Accidentally Flannery O’Connor

• Joseph Harvey +2 — I love this pick not just because Sting wrote this song. Although the original is much more interesting, the Americana flavor brings out the O’Connorness of the song more for sure. What I love most about this song is that there seems to be forgiveness or even friendship implied between the lone rider and the boy who killed him at the end. That’s what makes this more than a standard murder ballad, and I wonder if it’s playing to a broader trope - something similar happens in Dune, where there’s this mysterious kinship between Paul and Jamis, the Fremen who Paul kills in ritual combat. Jamis appears to him in moments of crisis and supplies guidance. Anyways, great song
• Corey +2
• Brad Stalcup +1 — The vision of the lone rider at the end of this story really gives it the mystical sheen it needs to be FO'C-esque
• fionmul +1 — This might be the perfect submission.
• Claire +1 — A mistake is made, suffering follows, but the character has hope of forgiveness and prays for mercy as he faces death. Pretty on point
• Edward James 0 — Actually a great pick because it fits the overall theme in many Flannery stories of singular moments impacting people in huge ways. But there were a few others songs that I think slightly edged this one out for me. Runner up.
• judd.baker 0 — This is a good shout but I think there’s almost too much falling action for it to be a Flannery story. The moment of epiphany/grace has to occur alongside the shock, normally we don’t see as much of the developing interior life as this song depicts.

• Brad Stalcup +1 — This song is weird and grotesque enough to be a FO'C story. Though it's hard to see where grace pops in.
• ared56 +1
• Regina Scime +1
• Corey +1
• judd.baker +1 — Of the more overt submissions in this round (straight up Southern violence), I think this one was my favorite.
• Sam Ary +1
• Edward James 0 — Hmmmmm everyone makes fun of Eddie for sending song recommendations after the rounds, but then they use them in future rounds 🤔🤔🤔 This pick is like Joe Torma at South Bend Idol. You hear it and you think this is “southern”! This is “gothic” and “grotesque”! But like Joe it’s all flair, coasting on adulation. Like Joe, we are in need of a Colleen to brutally shut down this nonsense before everyone gets carried away by surface level comparisons. This is not like a Flannery O’Connor story. It’s just southern and vaguely violent. There’s no themes here that fit, and to me, that’s much more important than the idea of grotesque story set in southern environs.
• fionmul 0 — Didn’t like the voice enough but this is lyrically super duper strong
• Claire 0 — The South + violence, which is the classic Flannery vibe, and there’s mistaken identity too I guess, but there’s no real revelation that happens here
• Joseph Harvey -1 — This has the accidents of a Flannery story but feels lacking in substance. No emotional pull. The mystery in this song feels cheap, and thus it receives my downvote

• ared56 +1
• Edward James +1 — Of all the songs, I think this one "gets" the feeling of a Flannery story best. The saccharine, commercialized, ever-present but unimposing sense of Christianity is captured perfectly by the "Plastic Jesus" image. Reminds me very deeply of "Wise Blood". Seems like a Judd pick. Despite my insistence upon theme, I think this one wins a vote for setting up the start of a Flannery story perfectly. The character is poised for some sort of shock, followed up by the kitschy plastic Jesus staring dead eyed into her soul at the end.
• shea nowicki +1 — Okay this is fun!!! A bop & I totally agree — Flannery coded!
• fionmul +1 — This was a great pick. Parker’s Back for the lighthearted.
• Claire +1 — Clearly the lyrics themselves are meant to be ironic from the perspective of the speaker, but I feel like the plastic Jesus motif is the sort of thing that you’d find in an O’Connor story that could end up later being the catalyst for some kind of spiritual experience. Even if keeping the plastic Jesus up there is more or less a joke, I think that still says something about the speaker’s awareness of their sin, and that conscience, however dulled or ignored it might be, could be where grace enters in. Am I reading into this too much? It’s possible
• Brad Stalcup 0 — This song had potential, but it seemed like Jesus and the Virgin Mary were just things to be ignored. I don't think God is ever one to be ignored (without consequence) in an FO'C story.
• Joseph Harvey 0 — Kind of cute I guess
• Regina Scime 0 — I'm not sure that this fits, but it's super cute!
• judd.baker 0 — Aside from getting the southern aesthetic right, the thing that makes this song thematically Flannery-coded to me is the image of the “plastic Jesus,” a kitschy, even ironic religious symbol that grins while the narrator is sinning in the backseat of the car. The image (blatant sin juxtaposed with kitschy religiosity) is ugly, honest, and secretly grace-filled. You don’t expect the real presence of Christ in the kitschy image, and yet He is really there.

• shea nowicki +2 — The sound & that plot twist at the end hit the nail on the head!! Yes yes yes!!
• ared56 +1
• Joseph Harvey +1 — Yeah, this is it. Heartbreaking and beautiful. The last verse where they find her a century later is so spooky and really sells it for this round.
• Regina Scime +1
• Brad Stalcup 0 — A tale of romance and revenge, but not truly Flannery-esque, I'm sorry.
• Edward James 0 — Don't see the fit here. If it had more religious imagery I could see it fitting, but it's just a good narrative. Absent other elements it doesn't connect imo.
• judd.baker 0 — I think this is a little bit too overt without the deeper religious epiphany
• fionmul 0 — I should have submitted this last league so I had to now. It just sounds and feels like Flannery to me although the story isn’t perfect.
• Claire 0 — Is the idea that Claire was going to sin, but her murder was a weird sort of mercy that kept her from going through with it? Maybe, but that doesn’t feel like that’s the point of the song, it feels more like a straight up southern murder song to me

Edward James: There is a phrase in this song that I think perfectly summarizes every Flannery O’Connor story.

• Regina Scime +1
• judd.baker +1 — This is an inspired take. Flannery O’Connor short story titles have a particular ring to them; this song title actually sounds like a Flannery short story title, which I had never noticed before despite hearing this song a million times. Thematically/aesthetically, it’s perfect too. The encounter with “Mr. Jimmy,” sharing a soda at the country drugstore while he simply whispers “Dead” to the narrator, could be a scene straight out of Wise Blood. The deceptive woman covered in blood (but is she really?). It’s murky, it’s violent but subtly so, it implies mystery and grace in weird ways. Never paid close attention to the words before. Great pick.
• fionmul +1 — My dad would sing this to us as kids and it was infuriating but imma do that to my kids too. This was an unexpected but great pick.
• Claire +1 — Getting what you need (not what you want) is very on point. The rest of the song didn’t quite fit the vibe imo. But it gets a vote from me because the hook is distinctively Flannery in a way that other songs were not
• Sam Ary +1
• Edward James 0 — In every Flannery O'Connor story, a character thinks they know what they want and who they are. Then through some inbreaking of grace, typically through the least likely avenue, they invariably get what they need. But never in the way they want to receive it. If I was to summarize every Flannery O'Connor story in one sentence, it would be "You can't always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you just might find, you get what you need."
• Joseph Harvey 0 — I just can’t stand the Stones
• shea nowicki 0 — Totally agree. I like this song, a classic, but I struggled a bit to connect it to Flannery in the end.

• Brad Stalcup +1
• Edward James +1 — I think it's easier to find a vibe fit or a weird story, but it's a lot harder and more meaningful to find a real deep fit with a theme in O'Connor stories. This one nails it with the visionary imagery all leading up the line "He will take you. If you run, he will chase you."
• shea nowicki +1 — I loved this Sufjan moment I got to have on the South Shore line into Chicago. His sound is perfectly on brand Flannery, so too the religious & lyrical turns. Thank you for this.
• judd.baker +1 — Spooky, murky Christ images will always get my vote in a category like this.
• Claire +1 — I feel like a broken record for voting for Sufjan every single time he’s submitted, but this is a really good read of the theme imo. Little boy sees a fire in the backyard and it turns into this wild spiritual revelation. Is he delusional? Is it really a vision from God? Unclear. But he clearly was deeply impacted by it. That’s a Flannery O’Connor moment for sure
• fionmul 0 — I hate his voice here personally
• Corey -1

Corey: I love Flannery, but I'm having the darndest time finding something that's accidentally her. So here's some rural memento mori.

• Brad Stalcup +1 — A phenomenal song. A bluegrass singer who has been performing for probably 50 years at this point. A serenade to death would definitely take place in a FO'C story
• Joseph Harvey +1 — Total classic and feels like a very Flannery vibe
• Sam Ary +1
• Edward James 0 — Southern traditional does not a Flannery story make. I think this is a trap many fell into. My voting this round is 100% about themes - it's easier (imo) to find a vibe fit (Southern Gothic) or a cool narrative than it is to tap into the flow of a theme that runs deep within the song that matches a theme embedded in the O'Connor mythos. I'll be calling them out where I see them, and I don't see one here.
• Regina Scime 0 — The fact that it's a cappella adds an extra grittiness that is cool
• fionmul 0 — This is an example of a bit too on the nose for me. Just barely tho.

• Edward James +1 — This song combines the best of all worlds - Southern vibe fit, theme (although weaker than the others), and narrative. I am actually kind of mad, because I was trying to find a Springsteen song to use, but the vast majority of them are about a different kind of Americana and just miss the boat for O'Connor connection. The opening scene with the dead dog in the ditch could 100% be out of one of her stories. Belief in the face of the mundane and the tragic is a theme she explores too. I think theme fit is a bit weaker than others, otherwise this would be a +2. Incredible pull.
• fionmul +1 — I almost submitted bruce. This is a great pick!
• Brad Stalcup 0 — I can't pick this one simply because it's a song of despair and cynicism. Despite the darkness and ugliness of Flannery's stories, there's always a glimmer of light. Bruce Springsteen seems to imply that people are delusional and that's why they have a reason to believe.
• Joseph Harvey 0 — Decent enough lyrics at times but I just don’t like Springsteen. The vibe I get from him is a non musician who somehow ended up having a music career
• shea nowicki 0 — I like this. I don’t know why this song feels like 5 years long to me… but a good pick. Especially the opening lines resonated.

Laur: Yes, I do believe she wears aviators and drives a very old car down the road when she’s listens to this one

• Regina Scime +1
• Corey +1
• Sam Ary +1
• Edward James 0 — I really like this pick, the idea of being at a crossroads but unsure what to do is a good theme. But I think it needs to develop beyond that, and the song just doesn't go any further. Totally fine, but that keeps it off the podium for me.
• Joseph Harvey 0 — Eh. Just not enough substance here when there are so many great picks.
• judd.baker 0 — I didn’t know John Mayer did this kind of sound tbh
• fionmul 0 — Unmemorable
• Claire 0 — Love John Mayer but there’s not enough lyrically here for me to really judge how well it fits the, for better or worse, quite literary theme
• ared56 -1

• Edward James +1 — This was a great pick, and I think its strongest connection is the theme of being endlessly pursued by God. Dorothy Day opens her autobiography with the line from Dostoevsky “All my life I have been haunted by God.” This feeling of grasping futilely and for God but not wanting to go all the way is a theme I think you see in "Parker's Back" and other O'Connor stories. Also, I only knew Julien Baker as "the small one from boygenius" so glad to know she can write a solo banger.
• judd.baker +1 — Saline communion in the back of an ambulance as an image for encountering Jesus after a horrific car accident? Bravo. Pure Flannery.
• Joseph Harvey 0 — This just feels so musically lacking to me that I can’t give it a vote. The phrasing is really awkward and comes off as ‘music as lyric delivery mechanism.’ There are some intriguing lyrics here however, so I can see the angle
• shea nowicki 0 — I love Julien Baker and unsurprisingly I loved this. Especially lyrically moving to pray with/about. I do indeed think that Julien and Flannery would be friends. Unfortunately other things in the end won out.
• Regina Scime 0 — I'm not sure if this captures O'Connor completely, but I think it's close!
• fionmul -1 — I almost skipped this because I hate her voice. Sorry shea (I think? Or Judd?) the words also confused me

• ared56 +1
• Brad Stalcup 0 — The Whiskey washing over Tim can definitely be seen as a symbol of baptism, which takes place in the midst of the fury and warring of man. "The uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor" (Yeats)
• Joseph Harvey 0 — No
• shea nowicki 0 — This surprised me. At first, I dead set against it— “no way” does Flannery give me Irish vibes. In the end, maybe I came around!!
• Regina Scime 0 — Fiona-coded
• fionmul 0 — I love Irish music but it’s not Flannery enough for that reason regardless of lyrics. A ton of Irish songs are Flannery vibes if you overlook the Irishness (but I don’t).
• Edward James -1 — This is a straight banger but don't see the fit at all. Not through vibe, narrative, or themes.
• judd.baker -1 — Accidentally James Joyce
• Claire -1 — It’s a classic but it just doesn’t work for the theme imo. Sure, a dead man comes back to life, but in a gimmicky magical drinking song way

• Edward James 0 — I actually love this pick, especially because of the line "Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time." That's classic Flannery. However, in my review, I think the Julien Baker song does this theme a little bit better. Runner up.
• Joseph Harvey 0 — Interesting read but not quite enough. Truly a great song though, pretty much prog pop
• judd.baker 0 — I’m not seeing it
• fionmul 0 — This song always reminds me of in the movie diary of a wimpy kid when he gets the part of Dorothy in the play and this is his audition. But also the eclipse my freshman year of college. I don’t understand you for picking this. Go read some Flannery.
• Claire 0 — Did not vote for this song but it is an all time banger and I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that fact
• Brad Stalcup -1 — I'm sorry, but this doesn't really belong on this list.
• shea nowicki -1 — I listened to this one like 3 times 1) because it’s a bop and 2) because I’m not sure if it strikes me as “accidentally Flannery.” In the end, I feel conflicted and have to think more about it. I love this song and its poetic description for love, but my read of Flannery’s take on love is more a project of expanding the categories of love, vs. a clinging/grasping one; for example, Revelation comes to mind: Flannery demands that Mrs. Turpin (and by extension all of us) see beyond her biases/stereotypes to love Mary Grace instead of writing her off as “white trash.” Flannery is so good at making me feel like I have to do the heart work to be more Christian than I say I am, in a sacrificial and ever growing way. So idk…in the end, I’m rambling and confused…how I often feel at the end of a Flannery work. Hahahah.
• Regina Scime -1 — Sam, if this is you, I still love you:) but I'm confused
• Sam Ary -1