"I got a woman / Way ...

[Laurence Horn]

At 5:18 PM -0400 6/3/10, Bill Palmer wrote:
>My last post on Cedartown GA was based on a hasty reading of LH's mention of
>Waycross GA as a town where one might have a girl.  On re-reading, I see it
>was meant to be contrasted w/ "way cross town".
>
>However, Hank Snow, in "Miller's Cave", *did* have a girl in Waycross GA.
>
>Bill P

Indeed; that's the song I was thinking of, although I hadn't
remembered it was Hank Snow.

LH

>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Laurence Horn" <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 9:54 AM
>Subject: Re: "I got a woman / Way ...
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail
>>header -----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>Subject:      Re: "I got a woman / Way ...
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>At 2:43 AM -0400 6/3/10, Wilson Gray wrote:
>>>_over town_"
>>>
>>>as Ray Charles sang.
>>
>>The (I assume later) versions by Elvis, the Beatles, Johnny Cash, et
>>al. have "I('ve) got a woman/Way cross town/She's good to me".  Not
>>to be confused with Waycross, Georgian.  I guess the main point is
>>that she's good to me, wherever she is.
>>
>>LH
>>
>>>
>>>It's the case that _over town_, which I otherwise know only from Ray
>>>Charles's song, is common among local speakers here in the towns along
>>>the banks of the Susquehanna in the Wyoming Valley, with reference to
>>>going across the river uptown (north) to "The City Square" in
>>>Wilkes-Barre, the primary local shopping district. My wife, who never
>>>used this phrase in Boston, uses it all the time, now that she's back
>>>home.
>>>
>>>I *still* have no idea what, exactly, Ray Charles had in mind, when he
>>>used "(way) _over town_."
>>>
>>>-Wilson
>>>---
>>>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"--a strange complaint to
>>>come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>>>-Mark Twain
>>>
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>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
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