The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia

"The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" is a Southern Gothic song written by songwriter Bobby Russell and performed in 1972 by his then-wife Vicki Lawrence; Reba McEntire later covered it in 1991.

Recorded in late October 1972 and released less than two weeks later in November 1972, the song centers around the older brother of the female singer. In a sense, the song is a fast-tempo ballad, with an intricate plot for a short song.

Plot of song

The lyrics are narrated by a young woman telling the story of her older brother (Raymond Brody), who returns home after a two-week trip and meets his best friend (Andy Wo-lo) at Web's bar. Andy informs him that his wife has been cheating on him with another man ("that Amos boy Seth"), and then for good measure Andy reveals that he too has been sleeping with Raymond's wife. Raymond understandably gets upset, which scared Andy so Andy left the bar and walked home. Finding his home empty, Raymond assumes his wife left town, so he gets his gun ("the only thing Papa had left him") and heads out to murder Andy. When he arrives there, he finds small tracks outside the house, and discovers that someone has already killed Andy. He fires his gun in the air to summon a passing sheriff, but when he is found standing over the dead body with a smoking gun, he is arrested for murder. He is wrongly convicted in a speedy ("make-believe") trial, and hanged that night at midnight. In the final verse, the singer then reveals that it was she ("little sister") who killed Andy, and that she also killed her promiscuous sister-in-law ("one body that'll never be found").

Beyond simply the typical police corruption, the song relates that the judge is just as corrupt as the officer, and also heartless, when rendering the guilty verdict: "slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile, said "supper's waiting at home and I gotta get to it". In the music video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqZVZGo2mXc] you find that the judge was also sleeping with the wife and wouldn't listen to the truth to protect himself "Cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hand."

Reception

The song was a number-one hit for Lawrence (who was then a regular on "The Carol Burnett Show") on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, and also reached the top forty of Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart. The song was number one for two weeks, being succeeded by Tony Orlando and Dawn's "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree".

"The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" was first offered to Cher, but her then-husband and manager Sonny Bono reportedly turned it down (he was said to be concerned that the song might offend Cher's southern fans). [ [http://www.superseventies.com/sw_nightthelightswoig.html "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" ] ] Note that although the song was #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, it in fact, only reached the top forty of Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart, despite having "Georgia" in the song title and despite Vicki Lawrence's country-style presentation, in a checkerboard outfit ("see album-cover image at top").

Covers by other artists

Tanya Tucker recorded a different version for the 1981 film "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" although with some altered lyrics which reflected the plot line of the movie, which is not the same as the story of the original song.

"The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" enjoyed a renewed push in popularity in 1991, when country music singer Reba McEntire released her own version of the song. The song, included on McEntire's "For My Broken Heart" album, hit #12 on "Billboard magazine"'s Hot Country Songs chart; the song also had a hit music video, which has seen extensive airplay on The Nashville Network, GAC, and CMT.

Another 11 years later, pop singer Taylor Horn covered McEntire's version of the song in 2002 for her album, "taylor-made". The song was also recorded by artist Daniel Selby in 1985 on his LP "Finishing Touches" for Davis / Capitol.

Although not recorded, Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland performed the song on CMT Giants:REBA in honor of Reba McEntire.

Also, Vicki Lawrence & Reba McEntire performed it together on Vicki's talkshow "Vicki."

ee also

*Murder ballad

References