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Most Killer Songs: No. 14

'The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia'
--Vicki Lawrence (1973)

Victims: Andy, Seth and Seth's wife
Weapon: Sibling's shotgun
Gory Details: In the Southern Gothic tale by the 'Carol Burnett Show' star, sisterly love goes too far -– and backfires. Seth's wife has been tramping around town, and Andy, a lover, breaks the news to Seth. D'oh! Seth intends to murder Andy, but he finds Andy already dead. The real culprit is the song's narrator, Seth's sister, but authorities hang Seth anyway.

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29 Comments

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Matdredalia

Okay, I have to say I'm sort of appalled that the description of this song and it's victim list were so badly butchered. Speaking as an aspiring journalist, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to at least listen to the songs you're writing about a few times before butchering a piece of an article this badly.

As many other people said, it's the narrator's brother and his wife that are killed, Seth was just the guy his wife was cheating with.

May 18 2010 at 11:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
charles3252

Duh!

May 18 2010 at 2:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jason

I liked her on "MAMA'S Family"! Is she the same person?
I guess so, WOW!

December 10 2009 at 3:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
drew

Yeah, it was the unnamed brother's wife who was sleeping with Seth Amos. The brother finds out that his wife also slept with Andy Woloh. The actual Victims are: Andy Woloh and the brother's wife, who are both killed by the sister; and her brother who is hung for the murder of Andy Woloh. It's all a lot easier to follow if you watch Reba McEntire's video. Reba re-recorded the song on her "For My Broken Heart" album.

October 29 2008 at 4:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Megan

rebas better

August 12 2008 at 4:08 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
wycoffgirl

vear good song reba sing it better

August 11 2008 at 7:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
imabchbby

I thought reba sang this song she sings it better

July 09 2008 at 10:32 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
flickfetis

Ilike the song but the sister killing the sister in law never made sense.

July 08 2008 at 8:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Marlo

Sucks

May 26 2008 at 11:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Marlo's comment
Carlton W.Burgess

suck you up my pants leg, feed you dried little shit ball and let you wash it down with a mouth full of c$m, BITE ME!!!!!

May 09 2009 at 12:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
michael rossillio

I remember that the version by Vicki Lawrence debuted on "The Carol Burnett Show." Each year one show was dedicated to the regulars only with no guest stars. I can see Carol standing on stage and saying how very proud she was of Vick's accomplishment when she introduced the song. And I was so enthralled with the recording that I called dozens of record stores the next day before I eventually found a copy.

The funny thing is that Vicki reminds everyone when she tells the story about recording the song that she was not the first choice for vocalist. The song first went to Cher and Sonny turned it down because he said it was a slight against the South. The song, written by Vicki's husband at the time, was finally offered to her after several other singers also turned it down. The version by Vicki went to number one and became an instant classic!

May 05 2008 at 11:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply