The Carroll County Accident
| "The Carroll County Accident" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Bob Ferguson | ||||
| Producer(s) | Bob Ferguson | |||
| Porter Wagoner singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"The Carroll County Accident" is a 1968 country song written by
Composition
The singer tells the story of a single-car accident that occurred near his hometown. The passenger, Walter Browning, an upstanding member of the community and seemingly happily married man, dies; while the driver, Mary Ellen Jones, a woman not his wife but also well respected, survives to testify that she was taking him to town on an errand of mercy.
The narrator singer describes examining the wreckage and discovering evidence of an extramarital affair between the two (Browning's wedding band hidden in a matchbox behind the dash). He disposes of the evidence and swears himself to silence for the sake of their reputations in the county; because, as he reveals in the last verse, Walter Browning was his father.
Because there are thirteen states in the
Covers
Wagoner's frequent musical collaborator Dolly Parton covered "The Carroll Country Accident" in 1969, including it on her In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad) album.
Chart performance
The song reached number 2 on
| Chart (1969) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 92 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 80 |
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
- ^ The Essential Porter Wagoner (CD insert). Porter Wagoner. RCA Records. 1997. 66934-2.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "CMT : CMA Awards : Archives : 1969".