"My mother came to Hazard when I was just seven
Even then the folks in town said with prejudiced eyes
That boy's not right
Three years ago when I came to know Mary
First time that someone looked beyond the rumors and the lies
And saw the man inside
We used to walk down by the river
She loved to watch the sun go down
We used to walk along the river
And dream our way out of this town
No one understood what I felt for Mary
No one cared until the night she went out walking alone
And never came home
Man with a badge came knocking next morning
Here was I surrounded by a thousand fingers suddenly
Pointed right at me
I swear I left her by the river
I swear I left her safe and sound
I need to make it to the river
And leave this old Nebraska town
I think about my life gone by
And how it's done me wrong
There's no escape for me this time
All of my rescues are gone, long gone
I swear I left her by the river
I swear I left her safe and sound
I need to make it to the river
And leave this old Nebraska town
The setting of the story is an old Nebraska town Hazard, where people are very prejudiced, and the plot starts evolving, when the main character meets a girl Mary. The protagonist of the story is a young man, who, together with his mother, has moved into the town, where people do not like him. The second character is Mary that disappears suddenly. Other minor character is a policeman. The unfairness of the society and undeserved prejudice that may lead to drastic consequences is the main theme of the story.
Waylon Jennings - Rose in Paradise
She was a flower for the takin', her beauty cut just like a knife
He was a banker from Macon, he swore he'd love her all his life
He bought her a mansion on the mountain,
with a formal garden and a lot a land
But paradise became her prison, that Georgia banker was a jealous man
Every time he'd talk about her, you could see the fire in his eyes
He'd say,
"I would walk through Hell on Sunday, to keep my Rose in Paradise
He hired a man to tend the garden,
and keep an eye on her while he was gone
Some say they ran away together
Some say that gardener left alone
Now the banker is an old man that mansion's crumbling down
He sits all day and he stares at the garden
not a trace of her was ever found
Now there's a rose out in the garden
its beauty cuts just like a knife
They say that it even grows in the winter time
and blooms in the dead of the night
The plot goes around the story of love between two main characters, a beautiful woman and a Georgia banker. They start living together, but later it appears that the banker was a very jealous type that tries to control every aspect of woman’s life. He hires a gardener to look after her, while he’s gone and in the result the woman runs way with him and never comes back. The banker lives in sorrow alone. The theme of the story is jealousy that can ruin even the best relationship.
Garth Brooks - The Thunder Rolls
Three thirty in the morning not a soul insight
The city's lookin' like a ghost town on a moonless summer night
Raindrops on the windshield there's a storm moving in
He's headin' back from somewhere that he never should have been
And the thunder rolls
Every light is burnin' in a house across town
She's pacin' by the telephone in her faded flannel gown
Askin' for miracle hopin' she's not right
Prayin' it's the weather that's kept him out all night
And the thunder rolls
She's waitin' by the window when he pulls into the drive
She rushes out to hold him thankful he's alive
But on the wind and rain a strange new perfume blows
And the lightnin' flashes in her eyes and he knows that she knows
And the thunder rolls
She runs back down the hallway to the bedroom door
She reaches for the pistol kept in the dresser drawer
Tells the lady in the mirror he won't do this again
Cause tonight will be the last time she'll wonder where he's been
The song tells the story of a woman that is waiting for her husband during the thunderstorm and hoping that he is late because of the weather. When he returns she understand that he is cheating again and reaches for a gun, because she is hurt and angry, and cannot continue living this way. The conflict is between two main characters and it evolves to the moment, when she finally understands that her husband is unfaithful.
