US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 02:29 PM

A bit of a segue (pardon the pun!) It seems like Under the X in Texas (by Johnny Gimble) has been around forever, but I see in his partial discography on Wikipedia that he first published it in 1992. It talks about maps and travel, not a specific road, but it always struck me as a highway type of song. It's also a popular Cowboy song (Red Steagall, who caught polio at age 15 and took up guitar for PT—he apparently got a lot of mileage out of the song.)

The usual proviso: there are a lot of lyric sites that repeat the same mistakes from wherever the first one was. I poked around and found a closer-to-accurate transcription (from CowboyLyrics.com) that I corrected. The Cowboy Lyrics song may be based on Steagall's performance. I transcribed the corrected lyrics from Gimbel's performance.

Under the X in Texas
by Johnny Gimbel


I'm sittin' here looking at a map, I got laid out on my lap
There's not too many places I ain't been
But the one place I love best, why it's spread all over the west
And I'm tryin' to figure how to get back home again

[chorus]
I wish I was sittin' right under the X in Texas
Right in the heart of where my heart must be
No matter where I roam I never feel at home, ‘cept in Texas
Right under the “X” in Texas, is where I'd like to be

[solo, various: piano - guitar - steel - fiddle]

I don't know what I miss the most
Those mountains out west or the southern coast
Or just bein’ where a fella can see for miles and miles
The East Texas hills and the tall pine trees
The level land with the prairie breeze
Maybe I'm lonesome to see a Texas smile

[chorus]
Right now
I wish I was sittin' right under the X in Texas
Right at* the heart of where my heart must be
No matter where I roam I never feel at home, ‘cept in Texas
Right under the “X” in Texas, is where I'd like to be

No I aint got nothin’ against the rest
But why settle for better when you know what’s best
And under the “X” in Texas is where it's best for me



*(In the second chorus he changes the "in" the heart to "at" the heart)

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 03:14 AM

I've always known US 41 as the Dixie Highway. It runs up the eastern third of Wisconsin to "Up North." During deer hunting season, it was (in 1965) and probably still is bumper-to-bumper crowded with traffic going north on Friday nights, with cars full of men with guns and brandy. And on Sunday night, it was bumper-to-bumper going south, with some cars with deer carcasses on top (and a lot less brandy).
I lived in Racine in Southeast Wisconsin and went to school in Milwaukee. We had wooded areas nearby and we loved them, but mostly they were areas where hunting was not allowed. So people went "up North" on the Dixie Highway to get their deer. And the venison was delicious. I apologize to my wife and all you other vegivores.
I finally drove the Dixie Highway "Down South" in the 1990s after I got divorced, and I've done it a few times since. It's a wonderful trip.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 22 Feb 22 - 10:34 PM

Cool! We took the Dixie Highway across the South to near Savannah long ago, great trip.

This week I got to experience some great US Highways. US 90 through West Texas is always a thrill, the wide open and dramatic landscape. Okay so we didn't actually see the mysterious Marfa lights, but it was still cool to camp by the side of 90, train rumbling nearby. Detouring into the Davis Mtns for the observatory. And the newish visitor center/museum Texas has built off 90 at Langtry in honor of Judge Roy Bean etc. was fantastic, shows up before you cross the Pecos, tailgated by Border Patrol.

Spent a lot of that drive singing "You Ask Me What I Like About Texas". Which does not mention US highways, but might as well.

Later I cut north on US 83 from Uvalde, where the west begins if you ask me. On the east side of the road, more green fields and cedar, on the west, more mesquite scrub. This road skirts the west side of the Hill Country and so has not been ruined yet, unless you count the aggressive drivers. But close enough to Austin for a truckload of radio stations to suddenly appear, 90% various varieties of country but a sprinkling of Hispanic-Christian and whatnot. Where else can you hear "Delta Dawn" twice in one hour? Nowhere, methinks.

Then it was time to fire up "East Bound and Down" by the mighty Jerry Reed, get on US 190, blast through goat, pecan, and sheep country through San Saba etc. Regrettably, like many places, 190 disappears, and you get forced onto a horrible interstate loaded with horrible new buildings, through the concrete sprawl and construction mess around Ford Hood and Killeen.

But, at trail's end near Temple, a delightful campground overlooking limestone bluffs and a lake, little deer herds, live oaks, and swooping birds, not to mention warm temperatures and a homey southern host lady. Ahh.   

Where was I? Oh, sorry. My point was, along US 190 I heard Charley Pride singing "Is Anybody Going to San Antone" wherein he mentions "walking down 66".   A damn good song which deserves to be sung more.

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Feb 22 - 10:45 AM

Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be putting me on"
God say, "No". Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killing done?"

Highway 61 (Dylan & Susan Tedeschi 1999)

Highway 61 - the Blues Highway

voyager

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: David C. Carter
Date: 21 Feb 22 - 04:08 AM

Lucinda Williams mentions Louisiana Highway,in her song"Lake Charles".

Steve Young recorded "Alabama Highway".

There's a video on Y.Tube.

Subject: Lyr Add: DIXIE HIGHWAY (Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 20 Feb 22 - 10:52 PM

From the sheet music at York University. Other copies are held by Mississippi State University and Indiana University.


DIXIE HIGHWAY
Words by Gus Kahn, music by Walter Donaldson, ©1922.

1. I’ve been working all day long fixing up my car,
Making sure that nothing’s wrong. I’m traveling far,
Way down south where I belong. How surprised they’ll be!
‘Cause I came away by freight, but I’m going home in state.

CHORUS: Down the Dixie Highway
I’ll be wending my way.
I’m just goin’ to fly ‘way home
To my little nest in Dixie.
How I’ll count the hours
Till I see the flowers:
Roses red, violets blue.
Down there they grow forget-me-nots for you.
I’ll bless each rattle in my flivver,
Each little knock.
When I ride beside that Swanee River,
I reckon
All my cares will fly ‘way
When I’m wending my way
Down the Dixie Highway.
I’m going home.

PATTER: My little flivver is a real good friend.
All you have to give her is a twist and a bend.
She isn’t worth a nickel but I bet, by gee,
She’ll bring a million dollars worth of smiles to me.
Needs new tires, front and rear,
The horn won’t speak to the steering gear.
A little lopsided, lamps don’t light,
But outside of that, ev’rything’s all right. [To CHORUS.]

2. Folks all said: “He won’t make good” when I started out.
I determined that I would; now there’ll be no doubt.
When they see that Ford sedan, they’ll know that means wealth.
And I have done mighty fine. Ten more payments and it’s mine!

- - -
The Internet Archive has a vocal recording by Aileen Stanley, on Victor 18935-A (1922) – plus several instrumental arrangements.

The Dixie Highway ran from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan to Miami, Florida—see Wikipedia.

Subject: ADD: New Lee Highway Blues (David Bromberg)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Dec 21 - 01:41 AM

Cool stuff, Jim. Where are Highway 53 and Route 23?

From https://genius.com/David-bromberg-the-new-lee-highway-blues-lyrics: “The New Lee Highway Blues” by David Bromberg appears on his album, Wanted: Dead or Alive (1974).
It’s an adaptation of “Lee Highway Blues”, a traditional southern string band song.

Named after Gen. Robert E. Lee, the Lee Highway was an Auto Trail that connected New York City and San Francisco via the south and southwest. It was named after Robert E. Lee.

Auto Trails were an informal network of highway routes in the U.S. and Canada in the early 20th century. Marked with colored bands on telephone poles along the road, they helped travelers find their way through a patchwork of different highway numbers on cross country road trips. The trails were marked by civic and fraternal organizations. The Lincoln Trail is probably the best known of these, and people used them extensively because many states and counties gave road improvements for the trails high priority to increase traffic and promote tourism.


NEW LEE HIGHWAY BLUES
(David Bromberg)

All through Northern Oregon
Always at my side
Sleeping in those narrow beds
And then we'd ride

Drinking in those dirty bars
Keeping out of sight
Sleeping in that cold back seat
And then we'd ride

You know that God-damned road seemed like it went forever
Exhaust fumes made our eyes turn red and swell
With our clothes stuck to the seat and to our bodies
It was a stinkin' summer trip to southern hell

Eating carbonated crap
Churning up inside
Gas-soaked service station johns
And then we'd ride

Silence in the front seat
Trying not to start to fight
Quiet, half-hid cryin'
And then we'd ride

You know you can grow to hate these crummy little one horse towns
With their seamy movie houses long closed down
No where to go from here but up and down the road
And nothing over there but the same goddamned town

Another sour coffee cup
One more piece of cardboard pie
Buy a tooth brush and a change of clothes
And then we'll ride


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMuGy4HMPms

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: PHJim
Date: 06 Dec 21 - 01:26 AM

Ones in my repertoire are:

New Lee Highway Blues,
Wayne Hancock's Highway 54,
Wayne Hancock's Route 23

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: GerryM
Date: 06 Dec 21 - 12:56 AM

The Golden Triangle by the Austin Lounge Lizards starts,

Oh, the Gulf breeze was blowing those sweet petrochemical fumes
I was hauling a truckload of cattle through Texas in June
The cattle were lowing and calling for brew
Abnormally sober, I wanted one, too
I left I-10 at Beaumont, to look for an open saloon.

https://youtu.be/CIVdMHoFTfk

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: GerryM
Date: 05 Dec 21 - 05:31 PM

The War Between the States, by Hank Card & Conrad Deisler of the Austin Lounge Lizards, has this stanza:

We invaded Pennsylvania
The turnpike, it was long
We all marched into Stuckey's
One hundred thousand strong
(hut-two-three-four!)
The pecan logs were delicious
They were a tasty treat
How could we know that later
We would taste a great defeat

Subject: Lyr Add: Gators For Sale
From: cnd
Date: 05 Dec 21 - 11:05 AM

Here's a zany one I found recently on a CD at a thrift store. Performed by Sound Traveler, a husband and wife band (Bob Tatum and Patty Kunze Tatum) based out of Florida and Western North Carolina. Here's the description printed with their eponymous CD which the song comes from:

This is a true story -- more or less. Some details have been "enhanced" for the sake of the story, but many are right on the money. When I was a kid, we did buy a baby alligator from a side-of-the-road establishment on US Highway 17. Lord Chesterfield most certainly lived in our unfinished bomb shelter, and the little beast has been the subject of legend ever since. As I've said before about this little song, "If it didn't happen this way, it should have!"

GATORS FOR SALE

We were headed south on U.S. 17
The sky was blue, the trees were green
Muggiest day I think I've ever seen
Well the sun shone hot on our sedan* roof
Sweat rolled off my daddy, he began to droop
Up ahead, like a mirage, we saw a sign:

REFRAIN
"Come see our gorilla," the billboard screamed
"And snakes by the dozen like an African scene
And gators, genuine gators, for sale"

We were six packed in a car built for four
The excitement grew til we could take no more
Mama threatened murder if we didn't hush
But in a moment of weakness my daddy pulled over
At a shabby little shack called the Jungle Marauder
And a like a herd of jackals we bolted right out of the car

Well it wasn't quite Disney's Animal Kingdom
And Busch Gardens had nothing to fear
But back in '63 it was the finest thing we'd seen
When we all burst in that man had our number
Showed a tiny little gator from this land down under
"Florida's finest," he said with a wicked grin

REFRAIN

Well, mama said "No!", daddy said "So,
I wonder how big that little critter will grow!"
"Please daddy! Tell him that we'll take him!"

When we were back on the road again
We named him after the Lord Chesterfield Inn
Chester for short--and he was, for a while
Then he outgrew his box in a few
So we moved him into our unfinished bomb shelter
To be ready, it seemed, for whatever might commence

REFRAIN

You see, we thought Chester might feel at ease
In that block-lined hole with the water of green
Showing his chompers pretty as you please
Besides the Cold War didn't seem so hot
In light of this growing reptile we'd got
I guess the Russians would just have to wait

Well, it's many years later, and I say with a tear
We released that gator not far from here
In a swamp just perfect for his sun lazin' style
And as far as I know, he's probably content
With a Mrs. Chesterfield, and they're making gators
Genuine gators, for sale

REFRAIN (x2)

We talkin' gators
Lord Chesterfield gators
For sale

* Pronounced see-dan

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: cetmst
Date: 14 Aug 21 - 10:44 AM

Another cross-Pennsyvania route was US322, the Lakes to the Sea highway and we'd stop off in Downingtown at a place called The
Mudcat Cafe where there was good food and good music. I have loggged in to Mudcat almost daily sincee 1997

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Aug 21 - 04:27 AM

And the old N17 has been turned into a motorway too, the M17. Although the last stretch to Tuam is perhaps the most underutilised motorway in Europe.

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Aug 21 - 04:23 AM

You're welcome. It's still loud and thrashy, big audience shout along N17 as well. It's basically a song of 1980s emigration but the contrast between the two clips above tells a story in itself, of a country changed in many ways (and many for the better too).

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: pattyClink
Date: 12 Aug 21 - 10:45 PM

Guest, thanks for the N17 links, that was new to me. Listened to the first, liked it, then all geared up for a loud thrashy 2020s version, but it went all smooth and smarmy on us!   Maybe if I'd heard it first I would have liked it....

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: Newport Boy
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 10:33 AM

Not a specific highway but Johhny Cash's "Cisco Clifton" is a good one.

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 08:46 AM

Not US but as roadsongs go, this is Ireland's ultimate one:

N 17 - 1980's Ireland

N17 - 2020's Ireland

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 07:07 AM

That line was Pennsylvania Turnpike, I'm stuck on you.

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: robomatic
Date: 10 Aug 21 - 08:19 PM

Not naming the road, but following in the tradition of Casey Jones there are songs of truckers losing their breaks on steep roads:

Harry Chapin: "30,000 pounds of bananas"
C.W. McCall "Wolf Creek Pass"

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: GUEST,cetmst
Date: 10 Aug 21 - 11:28 AM

I spent a fair portion of my life from homes and schools i western Pennsylvania, Philadelphie area, Maryland and New Hampshire on the Pennsylvania Turnpike icluding the Northeast Extension, also on US 80 across northern Pennsylvania. Have found songs "Pennsylvania Turnpike, I Love You' by Vaughan Horton ending with the line "I'm in Somerset and thr snowplow hasn't come yet, Pennsylvana Turnpike, I'm son you'. Also Pennsylvania Turnpike Blues by Alex Shoumanoff and Pennsylvania Turnpike by Al Sorcha

Subject: Lyr Add: CANOL ROAD (Stan Rogers)
From: robomatic
Date: 09 Aug 21 - 11:49 PM

I just posted a song about an American road. But I can't resist this magnificent Canadian lyric by the immortal Stan Rogers. If you haven't heard it,

Canol Road

Well, you could see it in his eyes as they strained against the night
And the bone-white-knuckled grip upon the road
Sixty-five miles into town, and a winter's thirst to drown
A winter still with two months left to go

His eyes are too far open, his grin too hard and sore
His shoulders too far high to bring relief
But the Kopper King is hot, even if the band is not
And it sure beats shooting whiskey jacks and trees

Then he laughs and says "It didn't get me this time, not tonight
I wasn't screaming when I hit the door"
But his hands on the tabletop, will their shaking never stop
Those hands sweep the bottles to the floor

Now he's a bear in a blood-red mackinaw with hungry dogs at bay
And springtime thunder in his sudden roar
With one wrong word, he burns, and the table's overturned
When he's finished there's a dead man on the floor

Well, they watched for him in Carmacks, Haines, and Carcross
With Teslin blocked, there's nowhere else to go
But he hit the four-wheel drive in Johnson's Crossing
Now he's thirty-eight miles up the Canol road
He's thirty-eight miles up the Canol road
In the Salmon Range at forty-eight below

Well, it's God's own neon green above the mountains here tonight
Throwing brittle coloured shadows on the snow
It's four more hours till dawn, and the gas is almost gone
And that bitter Yukon wind begins to blow

Now you can see it in his eyes as they glitter in the light
And the bone-white rime of frost around his brow
Too late the dawn has come, that Yukon winter has won
And he's got his cure for cabin fever now

Well, they watched for him in Carmacks, Haines, and Carcross
With Teslin blocked, there's nowhere else to go
But they hit the four-wheel drive in Johnson's Crossing
Found him thirty-eight miles up the Canol road
They found him thirty-eight miles up the Canol road
In the Salmon Range at forty-eight below
They found him thirty-eight miles up the Canol road

Subject: Lyr Add: VENTURA HIGHWAY (America)
From: robomatic
Date: 09 Aug 21 - 11:42 PM

Ventura Highway by America

Chewing on a piece of grass
Walking down the road
Tell me, how long you gonna stay here Joe?
Some people say this town don't look good in snow
You don't care, I know

Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger
Than moonshine
You're gonna go I know

'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylight there
Seasons crying, no despair
Alligator lizards in the air
In the air

Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do, do

Wishin' on a falling star
Waitin' for the early train
Sorry boy, but I've been hit by purple rain
Aw, come on Joe, you can always change your name
Thanks a lot, son, just the same

Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger
Than moonshine
You're gonna go I know

'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylight there
Seasons crying, no despair
Alligator lizards in the air
In the air

Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do

Subject: Lyr Add: HIGHWAY 54 (Wayne Hancock)
From: pattyClink
Date: 09 Aug 21 - 08:32 PM

Put a few miles on US 54 through the TX panhandle, OK panhandle, and apparently, it goes from Tucumcari NM to Mullinville KS.

There is a song called Highway 54, but I would love to hear a version that is not so dang twangy. Maybe there is an Americana recording out there.?


Highway 54
Wayne Hancock

Sittin' in the kitchen with my back against the wall
I was waitin' for my baby but my baby didn't call
Suddenly there came a stranger knockin' on my door
He told me there had been a wreck out on highway 54.

She was with another man was what the stranger said
I asked if she'd survived it but he slowly shook his head
They were on their way to the other side of town
They tried to beat a freight train, and the freight train ran 'em down

[Chorus]
Highway 54 took my love away from me
I knew she didn't want me, but I could not set her free
She was with another like so many times before
She paid the price of runnin' round out on highway 54.

(Yeah, run her down, brother)

Many sleepless nights have passed my broken heart since then
The man that she was runnin' with once was my best friend
All the dreams that I had they fill my mind no more
'Cause they died with her that tragic night out on Highway 54.

[Chorus]

Yeah, she paid the price of cheatin' me out on highway 54.

Edit Lyrics

Lyrics submitted by AirCav1stOfThe9th

Highway 54 Lyrics as written by Wayne Hancock

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and songs about them
From: cnd
Date: 09 Aug 21 - 07:58 PM

The James McMurtry song "Choctaw Bingo" describes one of the family members getting off of the Will Rogers Turnpike at the Big Cabin exit, which would place him on US 69.

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and Songs About them
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 01 Jun 21 - 04:53 AM

https://thebluegrasssituation.com/read/listen-shay-martin-lovette-parkway-bound/

Artist: Shay Martin Lovette Hometown: Boone, North Carolina Song: “Parkway Bound” Album: Scatter & Gather Release Date: May 14, 2021

“This song is a tip of the hat to the Blue Ridge Parkway that runs from Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the western edge of North Carolina near Cherokee, to Shenandoah National Park at Rockfish Gap. I consider myself lucky to live near the Blue Ridge Parkway in Boone, North Carolina, and find myself in constant awe of the landscape that this region offers. In ‘Parkway Bound,’ I wanted to capture the natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the dead of winter. The music could be said to be influenced more by great narrative writers like Norman Blake and Slaid Cleaves than your standard folkies, but there’s a little Townes Van Zandt and Gram Parsons in there.” — Shay Martin Lovette

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and Songs About them
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 01 Jun 21 - 02:02 AM

Now, the roving gambler he was very bored
Trying to create a next world war
He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor
He said, "I never engaged in this kind of thing before
But yes, I think it can be very easily done
We'll just put some bleachers out in the sun
And have it on Highway 61"

Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan

From Wikipedia; Highway 61 runs from Duluth, Minnesota, where Bob Dylan grew up in the 1940s and 1950s down to New Orleans, Louisiana. It was a major transit route out of the Deep South particularly for African Americans traveling north to Chicago, St Louis and Memphis, following the Mississippi River valley for most of its 1,400 miles (2,300 km). The junction of highway 61 and highway 49 in Mississippi is said to be the infamous "crossroads" where bluesman Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil in exchange for talent and fame.

Subject: Lyr Add: PROMISED LAND (Chuck Berry)
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 31 May 21 - 02:37 PM

Promised Land by Chuck Berry

I left my home in Norfolk Virginia
California on my mind
Straddled that greyhound, rode him past Raleigh
On across Caroline

Stopped in Charlotte and bypassed Rock Hill
And we never was a minute late
We was ninety miles out of Atlanta by sundown
Rollin' 'cross the Georgia state

We had motor trouble it turned into a struggle
Half way 'cross Alabam
And that 'hound broke down and left us all stranded
In downtown Birmingham

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and Songs About them
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 31 May 21 - 02:35 PM

BALLAD OF THUNDER ROAD
in the DT
https://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=460

Way Back Machine has a nice article on the galaxy's possible background.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140826115646/http://www.metropulse.com/stories/features/moonshine-myths-so-who-was-mountain-boy-thunder-ro

Sincerely,
Gargoyle
In the article Mitchum states the melody is based on a Norwegian lullaby his mother would sing.

Subject: Lyr Add: GRACELAND (Paul Simon)
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 31 May 21 - 02:33 PM

Graceland by Paul Simon

The Mississippi Delta
Was shining like a national guitar
I am following the river
Down the highway
Through the cradle of the Civil War

I'm going to Graceland, Graceland
Memphis, Tennessee
I'm going to Graceland
Poor boys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland

My traveling companion is nine years old
He is the child of my first marriage
But I've reason to believe
We both will be received
In Graceland

She comes back to tell me she's gone
As if I didn't know that
As if I didn't know my own bed
As if I'd never noticed
The way she brushed her hair from her forehead
And she said, "losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you're blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow"

I'm going to Graceland
Memphis, Tennessee
I'm going to Graceland
Poor boys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland

Subject: Lyr Add: NOTHING BUT TIME (Jackson Brown)
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 31 May 21 - 07:49 AM

Nothing But Time by Jackson Brown

Rolling down two ninety five out of Portland, Maine
Still high from the people up there and feeling no pain
Gonna make it to New Jersey, gonna set it up and do it again
I got a bottle of wine (pass it over)
I got a broken white line (I'm still sober)
There ain't nothin' but time between this Silver Eagle
And that New Jersey line

Well it's a rock and roll band or a movie you can take your pick
And it ain't bad work if you can get it
But you gotta make it stick
But getting any kind of sleep on this rolling motel, that's the trick
It's just a bottle of wine (pass it over)
It's just a broken white line (I'm still sober)
It's just a whole lot of time in the twilight zone
Between me and these friends of mine

The Portland show, at the Cumberland County Civic Center, was on Sept. 3, 1977, and the Garden State Arts Center shows in Holmdel were on Sept. 6-7. “Nothing but Time” was recorded on Sept. 8. So while “Nothing but Time” was presumably written during the trip from Maine to New Jersey, the version on the album was — assuming the liner notes are correct — recorded after the second Holmdel show. “Nothing but Time” was recorded on a Continental Silver Eagle tour bus “somewhere in New Jersey” with drummer Russell Kunkel playing “a snare, hi-hat and cardboard box with a foot pedal.” HJ Arts

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and Songs About them
From: gillymor
Date: 31 May 21 - 06:13 AM

Junior Brown Highway Patrol cover-Highway Patrol

Woody mentioned the Lincoln Highway and Rte. 66 in Hard Traveling-

I've been walking that Lincoln highway
I thought you knew
And I've been hittin' that sixty six
Way down the road

Subject: Lyr Add: HOMESTATE (Allan Taylor)
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 31 May 21 - 04:37 AM

Homestate by Allan Taylor

Sometimes when I'm driving late in the night
When there's that special kind of early morning light
When the evergreen stands out in the dark
I'm thinking about that northern state of New York - New York

New York state was good to me, cos I found a wife and made a a family
If anyone asks what it means to me, well, it's the nearest to home I'll ever be - New York, New York

New York City's just a part of the state
Some people hate it, I think it's great
It's an honest city, won't tell you a lie
It'll take your money, look you straight in the eye, New York

When the city got too much to take
When the pressure built up, and we thought we'd break
When everyone else was heading south
We went our own way, we headed north of New York

I wish I could take that trip again
Five hundred miles up the Lake Champlain
Fishing for supper in a home made boat
The love we made and the songs I wrote of New York

Then we rented a house on the Long Island sand
Work in the city was close at hand
In the summer we swam in Montauk Bay
And England felt so far away from New York

It may sound strange that an Englishman
Should lose his heart to a foreign land
Maybe it's because I've been away
Too long from her, it's hard to say - New York

Subject: Lyr Add: WILLIN' (The Byrds)
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 31 May 21 - 03:41 AM

I've been warped by the rain, driven by the snow
I'm drunk and dirty, don't you know
And I'm still, willin'

Out on the road late last night
I'd see my pretty Alice in every headlight
Alice, Dallas Alice

And I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonopah
Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me weed, whites, and wine
And you show me a sign
I'll be willin', to be movin'

Tucumcari (New Mexico) and Tehapachi (California) both lie on the former classic Route 66.
Tucson (Arizona) lies on I-19 going south to the Mexican border. It has kilometer posts and speed limits in kph and mph.
Tonopah (Nevada), midway between Las Vegas and Reno, stands at the junction of R6 and R95.

Subject: Lyr Add: HIGHWAY HEADED NORTH (Charlie Cline)
From: cnd
Date: 31 May 21 - 02:54 AM

As transcribed by me from Charlie Cline and the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, Lonesome Pines, Old Homestead Records OHS 90088 (1978). The liner notes do not provide any further details on the song.

Charlie Cline: Highway Headed North
(Chuck Carpenter - Jaymore Music - BMI)

I have often gone back in my memory
To the place where I was born so long ago
Where the silver maples grace the far horizon
In the rich, green valley called the Ohio

CHORUS
On a highway headed north away from Dixie
The lights of Cincinnati I can see
Just a few more miles and I'll see my friends and loved ones
Then I'll wonder why I ever had to leave

But I've got a little girl way down in Dixie
And I know that she is waiting patiently
So I'll turn around back to the sunny southland
Ohio, I know you'll wait for me

CHORUS (x2)

Subject: Lyr Add: HEAVEN'S HIGHWAY 66 (Ernest Martin)
From: cnd
Date: 31 May 21 - 02:48 AM

Unfortunately, I'm not sure who the credits for this song belong to. I'd assume Ernest Martin. I downloaded it years ago from the internet. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to re-find where I downloaded it from. These are the lyrics as I've transcribed them. Note that though Martin has an album released in 1962 with this song as the title song, I believe this is from his 1955 recording with the Norvell Brothers -- it's a little less bluegrassy than the songs I've been able to scrounge up from that album while searching.

Ernest Martin: Heaven's Highway 66

While traveling so many great highways
We're bothered with traffic so thick
Up there's one road that's not crowded
It's the Heaven's Highway 66

CHORUS
I'm traveling the highway to heaven
I've left the old broad way of sin
When the last words are spoken
And the Pearly Gates open
I'll lay down my cross and go in

Each highway on earth has a number
As the prophets have spoken before
That 66 books of the Bible
Is the number to Heaven's bright shore

CHORUS

There's a mansion that's built up in Heaven
John saw it descending one day
Prepared and adorned for the people
That have traveled this Heaven's highway

CHORUS

God's word is the map to that city
The road is prepared and all fixed
Do not turn left as you travel
This Heaven's Highway 66

CHORUS

Subject: Lyr Add: HIGHWAY 40 BLUES (Ricky Skaggs)
From: cnd
Date: 31 May 21 - 01:42 AM

Ricky Skaggs: Highway 40 Blues (listen)
(Larry Cordle)

Well, these Highway 40 blues
I've walked holes in both my shoes
Counted the days since I've been gone
And I'd love to see the lights of home
Wasted time and money too
Squandered youth in search of truth
But in the end I had to lose
Lord above, I've paid my dues
Got the Highway 40 blues

The highway called when I was young
Told me lies of things to come
Fame and fortune lies ahead
That's what the billboard lights had said
Shattered dreams -- my mind is numb
My money's gone, stick out my thumb
My eyes are filled with bitter tears
Lord, I ain't been home in years
Got the Highway 40 blues

You know I've rambled all around
Like a rolling stone from town to town
I met pretty girls, I have to say
But none of them could make me stay
I've played the music halls and bars
Had fancy clothes and big fine cars
Things a country boy can't use
Dixieland, I sure miss you
Got the Highway 40 blues

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and Songs About them
From: cnd
Date: 31 May 21 - 01:37 AM

Thanks for the praise, Patty. I'm a big fan of the Kruegers, and them being somewhat local to me makes it pretty easy to hear their work about once a year -- under normal circumstances, I should say.

I'll add the lyrics to the more obscure songs I referenced above in a few subsequent posts.

Subject: Lyr Add: AMERICA (Paul Simon)
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 30 May 21 - 05:15 PM

AMERICA
(Paul Simon)

"Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together
I've got some real estate here in my bag"
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs Wagner pies
And walked off to look for America

"Kathy", I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
"Michigan seems like a dream to me now"
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw
I've gone to look for America

Laughing on the bus
Playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera"

"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat"
"We smoked the last one an hour ago"
So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field

"Kathy, I'm lost", I said, though I knew she was sleeping
I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come to look for America

---

From Joe Offer. Here's an article about Kathy Chitty, Paul Simon's girlfriend who is mentioned in this song and in "Kathy's Song."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_(Simon_%26_Garfunkel_song)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_(Simon_%26_Garfunkel_song)

Subject: Lyr Add: SWEET BABY JAMES (James Taylor)
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 30 May 21 - 05:08 PM

SWEET BABY JAMES
(James Taylor)

The first of December was covered with snow
And so was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston
Though the Berkshires seemed dreamlike on account of that frostin'
With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go

There's a song that they sing when they take to the highway
A song that they sing when they take to the sea
A song that they sing of their home in the sky
Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep
But singing works just fine for me

So goodnight, you moonlight ladies
Rockabye, sweet baby James
Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose
Won't you let me go down in my dreams
And rockabye, sweet baby James

---

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Baby_James_(song)

Note from Joe Offer: The Massachusetts Turnpike is a toll road that is part of Interstate 90. It's 130 miles from Stockbridge to Boston, and takes just over two hours if the traffic isn't bad.

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and Songs About them
From: GUEST,#
Date: 30 May 21 - 02:33 PM

"Hillbilly Highway" by Steve Earle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT-yIYR7vV8

(Well, he does mention blacktop going to Detroit.)

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and Songs About them
From: GUEST,#
Date: 30 May 21 - 01:17 AM

Drive-By Truckers - 72 (This Highway's Mean)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXbx6wZvIh8

The song pertains to Hwy 72, the stretch that runs east/west through some of Northern Mississippi.

Subject: ADD: Tamiami Trail (Gene Austin)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 May 21 - 09:16 PM

Thanks for that lead, Phil. The Tamiami Trail runs from Tampa to Miami (duh). It's the southern portion of the Dixie Highway, U.S. 41 From Tampa to Naples, it's the worst example of what has happened to the US Highways since the advent of the Interstates - cheap motels and chain restaurants along the whole distance. But in places, I can imagine the splendor of this highway in the 1920s. The last portion is known as Alligator Alley, which is mostly part of Interstate 75. I stayed away from Alligator Alley for decades because the Floridians in my family said it was so boring. But finally, I drove it, and I loved it. The highway crosses the northern portion of the Everglades in an unbelievably straight line. In recent years, there has been good engineering to allow water to flow under the highway unrestricted. There are lots of places to pull off to view the Everglades, and it is an amazing place to see. I suppose the turnoffs draw lots of people who are tempted to feed the alligators, which may not be an ecologically correct thing to do, but it makes for very active and very friendly alligators. It was fun to pull off the highway and watch the alligators who act very much like puppy dogs. You wouldn't believe that alligators can be cute, but it's true.

TAMIAMI TRAIL
AS PERFORMED BY GENE AUSTIN

There’s a trail that’s winding through the Everglades
Land where skies are always blue above
Where each flower in its bower never fades
There I left the one I love

Soon I’m gonna leave all my cares behind
For I’ve made, yes, I’ve made up my mind

Soon I’ll wander down the Tamiami Trail, Tamiami Trail
Where it leads down to the sea
There is where the sun is shining daily
Every little feet sitting on the beach
Strumming on a ukulele

I’ll build a two by four
Just for my baby and me
I mean a brand new bamboo
Bungalow without fail

And they wonder why I wanna settle down, I'm gonna settle down
I’m gonna settle down on the Tamiami Trail

Land of romance where you see the pale blue moon
Shining every night from up above
Where each day is sunny and it’s always June
There I left the one I love

And I’m glad to let everybody know
There yes there is where I’m gonna go
Soon I’ll wander down that Taniami Trail, Tamiami Trail
Where it leads down to the sea.... (repeat the whole song)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeCsHP5eEN4

Subject: ADD: Highway 51 Blues (Dylan)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 May 21 - 09:10 PM

Thank you, PattyClink. Yes, U.S. Highway 51 runs 1,277 miles, from New Orleans through Memphis to the Wisconsin-Michigan border near Ironwood (MI). I've driven a lot of Highway 51 in Wisconsin, but it looks like a highway I need to explore more deeply. I've done part of the Great River Road along the Mississippi, but I need to do more and include Highway 51 in my exploration.

As far as I can see, "Highway 51 Blues" was written by Curtis Jones and recorded by him in 1938. It was covered (and no doubt rewritten) by Bob Dylan. Here are the Dylan lyrics, which are infinitely easier to understand and certainly have a better tune.

HIGHWAY 51 BLUES
(Bob Dylan)

[CHORUS]
Highway 51 runs right by my baby's door
Highway 51 runs right by my baby's door
If I don't get the girl I'm loving
Won't go down to Highway 51 no more

[Verse]
Well, I know that highway like I know my hand
Yes, I know that highway like I know the back of my hand
Running from up Wisconsin way down to no man's land

Well, if I should die before my time should come
And if I should die before my time should come
Won't you bury my body out on the Highway 51

[CHORUS]


Here is the Curtis Jones recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loZmJGFZNNM

Dylan recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtPafq5nsJA

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and Songs About them
From: pattyClink
Date: 29 May 21 - 04:34 PM

Highway 51 has apparently gotten lopped into pieces over the years, because it runs through a big chunk of Mississippi and some other states.

https://everybobdylansong.blogspot.com/2008/06/bob-dylan-song-7-highway-51-blues.html

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and Songs About them
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 29 May 21 - 03:48 PM

There's a trail that's winding through the Everglades...

Tamiami Trail [YouTube] (Gene Austin, 1926)
Tamiami Trail [Wikipedia]
Tamiami Trail [lyrics at Mudcat]

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and Songs About them
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 29 May 21 - 03:27 PM

jonathan lay of kboo in portland did this week a show about roads..not highways.. https://spinitron.com/KBOO/dj/39281/Jonathan-Lay

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and Songs About them
From: GUEST,#
Date: 29 May 21 - 01:27 PM

Bob Dylan - Highway 51 Blues

Hwy 51 is about 11 miles long. It's in Minnesota.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtPafq5nsJA

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and Songs About them
From: GUEST,#
Date: 29 May 21 - 01:19 PM

"Highway 101" by Social Distortion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cog1eSmGvfk

Sorry. But I love the band's name.

Subject: RE: US Highways (fed and state) and Songs About them
From: pattyClink
Date: 29 May 21 - 12:04 PM

Some great links in this thread. Whatever your situation or mood, I think one of cnd's above ("The Krueger Brothers have an excellent song titled "Up 18 North"") will make you feel good or better.

My young relatives can't grasp how I can have music on the road without some canned homogenized streaming service, or how can I find new music without the guiding hand of Pandora. FFS. If I should ever get bored with my own library of songs, or the quirky stuff that can come up on local radio, some kind Mudcatter will point me to some good stuff soon enough.

Subject: ADD: Free Fallin' (Tom Petty)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 May 21 - 12:02 AM

Hey, this is fun. Sure, go ahead and add to the fun with state highways. But maybe it's best to keep this about highways in the US.

My favorite US 101 song is "Free Fallin', recorded by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The vampires are on Ventura Boulevard, which was US 101 at one time, and it's a boulevard that tells the story of Los Angeles better than any other. I'm 72 years old, and I still love to cruise Ventura Boulevard, not that I'm a vampire or anything like that. I did it first in 1974.

FREE FALLIN'
(Jeff Lynne / Thomas Earl Petty)

She's a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus and America, too
She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis
Loves horses and her boyfriend, too

And it's a long day livin' in Reseda
There's a freeway runnin' through the yard
And I'm a bad boy, 'cause I don't even miss her
I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart

And I'm free, free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'

All the vampires walkin' through the valley
Move west down Ventura Boulevard
And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows
And the good girls are home with broken hearts
And I'm free, free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'
Free fallin', now I'm free fallin'
Now I'm
Free fallin', now I'm free fallin'

I wanna glide down over Mulholland
I wanna write her name in the sky
I'm gonna free fall out into nothin'
Gonna leave this world for a while
And I'm free (free fallin', now I'm free fallin')
Free fallin' (free fallin', now I'm free fallin')
Yeah I'm free (free fallin', now I'm free fallin')
Free fallin' (free fallin', now I'm free fallin')
(Now I'm)
Yeah, I'm free, free fallin'
Oh! Free fallin'
Now I'm free fallin'
Free fallin'
(Free fallin', now I'm free fallin')
And I'm free
(Free fallin', now I'm free fallin')
Oh, free fallin'
(Free fallin', now I'm free fallin')
Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Jeff Lynne / Thomas Earl Petty
Free Fallin' lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Gone Gator Music, DistroKid


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lWJXDG2i0A