Thursday, October 21, 2004

Up from the Depths

A song kept running through my mind yesterday after I posted the news about A Bond with Death. The song was written by Harlan Howard, and I first heard it sung by Hank Cochran, though others have recorded it since. It's "Sally Was a Good Old Girl." Maybe you've heard it:

Sally used to carry my books to schoool.
Sally was a good old girl.
Do my homework 'cause I was a fool.
Sally was a good old girl.

After a while, it dawned on me that a song I heard more than 40 years ago gave me the name of Sally Good, the main character in my series of novels set in a Texas community college. This is pretty scary, and I don't even want to think about where any of my other character names and/or plots might have come from.

2 comments:

Ivan G Shreve Jr said...

Are you sure it didn't come from the old fiddle tune "Sally Goodin'"? That's the first thing I think of when I hear the name.

I remember Cochran's version of "Sally Was a Good Ol' Girl," but for some reason I always associate it with Buck Owens. Probably saw him sing it on Hee Haw or something.

Unknown said...

You could be right, now that you mention it. I think I have that one on an old album somewhere.