Dolly Parton

Released: February 3, 1969

Songwriter: Bob Ferguson

Producer: Bob Ferguson

[Verse 1]
Carroll County's pointed out as kind of square
The biggest thing that happens is the county fair
And I guess that's why it seemed like such a big event
What we all call the Carroll County accident
The wreck was on the highway just inside the line
Walter Browning lost his life and for a time
It seemed that Mary Ellen Jones would surely die
But she lived long enough for her to testify

[Verse 2]
Now Walter Browning was a happy married man
And he wore a golden wedding ring upon his hand
But it was gone nobody knew just where it went
He'd lost it in the Carroll County accident

[Verse 3]
Mary Ellen testified he flagged her down
Said he was sick and could she drive him into town
And no one even doubted what she said was true
Cause she was well respected in the county too

[Verse 4]
Now I went down to see the wreck like all the rest
The bloody seats, the broken glass, the tangled mess
But I found something no one else had even seen
Behind the dash in Mary's crumpled up machine

[Verse 5]
A little matchbox circled by a rubberband
And inside the ring from Walter Browning's hand
And it took a while to figure out just what it meant
The truth about the Carroll County accident

[Verse 5]
By dark of night I dropped the ring into a well
And I took a sacred oath that I would never tell
The secret of the Carroll County accident
Cause the county ordered dad a marble monument

[Outro]
I lost him in the Carroll County accident

Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actress, author, and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music

Beginning her career as a child performer, Parton issued a few modestly successful singles from 1959 through the mid-1960s, showcasing her distinctive soprano voice. She came to greater prominence in 1967 as a featured performer on singer Porter Wagoner’s weekly television program; their first duet single, a cover of Tom Paxton’s “The Last Thing on My Mind”, was a top-ten hit on the country singles charts, and led to several successful albums before they ended their partnership in 1974. Moving towards mainstream pop music, Parton’s 1977 single “Here You Come Again” was a success on both the country and pop charts. A string of pop-country hits followed into the mid-1980s, the most successful being her 1981 hit 9 to 5" (from the film of the same name), and her 1983 duet with Kenny Rogers “Islands in the Stream”, both of which topped the U.S. pop and country singles charts. A pair of albums recorded with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris were among her later successes. In the late 1990s, Parton returned to classic country/bluegrass with a series of acclaimed recordings

more tracks from the album

In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)

From the album

In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad) (1969)

Dolly Parton popular songs

The Carroll County AccidentDolly Parton

Dolly Parton

In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)