There's an essay just begging to be written on the DoRight account.
Here's some of the material we have to work with:
Jessica Rabbit
(from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)
the Existential Jessica:
Peggy Lee original
and more of the Existential:
a deleted scene:
******
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
lyrics:
Oh me oh my oh look at Miss Ohio
She's a-running around with her ragtop down
She says "I wanna do right, but not right now"
Gonna drive to Atlanta and live out this fantasy
Running around with the ragtop down
Yeah, I wanna do right, but not right now
Had your arm around her shoulder of a regimental soldier
And mamma starts pushing that wedding gown
Yeah, you wanna do right, but not right now
Oh me oh my oh, would you look at Miss Ohio?
She's a-running around with the ragtop down
She says "I wanna do right, but not right now"
I know all about it, so you don't have to shout it
I'm gonna straighten it out somehow
Yeah, I wanna do right, but not right now
Oh me oh my oh, look at Miss Ohio
She's a-running around with her ragtop down
She says "I wanna do right, but not right now"
Oh, I want do right, but not right now
If you were only guessing from the song's title, you might expect a condescending look at a beauty queen. For one, the Miss Ohio title seems ceremonial at best, meant to represent the kind of All-American girl of whom everything is expected with the possible exception of individualism. And Welch never judges the character, simply telling her story in a fashion that's so economical it's practically minimalist. Yet she says all she needs to say...The last verse hints at some kind of trouble that Miss Ohio has encountered, a jam from which she needs to extricate herself. Bur she insists that she can do so without any help, thank you: "I know all about it, so you don't have to shout it/ I'’m gonna straighten it out somehow." You can decide for yourself how deep that trouble is and if she'll indeed set it right; Welch seems okay with it no matter how it turns out.
The songwriter basically creates a world of possibilities and outcomes for the character, which is somehow fitting considering she has reached a crossroads in her young life. "Look At Miss Ohio" is one of Gillian Welch's "lonesome stories," and this one is somehow more captivating for not having a clear ending.