Lyr Req: Old Virginia Ballad

13 Apr 02 - 10:13 AM (#689107)
Subject: Old Virginia Ballad
From: GUEST,[e-mail]

Hello, I am looking for a song my mother used to sing while I was growing up... she was born and raised in the Wise Co. area of VA. The ballad was a very long one about a man that was driving drunk and he came around a curve, where a young brother & sister were walking down the road holding hands ......... he hits them both and one was thrown in the ditch and the other was dragged down the road, anyway it turns out to be this man's own children. It was very sad and always gave me goosebumps... I used to beg my mother to sing it, she would sing alot of ballad type songs and could yodel fairly well also! But she didn't think she had a good voice. I loved to hear her sing. She has Alzhiemer's now and can't tell me the name or the lyrics. I would love any info if this song rings a bell to anyone out there. Thanks, Nancy

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13 Apr 02 - 11:19 AM (#689121)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE DRUNKEN DRIVER
From: GUEST,Gene

Recorded by Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper; Molly O'Day & Ferlin Husky, to name a few...

THE DRUNKEN DRIVER

Friends something been haunting me
And I just gotta tell you about it
I saw an accident one day
That would chill the heart of any man
And teach him not to drink a drop
With the steering wheel in his hand
This awful accident occurred
On the 20th day of May
And caused two dear little children
To be sleeping beneath the clay
Their poor old mother she had died
And their daddy had run away
As these two little kids walked arm-in-arm
Down the state highway
How sad their hearts did feel
When around the curve came a speeding car
With a drunk man at the wheel
Well the drunk man saw the two little kids
And hollered a drunkard sound
Get out of the road, you little fools
But the car it brought them down
The bumper sruck the little girl
Taking her life away
While the little boy in a puddle of blood
In the ditch lieing there did lay
Well the drunk man staggered from his car
To see the damage that he had done
He let out a yell you could hear for miles
When he recognized his dying son
Such mourning from a drunken man
I have never heard before
While kneeling at the running board
He prayed to Heavens door
He said oh God please forgive me
For this awful crime i've done
When his attention then was called away
By the words of his dying son
He said Daddy; how come you run us to the ground?
It was you and Mommy we were talking about
when the car it brought us down
I was just telling little sister
I knew we would see you again someday
Why did it have to be like this?
Why did it have to be this way?
Why Daddy? Why?

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15 Apr 02 - 09:19 AM (#690381)
Subject: Lyr Add: DRUNKEN DRIVER
From: Jim Dixon

Here's another version, copied from http://www.calvinclark.com/Lyrics/D012.TXT
[Calvin Clark has lots more gospel songs at his site: Click here.]

DRUNKEN DRIVER

Now, listen, you drunken driver, while here on earth you dwell:
You'll never know when the time will come when you'll have to say farewell
To your dear old mother and sister, though they may be miles away,
So don't be drinking whiskey while driving on your way.
I saw an accident one day that would charm the heart of man
And teach him not to drink a drop while the steering wheel's in his hands.

This awful accident occurred on the 20th day of May.
It caused two loving children to sleep beneath the clay.
Those two dear children walked side by side upon the state highway.
Their loving mother she had died and their father had run away.
They were talking of their loving parents. How sad their hearts did feel,
When around the curve came a speeding car with a drunk man at the wheel.
The bumper caught the little girl taking her life away,
While the little boy in a pool of blood in the ditch-line there did lay.

The driver staggered from his car to see what he had done.
His heart sank deep within him when he saw his loving son.
He then picked up his loving ones and carried them to his car,
And kneeling on the running board, he prayed a drunkard's prayer,
Saying, "Please, dear Lord, forgive me for the awful things I've done."
His attention then was drawed away to the words of his dying son,
Saying, "Please, dear Daddy, don't drink no more while driving on your way,
But meet us with our mother, Dad, in heaven some sweet day."

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15 Apr 02 - 10:41 AM (#690452)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Virginia Ballad
From: GUEST,[e-mail]

Thanks so very much! I will hopefully find the music for this song now. Again thanks, Nancy

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15 Apr 02 - 11:32 AM (#690506)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old Virginia Ballad
From: masato sakurai

'Drunken Driver' by Ferlin Husky is at the The Record Lady's All-Time Country Favorites (Click on "Real Country Archives Page 3"). His version is a narration throughout.

~Masato

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