It was 38 years ago this week ... that "Harper Valley P.T.A." by Jeannie C. Riley hovered near the top of the charts.
I'd like to see my friend J.R. Taylor take on this one on his RightWingTrash blog, where he finds conservative messages in unlikely places. Specifically, I wonder — looking past Riley's ultra-glam gold lamé boots and silver lam&ecute; dress — is the message of this song as positive as it purports to be? Is it just about putting the lie to self-righteousness and calling hypocrisy by its proper name? Or is it really just a sad tale of a fatherless teenage girl whose mother drinks, runs around, and then tries to justify herself by talking trash about her judgmental neighbors?
Either way, I wouldn't mind owning that outfit — though one has to be a size 6 to wear a baby-doll dress and not look like a dumpling.
