Harper Valley PTA

Harper Valley PTA is a country music song written by Tom T. Hall. It was a major hit single for country songstress Jeannie C. Riley in 1968 and crossed over to the pop charts as well, eventually selling over 6,000,000 copies as a single.

Related Topics:
Country music - Tom T. Hall - Single - Jeannie C. Riley - 1968

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The song tells the story of a junior high student who is sent home with a note to her single mother from the PTA of the school decrying her scandalous behavior by small-town standards. The mother decides to speak to a meeting of the PTA where she addresses various episodes of misbehavior on the part of several of its members, concluding, "This is just a little Peyton Place / And you're all Harper Valley hypocrites."

Related Topics:
Junior high - PTA - Scandal - Peyton Place

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In an interview, Hall admitted his inspiration for the song was passing by the Harpeth Valley Elementary School in Bellevue, Tennessee, not far from his then-home in Franklin. He liked the sound of the name and decided to write a song using a similar place name.

Related Topics:
Bellevue, Tennessee - Franklin

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The song was later the inspiration for a television series of the same name (see: Harper Valley PTA (television show)).

Related Topics:
Television series - Harper Valley PTA (television show)

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