Mary Chapin Carpenter - Halley Came To Jackson

One of my favorite MCC songs ever. The only song I know of about a comet. Many of the pictures here are from a book that MCC created based on this song. The pictures were created by Dan Andreasen (beautifully done, Dan!) By the way, there are lots of towns in the US named Jackson; this one refers to Jackson, Mississippi.

[halleypatrick]

This song is where I got my name. My mom loved the line about a little piece of heaven flying across the sky. That's why I was names after Halley's Comet!

[lissa]

By far, the most important thing I got out of 8 years of college was learning about Eudora Welty, a great American short story writer from Jackson, Mississippi. She was born in 1909, just before Halley's Comet visited in 1910, and her father told her about about her seeing it with him then. Mary Chapin Carpenter wrote this song about the mention she made of that in her memoir, "A Writer's Beginnings". One great artist honoring another one. ❤

[davidfrasier]

My half sister was born in Jackson, Ms in 1910 and she lived to see Halley come again.

[matthewjohnswan]

I have only just heard of this song after seeing Reina del Cid and friends singing it. It is a perfect song with perfect illustrations. It always brings a few tears. I took a photo of the comet kohoutek in the early 1970''s which was visible to the naked eye.

[kennethlieb]

As graceful a song as I have heard in a long long time. Mary Chapin Carpenter is the real deal.

[buddyroeginocchio]

The mark of a well written song is that the listener as if by magic is drawn into the story only to exit not fully awakened from their dream, this loving graphic presentation fills the cup overflowing.

[russparker]

Such an evocative song. Paints such a beautiful picture. MCC, such a wonderful talent. We are lucky to have her.

[michelem]

I love this book and song. The neatest thing is that it's a true story. It is based on a short story by author Eudora Welty, she is the baby and later the old woman in the story. In the book, you see Mom and later the adult Eudora scrapbooking the newspaper articles and memorabilia from the news on the comet after it passed. You'll also notice Eudora still has a dog, the exact kind her parents had when she was a child. A Golden Retriever, methinks! :)

[lonewolfie]

I first heard/saw this in my Children’s Literature class in college and my professor and I both just sobbed lol. It still tears me up!

[michaelcornett]

My friend Mary and I both loved this song and if we were in a car together would start singing it to each other, and sometimes driving our other friends crazy. She passed away recently from a heart attack; we'd lost touch for a long time but this song brings back happy memories.

[fritzkep]

The comet has reached its aphelion today, 9 December 2023. So I had to listen to this song again. Many times. Now it begins once again its long sunward journey down gravity's well, reaching our part of the solar system on 28 July 2061.

[maggieanne]

here comes the nostalgia. when I was little, my mom and I always listened to this song when we would go on our "pajama rides" where we rode in the car around town during the winter in our pajamas and would look at Christmas lights.

[tonyrat]

This is very special to me. My Dad was born in 1910 and my second son was born in 1986. Both specially "Comet Touched".

[California]

What a priceless song ! I heard it being played on a jukebox in a bar way back in 1997, and could not believe my ears. It has some of the finest sounding acoustic guitar in it that I have ever heard. Mary Chapin Carpenter is gifted.

[vykyr]

Damn, this makes me cry a bit. I remember listening to this and looking at the book with my mom. I miss her...

[BobMarshall]

Well, Mary Chapin Carpenter wrote the song and sang it, her band played it, Dan Andreason supplied most of the beautiful artwork, and I supplied the other images and also tied it all together to create the video.

[danieljungers]

For some reason this song plus the the stills shown in the video made my eyes tear up.

[fritzkep]

I find myself getting tight in the throat from sheer joy when hearing this song and looking at the beautiful illustrations. Thanks to all involved in making it.

[elhuddleston]

I drive Amish in El Dorado Missouri a lot of them love this song. I told them I remembered media making a big deal of it in 1986.

[LittlePlot]

I cry every time I hear this song--seeing this just added to the nostalgic effect. What a great song! Somehow it manages to tie family, history, love, time and the wonders of nature all together at once! Thank you, MCC, for the lovely gift!