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He was on his way home from Candletop
Been two weeks gone and he thought he'd stop
At Webb's and have him a drink 'fore he went home to her
Andy Wolloe said "Hello"
And he said "Hi, what's doin', Wo?"
"Seth, sit down, I got some bad news, it's gonna hurt"
He said "I'm your best friend and you know that's right"
"But your young bride ain't home tonight"
"Since you been gone she's been seein' that Amos boy, Seth "
Well, he got mad 'n' he saw red and Andy said "Boy, don'tcha lose your head"
" 'cause to tell ya the truth, I been with her myself"
That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer
'cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands
Well, Andy got scared and left the bar
Walkin' on home 'cause he didn't live far
See, Andy didn't have many friends and he'd just lost him one
Brother thought his wife musta left town
So he went home and finally found
The only thing Papa had left him, that was a gun
And he went off to Andy's house
A'skippin' through the backwoods quiet as a mouse
Came upon some tracks too small for Andy to make
He looked through the screen at the back-porch door
And he saw Andy lyin' on the floor
In a puddle of blood and he started to shake
Well, the Georgia Patrol was a'makin' their rounds
So he fired a shot just to flag 'em down
And a big-bellied sheriff got his gun and said "why'dya do it?"
And the judge said "Guilty" in a make-believe trial
And slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile
Said' supper's waitin' at home and I gotta get to it"
That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer
'cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands
Well, they hung my brother before I could say
The tracks he saw while on his way
To Andy's house and back that night were mine
And his cheatin' wife had never left town
And that's one body that'll never be found
See, little sister don't miss when she aims her gun
That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia, oh-oh-aah
That's the night that they hung an innocent man, ah-huh-unh
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer
FADE
'cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands
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1.) Andy does Seth (his best friend) a solid by tipping him off to his wife's cheating on him with Amos, and confesses his own indiscretion with her. And Seth repays this honesty by trying to kill Andy? Shouldn't he be angrier at Amos? (I won't even touch the "Amos & Andy" thing.)
2.) Little sister decides to off Andy (again, poor honest Andy, not Amos) on the very same night that her brother comes home and goes gunning for Andy himself. She couldn't have set him up better if she tried.
3.) "They hung my brother before I could say..." What? Even a "make-believe" trial should've given her plenty of time to say, "Uh... judge?... by the way, I did it, not my brother."
UNLESS... Little Sister was abused by her brother (who was probably a drunk -- first place he hits on returning to town is the bar) and this is her genius plan to get him back AND take out a few other weasels while she's at it. (It is the South, after all.)
(His cheating wife, Seth Amos, Andy Wolloe, the Judge and the Sheriff and who knows who else....) The Young Wife was a slut who married a man who was frequently out of town which gave her not only financial security, but time to sleep with every man who would have her.
"His little sister" killed the slut and Andy Wolloe, she probably did not know that her brother was back in town as he had not gone to see her or contact her. She did not set up her brother, she merely left the gun where "He" would find it so he would know that his little sister had taken care of things for him without anyone else knowing about it. She did her dirty work when she thought "he" would be out of town in order to give him an alibi.
"He" went to the bar first to see his best friend because the bar was the first place he came to upon reentering town as the bars were usually on the outskirts of town so the locals could not protest to a drinking establishment being so close to the center of residences and schools (which were usually in the center of town to make it less of a walk for school children.)
Also, she did not get the opportunity to take care of the rest of the Weasels as they would be looking over their shoulders when they found out about Andy Wolloe, nor did she have time to clean up after killing Andy as her brother was nearing the crime scene, or maybe she left Andy on the floor in a puddle of blood as a warning to the other scumbags who had wronged her brother.
I understand it to be that Seth Amos is one of the guys cheating with the wife and is not the main character (Brother.)
" 'cause to tell ya the truth, I been with her myself"
"He" is not given a name in the original version performed by Vicki Lawrence
" 'cause to tell ya the truth, I been with her myself"
Basically, the sister finds out her sister-in-law is cheating on her brother and she takes things into her own hands and takes her out to the woods and does her in the back of the head and buried the body...and then takes out the guys who slept with her...and her brother in a fit of rage after being told by his best friend everything (excluding his sister's acts) goes up to his best friend's place - Andy - to give him what for and comes onto what is now a crime scene...he panics and sees a cop, flashes him down...and the rest everyone should be able to figure out. Her brother's the guy who was hung when the lights went out - though that may led you to believe he was put in the chair . . . they should have done a whole concept album and she should have ended up taking out the Sheriff, Judge, Mayor everyone who basically hung him without evidence, trial, etc.
Look at the situation...his wife was cheating on him with another man, and he was caught outside his house with the same gun that was used to kill him.
So, he was caught with a gun that fired the shots that killed the guy, he was immediately outside of his house, and he had the motive of him having stolen his girl.
There isn't a court on earth that would have found a guy innocent with all that evidence.
I like the song and think it is quite entertaining...but the character that Vicki plays is kinda deranged. Not only does she murder someone in cold blood, she seems to have absolved her guilt in the matter despite being directly responsible for all the events that went down, choosing instead to blame it on everyone else.
"He" is not given a name in the original version performed by Vicki Lawrence.
2)"He Fires a Shot Just to Flag 'Em Down."
3)The Lights Went Out in Georgia symbolizes that an injustice has been done and the citizens are 'Left in the Dark' about what really went on in this town. "He was hung by the neck until dead.
Seems like it is kinda odd to want to hear about how she took out the judge or whatever.
Look at the situation...his wife was cheating on him with another man, and he was caught outside his house with the same gun that was used to kill him.
So, he was caught with a gun that fired the shots that killed the guy, he was immediately outside of his house, and he had the motive of him having stolen his girl.
There isn't a court on earth that would have found a guy innocent with all that evidence.
I like the song and think it is quite entertaining...but the character that Vicki plays is kinda deranged. Not only does she murder someone in cold blood, she seems to have absolved her guilt in the matter despite being directly responsible for all the events that went down, choosing instead to blame it on everyone else.