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BRINGING MARY HOME (John Duffey, Chaw Mank, Joe Kingston) I was driving down a lonely road, on a dark and stormy night A little girl by the roadside stepped up in my headlights I stopped and she got in back 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 about her, her face was deathly white She set so pale and white in the back seat all alone I never will forget the night, I took Mary home I pulled into the driveway, where she told me to go Got out to help her from the car, opened up the door I just could not believe my eyes, the back seat was bare I looked all around the car, but Mary wasn't there A light shone from the porch, someone opened up the door I asked about the little girl was looking for Then the lady gently smiled, brushed the tears away She 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 all miss her so Thank you for your trouble and the kindness you have shown You're the 13th one that's been here bringing Mary home The story is based on a version of the vanishing hitchhiker legend (see Jan Haro ld Brunvand, The Vanishing Hitchhiker, Norton, though the song is not mentioned) . On the making of the song, this is written in notes (by Gary B. Reid) to Count ry Gentlemen: The Early Rebel Recordings 1962-1971 (Rebel REB-4002): The song Bringing Mary Home has an interesting history. In 1963, Bill Clifton wa s recording material for release on Starday. In gathering material for the album , Starday sent a copy of the lyrics of Bringing Mary Home to Bill. Eddie Adcock compared the obtaining of the song to ads which have appeared in music magazines , "Send me your songs and poems and we'll put 'em to music." John Duffey was hel ping Bill to record the session and said that Bill "got one of the things that h ad been sent to him by Starday Records president Don Pierce and Bill says 'John, see if you can put a tune to this, the words are kind of neat.' So I went off a nd stood in the closet and came up with a relatively simple tune and we did it. So Bill recorded it and I said, 'Okay Bill, the song's half mine now,' and he sa id, 'Oh, you're right, it is,' and I said, 'So I'm gonna give you a year and the n after that, I'm gonna record it,' and he says, 'Well, that's fair.' The only t hing I did to it...the song seemed extremely long so I condensed two of the vers es together without losing track of the story. Bill's version actually has anoth er verse in it." MS This song has become a Bluegrass standard. Duffey, a member of the group Seldom Scene, wrote a sequel: I'VE COME TO TAKE YOU HOME (John Duffey & T. Michael Coleman) As I sat there by the bedside of a friend who's passing on, He recalled the memories of his life, and the years that have gone I listened to each story, there was one I didn't know An incident that happened some forty years ago. As he sat there in the evening, he remembered long ago, A little girl he saw one night, standing by the road. He stopped his car to offer help, she seemed to be alone. She got into the car and asked if he would take her home. Though his life is swiftly fading, the memory remains Of that chilly, ghostly evening, while driving in the rain. It seems to bring him comfort as he's drawing near the end. A look of peace comes over him, as if he sees a friend. As the shadows fall across his face, there's a vision that he sees Of a little girl all dressed in white, who spoke so quietly, "You gave me comfort years ago, when I was so alone," She said, "My name is Mary, I've come to take you home. (Paul Craft Music, BMI) Recorded by Seldom Scene @death filename[ BRNGMARY PC JRO MS |
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