Now, however, I have had, or should I more precisely say, my ears have had the great misfortune to stumble across.. if ears can be said to stumble.. a song recorded more than 30 years ago by Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner.
Let me say here that my respect and admiration for Dolly is immense, both for her talent and her determination, as well as for her humanity and for her politics. I’ve always respected her Christian faith, as well.
Until now.
The song in question, “The Party” is perhaps the single greatest amalgamation of maudlin sentiment with hideous religious superstition ever.
Have a gander..
"As we were dressing to go out our little girl and boy
Came in and asked if they could go this time
We told them little girls and boys don't belong at parties
And that they should be in bed asleep by nine
The babysitter came in then and we kissed the kids goodbye
And told them that we'd be home soon and told them not to cry
Then we left for the party like we'd so often done
Thinkin' only of ourselves and not our little ones
The party started out wild and it grew wilder as the night wore on
With drinking laughing teling dirty jokes nobody thinkin' of home
Then the stranger feeling came over me and it chilled me to the bones
And I told my wife that we'd better leave the party
Cause I felt that we were needed at home
As we rode along I got to thinking of how the kids that mornin'
Had asked if we would take them to church the next day
And how I'd put 'em off like I'd so often done
By sayin' we'd probably get home too late
Then my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of sirens
As they cut through the still night air
Then we turned down our street that's when we saw the fire
The rest was like a nightmare
We took their little bodies to church the next day
Though we'd left the party early we still got home too late."
Now what does this song try to tell us – apart from the fact that people ought not to be so cheap that they refrain from hiring a competent baby sitter?!?
It tells us:
1. If you are so sinful as to go to a party where drinking, swearing and possibly lewd behavior is enjoyed, God or Fate, will some how know it..
2. ..and despite the fact that your children had asked you to take them to church the next day, God or Fate will burn them to death to punish their parents – and the babysitter with them!
3. ..although the song does not specifically proclaim it, the implication is, if the parents had instead left their kids at home to deliver baked goods to their Christian congregation, the good Lord would have spared the tykes.
No, no.. some might protest. This song is about horrendous consequences resulting from irresponsible behavior. God doesn’t come into it.
Oh, no? Then why is church repeatedly mentioned in the song?
Perhaps such a song cannot be constructed if it is about numbskull parents who leave their brats to dehydrate and die in locked cars while they mega-shop in Walmart?
As we all too sadly know by now, the “God-Fearing” rural section of America (..and the rest of the world..) enjoy the fact that the All Mighty is a wrathful and punishing deity.
And in the case of the Party, they don’t seem to mind that He is also so nearsighted that he smites innocent children instead of their wicked parents!
Unless of course, the message is, God is so sadistic He will deliberately
murder children to punish their parents!
One final comment on this hideous insult to the dignity of humanity: The song states that the children begged to be taken to church the next day.
Forgive me if I find myself believing that no child in the history of the world – except perhaps for the fictional Rod and Todd Flanders – ever begged to be taken to church.
Have a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-1hCAIVAOI
The lies of the Believers are not to be believed!
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