As we launch from home on our 4,000-km road trip to metro Phoenix, Willie Nelson plays in my head.
The next five days are a steady trudge across the USofA on a route carefully planned to skirt just south of the usual snow/freezing-rain belt, while also minimizing distance. In many places, it is not a route that requires any tricky navigation.
But in many places it does turn out to be a route that reviews some of the music in my memory.
Some is triggered by the State we’re zooming/trudging through.
Some is triggered by the town we’re staying in or by the exit we’re passing.
Friends in Low Places (as we stop for the night in Yukon, original home of Garth Brooks)
Some is triggered by the desert rushing past our windows along so much of the route.
And some is triggered by the late-afternoon sun at the end of every long day.
And it occurs to me how different everyone’s own play list would be, driven (haha) by the music they know and by their own unconscious associations.
Sounds as if you’re making good time!
If you went by any train tracks, were they either the Orange Blossom Special or the Wabash Cannonball?
Tom
Tom – 🙂 I don’t believe so, although there were some orange locomotives and cars among them. The only song that came to my mind was Lightfoot’s Railroad Trilogy, and I’ve never been a fan of that. Too long; too slow.
You have a wide repertoire. Since joining choir, my head music is almost always from the season’s repertoire. Before choir, my ear worms were disappointingly almost all from ads. Much better class of ear worms now.
Judith – I remember some small children singing TV jingles – they’re designed to get into our heads! Glad your choir membership is having good unintended consequences.
I know all those tunes. Are you California Dreaming?
Ian: 🙂 No, we’re doing the Phoenix Boogie, I guess. I might reasonably have included “By the Time I get to Phoenix” by Glen Campbell, but I’m not a fan of the song or the singer, so maybe that’s why it didn’t pop up into my consciousness.
Good picks Isabel. When we hit the desert country mine is from Willie and Leon Russell from One for the Road; “Riding down the Canyon”. On a loop.
Wade – For those who don’t know this song, here it is. For those who don’t know the road, it’s worth the time, too.
Here is the inspiration for a change from the music of the season, which I also love but from which I could use a break. Why is the music of one’s youth so invigorating? There’s another neurological puzzle to solve!
Laurna – For me, part of the answer is that I don’t listen to much modern music, so most of the music in my head is from when I was young. And I know what you mean about Christmas music – some is good, but enough already.
Laurna, I don’t think it’s just because it’s music from our youth. It’s music from before the “Great Divide” in pop music. Once upon a time, songs were written by songwriters, not performers. The Gershwin’s, Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter, etc. were professional songwriters. And the performers of those songs — Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, DeanMartin and the rest of the Rat Pack — didn’t attempt to be songwriters. I’m not sure when that began to change. It might have been Paul Anka (something else we can blame Ottawa for!) but it certainly flowered with the Beatles. Now, instead of professional songwriters who knew how to craft music and lyrics, music is (or seems to be) composed by anyone who can find three chords on a guitar.
Jim T
Jim – I know I’m not the addressee, but I’d like to throw open this thought to anyone who knows more about music than I do. One thing I do know is that some now-famous pop/country singers (Carol King, Willie Nelson, Dollie Parton) started out as songwriters. But I take your point that strong talent in either discipline is rare enough: finding both in one person, presumably that much rarer.