# Delta Dawn/Ruby Red Dress type of songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2015, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496 "2015-06-14T10:58:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/1 "2015-06-14T10:58:44Z")
“Delta Dawn” was a big hit for a lot of singers in the early 70s, including Bette Midler, Tanya Tucker and Helen Reddy. Always on the lookout for a hot trend, many other singers (including Reddy) cranked out similar songs about damaged, delusional women; notable among these were “Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)” and “Angie Baby” (Helen Reddy), “Jackie Blue” by The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and arguably “Witchy Woman” (Eagles) and “Gold Dust Woman” (Fleetwood Mac). Seems to me there were a couple more, but these are the ones I remember. Is there a name for this particular sub-genre? Can anybody think of more examples? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/2 "2015-06-14T14:48:20Z")
They’re later, but “Last Dance with Mary Jane” (Tom Petty) and “Sunny Came Home” (Shawn Colvin) are certainly lineal descendants. I think some of the Colvin-Crow-Jewel era singers have whole catalogues of that kind of material. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/3 "2015-06-14T15:06:11Z")
Oh, good ones! ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/4 "2015-06-14T15:23:33Z")
Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl . . . . ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/5 "2015-06-14T15:58:38Z")
I think Cher’s “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” might fit, too. Not as much a crazy-woman song but about a class of women who were probably (driven) nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/6 "2015-06-14T16:33:22Z")
> [@Billdo](#): > > Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl . . . . That’s what I was going to post. Instead, here’s a story about Minnie the Moocher. She was a lowdown hoochie coocher. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/7 "2015-06-14T16:55:48Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I think Cher’s “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” might fit, too. Not as much a crazy-woman song but about a class of women who were probably (driven) nuts. You made me think of Cher’s “Dark Lady.” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/8 "2015-06-14T17:24:38Z")
Two more possibles: The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia - Vicki Lawrence Harper Valley PTA - Jeannie C. Riley ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/9 "2015-06-14T17:55:45Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > “Delta Dawn” was a big hit for a lot of singers in the early 70s, including Bette Midler, Tanya Tucker and Helen Reddy. Always on the lookout for a hot trend, many other singers (including Reddy) cranked out similar songs about damaged, delusional women; notable among these were “Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)” and “Angie Baby” (Helen Reddy)… After “I Am Woman,” Reddy was held up as a feminist, but she followed it with woman gone crazy because a man dumped her glurge like that crap. Her actual vocal feminism lasted only until her next song, but she was still seen as a model feminist, not a sell-out. Never could understand it. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/10 "2015-06-14T18:44:46Z")
It’s more understated, and not from the same era, but the Kinks song “[Little Miss Queen of Darkness](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr50_jly3-M)” might qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/11 "2015-06-14T18:50:27Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > You made me think of Cher’s “Dark Lady.” So sorry! I won’t do it again. Really, the tour through all this 70s fem-glurge is… icky. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/12 "2015-06-14T19:09:34Z")
“Bitter Green” by Gordon Lightfoot and maybe “Long Black Veil”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/13 "2015-06-14T19:13:37Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > arguably “Witchy Woman” (Eagles) I’d say “Lyin’ Eyes” is a better example. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/14 "2015-06-14T19:13:47Z")
“Here’s your one chance, Fancy, don’t let me down.” She grew out of it, but her momma didn’t fare too well. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/15 "2015-06-14T19:19:28Z")
Harry Chapin’s “Taxi”, although “Sue” is better in “Sequel”. Just looked back at the OP, and Sue isn’t delusional, though she may be damaged. “I’ve Never Been to Me”. “Better Dig Two”, although the woman in that song hasn’t been done wrong, she’s not really well, mentally. “If you go before I do/You can tell the gravedigger that he’d better dig two.” ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/16 "2015-06-14T19:20:15Z")
They never found Hattie Never found the shack And they never made a trip back in Was a parchment note they found tacked to a stump, said: “Don’t come lookin again” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/17 "2015-06-14T22:03:23Z")
So YOU’RE the other guy who bought that album. Good album. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/18 "2015-06-14T22:40:31Z")
Yeah, he wasn’t just another pretty foot. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/19 "2015-06-14T22:56:17Z")
Is **Long Black Veil** by **Lefty Frizzell** (1959) the seminal example? [Long Black Veil](https://youtu.be/50k18gL76AU) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496/20 "2015-06-14T22:58:47Z")
And then you have [Ode to Billie Joe](https://youtu.be/CZt5Q-u4crc) by **Bobbie Gentry** , sung from the perspective of the damaged woman. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delta-dawn-ruby-red-dress-type-of-songs/722496.md?page=2)