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Be
Afraid, Be Very Afraid - The Book
of Scary Urban Legends
by Jan Harold Brunvand, 2004
- W.W. Norton and Company
It
may seem hard to make a joke about the "Last Kiss" scenario,
but Canadian singer and songwriter Norman Walker has managed
to do so. In his song "Interchange Two Phases", Walker describes "Johnny"
working at the gravel pit who "slipped and fell and got
pulled into the crusher machine". Thinking him
doomed (for that's how the legend goes), and assuming he
was raving incoherently, his co-workers ignore Johnny's
plea to:
Interchange
two phases...
It
can be red, black or blue
Interchange
just any two.
Walker
drew on his knowledge of how electrical engines work to
have Johnny plead for his partners to reverse the wiring,
thus backing the motor up and releasing him alive from the
deathtrap. But with his girlfriend, Mary Lou,
looking on, the others disregard this information, even
though "He knew a three phase induction motor was easy to
reverse." So instead of being saved, Johnny dies:
They
turned to the crusher machine
Turned
it on and without a scream
They mixed Johnny with the gravel on the other
end.
Now he's part of highway 105
The road to Mary Lou's he used to drive.
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