From: fokke.de.jong@chello.nl
The storyline in "Bringing Mary home" is - in different versions - much
older than "The Twilight Zone".
Stories with approximately the same content were already going round before
the beginning of the previous century - before 1900 that is.
This version of a girl from a car wreck was put to words in the form of a
poem and also to music by someone around the end of the fifties and sent to
Bill Clifton. As he told in several of his appearances throughout the world,
he liked the poem very much, but did not like the melody that came with it.
That is why he asked John Duffy to write a new melody for it.
Bill recorded the song in 1965 together with a lot of others in order to
have enough material 'on stock' foe a couple of new albums to be released
while he was travelling outside the USA.
John Duffy was permitted to also record the song with the 'Gents' and that
recording was released way before Bill Clifton's version was.
That is why the version of the Country Gentlemen became more popular than
Bill's, although the Gents recorded it in 1971, six years later than Bill
did.
Peculiar thing is, that the wellknown Gents-version is missing something
like a complete verse.
When Bill Clifton asked John Duffy why they did not do that part, John
replied that they 'just must have forgot it'.
Here is the complete poem in its original form:
Bringing Mary home - Biil Clifton's version (1965)
I was driving down a lonely road, on a dark and stormy night
When a little girl by the roadside showed up in my head lights
I stopped and she got inside and in a shaky tone
She said my name is Mary, please won't you take me home
She must have been so frightened, all alone there in the night
There was something strange about her, 'cause her face was deathly white
She sat so pale and quite in the back seat all alone
I never will forget tha night I took Mary home
I pulled into the driveway, where she told me to go
Got out to help her from the car and opened up the door
But I just could not believe my eyes, the back seat it was bare
I looked all around the car, but Mary wasn't there
A light shone from the porch, someone opened up the door
And as I walked towards the house I wondered more and more
What happened to that little girl so frightened and forlorn
Could I have just been dreaming bringing Mary home
I walked up to the lady who was standing in the door
And asked about the little girl that I was looking for
She gently smiled and with her hand she brushed a tear away
And said it sure was nice of you to go out of your way
But thirteen years ago today, in a wreck just down the road
Our darling Mary lost her life and we miss her so
O thank you for your trouble and the kindness you have shown
You're the 13th one who's been here bringing Mary home
Kind regards,
Fokke de Jong
Drachten, Fryslân
"Lane Gray, Czar Castic" schreef in bericht
news:op.sxie6for8955ol@cpe-69-76-185-251.kc.res.rr.com...
> I'd always sorta thought the connection seemed awfully apocryphal,
> so I asked the webmaster of a pretty comprehensive episode guide
> whether BMH did, in fact, originate from a TZ episode.
> He wrote:
> I don't believe that this was ever a TZ episode. I
> have heard the story, however. Another anthology
> series may have had an episode based on this
> story/song. Check here for links to various anthology
> series:
>
> http://tzone.the-croc.com/other.html
> I haven't yet gone surfing there.
>
>
>
> --
> Lane Gray
> And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed
> Gen. 3:25
> get the .lead out to reply
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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