LOCATION: Marvyn, Alabama
PERIOD: 1985
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: Jason Duane Robison (1957); Doreen Stacey Collins (1958)
Jason Duane Robison (1957) and Doreen Stacey Collins (1958) got married in 1985; this story takes place within their first two years of that marriage. They live in a rural setting outside of the small town of Marvyn Alabama, which is about fifteen miles from Opelika, Alabama. Opelika is the county seat of Lee County in the east-central part of Alabama with a population of about 30,000. For Duane and Doreen it is a big city.
The song describes a typical day in their lives, in this case Doreen thinks she saw a dangerous snake behind their house. Duane is convinced it is a black snake, although of which has been known to bite, is not poisonous and has a reputation of keeping worse snakes and rodents away. She also tells of seeing a friend o theirs who talks about someone they know who lost her husband and is not doing too well. Duane’s attention falters during the telling and asks Doreen about something unrelated.
The song highlights married couples can sometimes have little disagreements and things which they have to learn to live with as they acclimate themselves to each other.
Duane and Doreen, Pt. 1
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)
Duane, I saw a snake yesterday,
Out there under one of them big rocks.
Can you get that metal pole you got,
The grabber thing, and put it in a box?
Doreen, what color was the snake?
Cuz if it was black – I’d leave it alone.
We want those black snakes around;
They keep the bad ones gone.
Duane would you just take a look?
I’m afraid to take the garbage out.
Okay Doreen, I’ll take a look,
But that black snake ain’t nothing, I’ve no doubt.
The little things, little concessions;
The give and take, that make up life.
Duane and Doreen,
Just another husband and wife.
Duane you’ll never guess who I saw
The other day at Electronic Express.
Just tell me Doreen, how should I know.
Duane don’t be like that, come on, guess.
Okay, let’s see, it was either April or Pam.
So fine, I guessed, now tell me who.
Yeah it was Pam, and she told me about
That friend hers, you know, Sue.
You remember Sue, her husband died last year;
She was there, crying, in the aisle with the printers.
Pam wants to do something to perk her up.
Doreen, where’d you put the sissors?
The little things, the concessions;
The give and take, that make up life.
Duane and Doreen,
Just another husband and wife.
© 2026 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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