A Road Trip Musical

There are countless reasons why I have great affection for solo road trips, but, today, I will share only a few and elaborate on one.

I love road trips because of the way they make me feel—free, boundary-less, as big as I want to be, like I matter in the whole big scheme of things. I love the tumultuous skies, the infinite horizons, the straight stretch before me. I love the evolving landscapes, the national parks, and the roadside oddities. Americans, by the way, are obsessed with giant-sized things. In North Dakota, I was enticed to visit the world’s largest sandhill crane, and Paul Bunyan and Big Foot sure have lived in a lot of places. I also love the sense of humor exhibited by every-day citizens, like the lady in Wisconsin who plants tulips in an old toilet and dubs it her “Flower Pot.” I love the poignant roadside memorials. I love the cheesy, alien-themed cafes and the elderly couples in Walmart parking lots grilling bratwurst outside their motor homes.

But my secret indulgence, my most cherished road trip tryst, is with my playlist.

I enjoy nearly every genre of music, but when I’m on the road, I’m an Oldies kind of girl. Racking up mileage from Bozeman, Montana, to Presque Isle, Wisconsin, I marveled at the human mind, how it can come up with music and lyrics that get me to wiggle despite a constraining seatbelt, elicit a chuckle, and touch my heart. The words crooned seemed to have been written especially for me, and I’m not just referring to the shoo-bob-she-bobs, sha-na-na-na-nas, la-tee-das, and day-oes.

During a seemingly endless, straight stretch in northern Minnesota, I devised a quiz. I’m going to provide the lyrics of a song, and it’s your job to guess the title and/or the artist. (Answers at the end.)

1. “When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it’s a wonder I can think at all.”
2. “Third boxcar, midnight train, destination, Bangor, Maine. Old worn out clothes and shoes, I don’t pay no union dues.”
3. “I must take a trip to California and leave my poor sweetheart alone. If he has a dog, he won’t be lonesome and the doggie will have a good home.”
4. “White lips, pale face. Breathing in snowflakes. Burnt lungs, sour taste. Light’s gone, day’s end.”
5. “She don’t cook mashed potatoes. She don’t cook T-bone steaks. Don’t feed me peanut butter, she knows that I can’t take.”
6. “I stop to see a weepin’ willow, cryin’ on his pillow. Maybe he’s cryin’ for me.”
7. “Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup.”
8. “To the open arms of the sea, lonely rivers sigh, ‘Wait for me, wait for me.’”
9. “I love you so much, I know what I’ll do. I’m clippin’ your wings, your flyin’ is through, ‘cause I’m crazy about you.”
10. “I’m going where the sun keeps shining, through the pouring rain. Going where the weather suits my clothes. Banking off the northeast winds, sailing on a summer breeze, and skipping over the ocean like a stone.”

Answers: 1. Paul Simon “Kodachrome” 2. Roger Miller “King of the Road” 3. Patti Page “The Doggie in the Window” 4. Ed Sheeran “The A Team” (not an Oldie) 5. The Newbeats “Bread and Butter” 6. Patsy Cline “Walkin’ After Midnight” 7. The Beatles “Across the Universe” 8. The Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody” 9. Andy Williams “Butterfly” 10. Harry Nilsson “Everybody’s Talkin'”

How did you do? If you got two or more correct, you passed with flying colors, and if not, don’t worry because “when this old world starts getting you down,” all you have to do is “hit the road, Jack!”

Secreted away in a metal capsule, barreling down a concrete path at seventy-plus miles an hour, do as I do. Belt out your thoughts, your worries, your secret desires, content to be traveling down a road to somewhere and, if you’re really lucky, on a far-reaching road to nowhere in particular.