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The Accident (Things Could Be Worse) Lyrics
Last night I saw an accident
on the corner of Third and Green
two cars collided and I got excited
just being part of that scene
It was Mrs. Tom Walker and her beautiful daughter
Pamela, was driving the car
they got hit by a man in a lite blue sedan
who had obviously been to a bar.
Chorus:
They don't know how lucky they are
they could have run into that tree
got struck by a bolt of lightning
and raped by a minority.
It was a four way stop dilemma
we all arrived the same time
I yielded to the man to the right of me
and he yielded it right back to mine
well, the yield went around and around and around
till Pamela finally tried
just then the man in the light blue sedan
hit Pamela's passenger side.
Chorus:
Pamela hit her head on the mirror
Mrs Walker got a bump on the knee
the man hit himself in the face and said
"Why does this happen to me?"
the neighbors came out
and they gathered about
saying "Hey! who hit who anyway?"
and the police arrived at a quarter to five
and pronounced all the victims "Okay".
Chorus:
on the corner of Third and Green
two cars collided and I got excited
just being part of that scene
Pamela, was driving the car
they got hit by a man in a lite blue sedan
who had obviously been to a bar.
They don't know how lucky they are
they could have run into that tree
got struck by a bolt of lightning
and raped by a minority.
we all arrived the same time
I yielded to the man to the right of me
and he yielded it right back to mine
well, the yield went around and around and around
till Pamela finally tried
just then the man in the light blue sedan
hit Pamela's passenger side.
Mrs Walker got a bump on the knee
the man hit himself in the face and said
"Why does this happen to me?"
the neighbors came out
and they gathered about
saying "Hey! who hit who anyway?"
and the police arrived at a quarter to five
and pronounced all the victims "Okay".
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Well I certainly don't think Prine meant any ill will towards "minorities" : The song is making fun of the 'well, things could be worse' mindset. "They don't know how lucky they are," when you get in an accident the damage is minor the default response seems to be "luckily there was not much damage, luckily no one was killed." He's playing with that and has an odd sense of humor.
John Prine wrote this song to prove once and for all that time travel into the past is impossible. If time travel were ever to become possible, the inventor, after having killed Hitler and won several lotteries, would go back to the late seventies and advise John Prine not to put lines about being raped by minorities into his songs because of the imminent advancement of cultural sensitivity in America. By that I mean I was only commenting on the fact that Prine wrote a lyric that is the opposite of timeless because America is a racially charged place
@MartinH4 I read elsewhere a quote from John. The gist was that he visited a town where there was a rape. Someone apparently asked if the rapist was black or white. John was confused as to why someone needed to ask that as a rapist is a rapist no matter what. Apparently he was whiteness to a car accident and so the song was born. A light hearted play on how lucky that no one got hurt. Accusations of racism don’t have to be thrown at every comment.
@MartinH4 I read elsewhere a quote from John. The gist was that he visited a town where there was a rape. Someone apparently asked if the rapist was black or white. John was confused as to why someone needed to ask that as a rapist is a rapist no matter what. Apparently he was whiteness to a car accident and so the song was born. A light hearted play on how lucky that no one got hurt. Accusations of racism don’t have to be thrown at every comment.
@MartinH4 Imagine not getting the irony of Prine's lyrics.
@MartinH4 Imagine not getting the irony of Prine's lyrics.