# "night lights went out in Georgia" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-lights-went-out-in-georgia/381430 "2006-11-22T15:49:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-lights-went-out-in-georgia/381430/41 "2006-11-23T23:40:29Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Her husband wrote it. [/QUOTE] and that helped too :o ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-lights-went-out-in-georgia/381430/42 "2006-11-24T00:45:10Z")
[QUOTE=Phase42] Vicki Lawrence? For years and years I’ve thought this song was sung by Reba McEntire. [/QUOTE] I knew that it was originally done by Vicki Lawerence, but for some reason, while reading this thread, I was thinking it was Bobbie Gentry. I blame whoever made the “Ode To Billy Joe” reference. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-lights-went-out-in-georgia/381430/43 "2006-11-24T05:04:23Z")
cosmosdan writes: \> I heard the song was offered to several prominent lady singers of the day \> including Cher and they all turned it down. Someone who believed in the song \> kept pushing it and Vicki wound up with her only Pop hit. I heard her in an interview once and she said that her first husband (Bobby Russell) gave it to her as his first choice. She apparently doesn’t have good memories of that marriage. It was just luck that he happened to write the song while the marriage was still going well. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-lights-went-out-in-georgia/381430/44 "2006-11-24T08:53:36Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] And that’s the _real_ question, isn’t it? How in the world did Carol Burnett’s sidekick get this song? [/QUOTE] [Family Guy] She was doin’ the guy that wrote it. [/Family Guy] ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-lights-went-out-in-georgia/381430/45 "2006-11-24T09:02:42Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Rumor has it that \*Sonny \*turned it down, on Cher’s behalf and without her knowledge. I’d divorce the little fucker too. [/QUOTE] Huh. I’d have thought she’d have divorced him faster if he’d accepted the gig on her behalf. Also: There’s a video? With an old woman recounting the story of something that happened when she was much younger? _Please_ tell me that the old woman was played by Vickie Lawrence in her [Mama’s Family](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085050/) character. 'Cos that would be _so great_! ---
**Author:** ![dbuzman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de0a6/32.png) [@dbuzman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dbuzman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-lights-went-out-in-georgia/381430/46 "2006-11-24T13:14:44Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99] \There’s a video? With an old woman recounting the story of something that happened when she was much younger? \ [/QUOTE] The [video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqZVZGo2mXc) is of Reba’s version. She plays the sister as an old woman telling a reporter what really happened. ---
**Author:** ![jkirkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@jkirkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkirkman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-lights-went-out-in-georgia/381430/47 "2006-11-24T16:06:45Z")
[QUOTE=JRDelirious] So how come the lights went out? [/QUOTE] It’s probably a coincidence, but February 10, 1973 is the night the lights went out in Georgia. 18" of snow and ice in Georgia, Interstates shut down, and power out for days. The entire night sky was lit in Atlanta by all the transformers blowing. I’ll never forget it. When the song came out, everyone I knew assumed that was what was being talked about. I can’t google any evidence out either way, though. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-lights-went-out-in-georgia/381430/48 "2006-11-24T19:18:11Z")
[QUOTE=Batsinma Belfry] I knew that it was originally done by Vicki Lawerence, but for some reason, while reading this thread, I was thinking it was Bobbie Gentry. I blame whoever made the “Ode To Billy Joe” reference. [/QUOTE] It was me, sorry! :o Q [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-lights-went-out-in-georgia/381430.md?page=2)