Sometimes a great notion (Goodnight Irene)

Irene has been adopted again, hopefully for good this time.  Her new adopter is a retired man who has time to spend with her to gain her trust, who walks his dogs twice daily (a great way to build a bond), who has a fenced yard, and who knows that he will need to put out some effort. 

Irene is a dog who needs to trust someone.  She won't come to me at home, but when we are out in public she sticks to me like glue.  I think she will soon learn to trust and love him, if for no other reason, because he's the only game in town.  He also has a youngish Pyr mix that reminded me a lot of Buck.

It will be good for Irene to have a one-on-one relationship with a decent human being, and to have a canine friend to help her adjust.  Big Boy has been pretty much glued to her, so this will be good for him as well.  He will need to learn to stand on his own four feet, or at least glom onto another dog.  Actually, someone may be coming to meet Big Boy tomorrow, so keep your paws crossed for that. 

I found so many versions of "Goodnight Irene" on youtube that I did a little searching and learned that it a folksong of unknown origin, but Leadbelly had made a very early recording of the song.  According to Wikipedia: 

The lyrics tell of the singer's troubled past with his love, Irene, and express his sadness and frustration. Several verses make explicit reference to suicidal fantasies, most famously in the line "sometimes I take a great notion to jump in the river and drown," which was the inspiration for the 1964 Ken Kesey novel "Sometimes a Great Notion."

I've never read the book or seen the movie, but I've always thought that "Sometimes a Great Notion" was a great title, and it has always reminded me of these lyrics from Springsteen's "Badlands": 

For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside,

that it aint' no sin to be glad you're alive...

which is sort of the antithesis of the suicidal thought expressed in Irene. 

Yes, I am sober, it's the middle for day for christ's sake, this is just how my mind rambles.  But in any event, Goodnight Irene is a sad and beautiful song.  I finally lit on the version done by Johnny Cash to link up to here, because it is probably the way I first heard it, on an old LP, probably at my grandparents' house.