LOCATION: San Francisco, California, Monroe, Louisiana
PERIOD: 1886-1954
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: Sam “Spooner” Magee (1826-1886); Sally Ann Gray (1863-1954); Sam “Teaspoon” Magee (1862-1946); Henry Olson Magee (1853-1932).
Sally Ann Gray had been in San Francisco, the madam of a brothel, for the last seven years, when she gets the news that Spooner Magee has died. Spooner and Sally had come out to California in 1879 on a lark, and Sally just stayed. She comes back home to Louisiana for his funeral, and reconnects with Sam “Teaspoon” Magee, Spooner’s youngest son, whom she knew all through her childhood and high school years.
Sally and Teaspoon end up getting married, having six children, and happily living out their lives in this part of Louisiana. Teaspoon never asked about her life in California, and wouldn’t care in any event.
AFTERMATH
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)
I got the news on a Fridy,
Spooner Magee had died.
Been years since I seen him,
I don’ say that wi’ pride.
Spooner’s how I got to Frisco,
It was his hare-brained scheme.
Well, that’s not exactly true,
He just fanned the flames of my own dream.
I never planned on staying,
But I did, seven years.
Nice bein’ back home again;
Tha’ Louisiana drawl in my ears.
Fried chicken, corn, ‘n’ creamed potatoes,
Folks gatherin’ outta the rain.
Teaspoon brought a plate over
Said, “I’m so glad you came.”
“Y’know, y’meant the worl’ to Daddy;
He talked ’bout you all th’ time.
He never quite believed you were ‘Eye-talian,’
But swore that’s why y’shined.”
“Was just 16 when we rode west;
Y’know, I’ve changed a lot since.”
“Y’made it back for the funeral;
“Look’s like Henry’s ready to commence.”
Sam Lee’s been preachin’ for decades,
He’s got sof’ words for grief.
He touched on Spooner’s highlights
Then testified to Spoon’s belief.
That sure was news to me;
On our trip west, th’ whole four months,
Spoon never ceased talkin’,
Didn’t mention God even once.
I felt someone siddle up next t’ me,
Teaspoon; in the near dusk.
I smiled and wiped away his tear;
That’s how it started for us.
We were married 64 years,
Raised six kids together.
Of course, one was named for Spooner;
Th’ spittin’ image, an’ so clever.
I got the news on a Fridy,
Spooner Magee was dead.
Been years since I seen him,
Such was the life I led.
Tea pass’d in ’46: his liver;
He lies next to Spoon; dust t’ dust.
I’m with them, too, by the river,
A cyprus watches over us.
David Leone: guitar, vocal
Tammy Rogers: fiddle
Related songs in chronological order:
“Ballad of Black Jack Kelley and Spooner Magee”
“Sally Ann”
“A Day in the Life of Spooner Magee”
“L’Maison d’Amour”
“Aftermath”
© 2023 Frank David Leone, Jr./Highway 80 Music (ASCAP). The songs and stories on the Highway 80 Stories website are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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