The Songs

I find it interesting that both "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been" are based on a song:

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Bessie Smith
listen to it here

My heart's sad and I am all forlorn,
my man's treating me mean
I regret the day that I was born
and that man of mine I've ever seen
Happiness, it never lasts a day,
my heart is almost breaking while I say

A good man is hard to find,
you always get the other kind
Just when you think that he is your pal,
you look for him and find him fooling 'round some other gal
Then you rave, you even crave
to see him laying in his grave
So, if your man is nice, take my advice
and hug him in the morning, kiss him ev'ry night,
give him plenty lovin', treat him right
For a good man nowadays is hard to find,
a good man nowadays is hard to find

Apparently, O'Connor was inspired to write "AGMIHTF" by a newspaper article about a 7-year-old girl in a pink tutu who won a talent competition by singing the blues song of the same name. Flannery thought it was hilarious that such a young girl would be singing such a sad, worldly song. A good man is hard to find, folks, so if you have one that's halfway-decent, keep him around, cuz he may be the only one halfway-decent that you can find. Depressing.

Bob Dylan - "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"
(Inspiration for Oates' Story)


You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun
Crying like a fire in the sun
Look out the saints are comin' through
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense
Take what you have gathered from coincidence
The empty handed painter from your streets
Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets
This sky, too, is folding under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home
Your empty handed armies, are all going home
Your lover who just walked out the door
Has taken all his blankets from the floor
The carpet, too, is moving under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you
The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore
Strike another match, go start a new
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.