Eureka Springs Ar...that new all that were involved...
Heard the song and stories many times as a kid visiting my aunt and uncle.
