Today’s classic sad song of the day is “San Francisco Mabel Joy,” by Mickey Newbury. Like “Tecumseh Valley,” yesterday’s classic song of the day, “San Francisco Mabel Joy” is a folk song that tells a story—a sad story, indeed.
“San Francisco Mabel Joy” really isn’t about the character in the title, although she’s in the song. No, this one is about an unnamed farm boy from Waycross County, Georgia, who hops a freight train and travels to Los Angeles to see more of the world. (“He had fifteen years and he ached inside to wander.”) It’s there that he meets and falls in love with the aforementioned Mabel Joy, a prostitute on the strip—as the song says, “Destitution’s child born of an L.A. street called Shame.”
That Georgia farm boy grew up fast in the arms of Mabel Joy; he dreamt of “Georgia cotton and a California wife.” Then, beneath the red light on Mabel Joy’s door, he ran into a “merchant mad marine” whose right cross sent him reeling, put him face-down on the floor. The next thing we know, the farm boy turned twenty one in prison, dreaming still of Mabel Joy. He escapes from prison and heads back to L.A., where we hear the end of his story:
Sunday morning found him lying ‘neath the red light at her door
With a bullet in his side, he cried “Have you seen Mabel Joy?”
Stunned and shaken someone said “Son, she don’t live here no more
No, she left this house four years today, they say she’s looking for
Some Georgia farm boy”
I get flavors of O. Henry in this one, but also of dreams dashed and bad decisions made. Maybe the farm boy shouldn’t have left Georgia at all. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken up with a woman like Mabel Joy. Maybe he shouldn’t have done whatever he did to the marine. Maybe he shouldn’t have escaped from prison. But there was love there, the farm boy longing to get back to his love and Mabel Joy looking futilely for him. It’s a sad story, in any case.
Mickey Newbury wrote “San Francisco Mabel Joy” in 1969 and included it on his album, Looks Like Rain. (It was not included, however, on his 1971 ‘Frisco Mabel Joy album.) It’s a perfectly crafted song, notable as much for what it leaves out as much as what it includes. It leaves a lot for the listener to decipher, but the main story is there.
Singers quickly realized what a gem this song was. “San Francisco Mabel Joy” has been covered by the likes of Joan Baez, Waylon Jennings, Kenny Rogers, John Denver, Kris Kristofferson, Kacey Jones, and Gretchen Peters. Of all these versions, I like Kristofferson’s the best—although it’s hard to beat Mickey Newbury singing it himself.
